Rather risky, don’t you think, to put a California sparkling wine up for comparison among some of the best houses in Champagne? Yet that’s what Hugh Davies did in NYC recently when presenting his sparkling wines to a very select group of journalists.

“Of course, I can detect a California sparkler!” you might think to yourself, walking into a room and sitting down in front of six rose colored wines, all to be tasted blind. The five Champagnes are among the priciest and most famed in the world, selling for hundreds of dollars per bottle. Yet the sixth is an “imposter” – not a Champagne from the named region in Northern France, but a Napa Valley sparkler.

Students of fine wine are quick to learn that one of the visual “markers” of a true fine Champagne (or any quality sparkler, really) is the “mouse” or bubbles. The best sparkling wines have a very fine, very persistent stream of bubbles, the tinier the better the wine. Wines with larger, coarser bubbles are often tank produced (instead of the traditional method, like champagne) or produced with less care.

Wines 1 – 4 were very pale and elegant, the robe (or color as they say in France) was like that of a pale onion skin. The two on the extreme right were a deeper, brighter shade of orange-rose and looked suspiciously “New World-ish.”

Not to name names, but within the confines of the small room were a dozen of the best known writers in New York and, for all practical purposes, the world. And as we sniffed and swirled the wines blind, I was already imagining how horrible it would be for Hugh when the scores were collected and the Champagne “imposter” was easily detected. Yet amazingly, in a sea of well known top Champagne brands, the more affordable sparkelr Schramsberg came in first.

Here is the breakdown:

1. J. Schram 2001, 52 points total, $130
2. Roederer Cristal 2002, Rose, 57 points total, $549
3. Perrier Jouet Fleur 2002, 71 points total, $300
4. Krug NV, 74 points total, $300
5. Dom Perignon 2000, 77 points total, $319
6. Veuve Cliquout Le Grande Dame 1998, 84 points total, $300

Family owned since 1965 (the year of Hugh’s birth), the original Schramsberg winery was built in 1862 by German immigrant Jacob Schram. Schramsberg uses the “Traditional Method” to make its nine distributed sparkling wines, the sitgnature vintage dated Reserve, J. Schram and J. Schram Rose, the classic vintage dated Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs, Brut Rose, and Cremant, and the multi-vintage Mirabelle and Mirabelle Rose, with production at just 60,000 cases annually. The grapes are hand-crafted in that they are hand-harvested, and the bottles are stacked and riddled in underground caves. Unique among California sparkling wine houses, Schramsberg ferments 25 percent of its juice in oak barrels.

All in all, this was a fascination and very focused presentation by Hugh and his entire team. After the blind tasting of sparkling wines, we had a second flight – the J. Schram Progressive – in which we could compare the “natural” base blend with wines with different dosage. The final flight compared different sparklers , including the 2001 Reserve and a Cremant Demi-Sec, with food. For example, the Blanc de Blanc 2006 went very well with a smoked salmon crepe, while the more substantial J. Davies had the weight to pair with lamb.

I’ve been to the winery for many years, as they are active with the Napa Valley Wine Auction, and always put on a fabulous show. Next time you are in Napa you should visit!

schramsberg

"Would you like to start with Champagne?" the waiter asks as you and your Sweetie sit down to celebrate Valentines Day. As this is a day set apart for sparklers, your answer should be, "Of course."

Even people who prefer still wine drink sparklers on Valentines Day, quite possibly because the sparkle in the glass holds the promise of the night ahead. In the finest five-star restaurants around the world, champagne is often offered from a cart, with the sommelier explaining the various producers. On Valentine's Day, most waiters will also ask you if you'd like to start out with a glass.

Depending on your budget for the evening, you may want to look at the wine list first. Some top restaurants price their champagne at $25 a glass, sometimes more. Sure, it's top quality, but if price is an issue, you will be happy to learn you can find many impressive, delicious, affordable good quality sparkling wines on the list.

What is Champagne?

Americans commonly use the word champagne to refer to any sparking wine. Legally, only sparkling wine produced in the region of Champagne, France has the right to call their sparkling product Champagne. Even inside France, any wine that sparkles is called Cremant, not Champagne.

If you have had the good fortune to have tried genuine champagne and want to replicate that experience (but not the price), you will want to choose a sparkling wine made in what is called the "traditional method." For simplicity, this means the exact same wine making process is used as in the Champagne region, but the grapes are not specifically grown in the Champagne region. Nor are they necessarily the same three varietals of grapes used in the Champagne region: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meuniere.

At this point you may be thinking, hey, isn't Pinot Noir a black grape? Doesn't that make a red wine? Isn't that the grape that the film Sideways was all about? What does Pinot Noir have to do with top quality Champagne? Good questions.

For the last three hundred years, at least, Pinot Noir and also the black grape Pinot Meuniere were classical components of champagne. Their skins are black, but their flesh (and juice) is white. When made specifically as a red wine, Pinot Noir's red skin is allowed to macerate (soak and stain) the white juice. In the production of classic Champagne, Pinot Noir and Meuniere grapes are very carefully crushed so as not to let the black skin color the white juice.

Sometimes, only the Chardonnay grape is used to make traditional Champagne. As this has a white skin, the resulting champagne is categorized as a "Blanc de Blanc." In the best sparklers from California, though, you will find Blanc de Noir, a blend in which the black skins of the Pinot Noir and Meuniere grapes are allowed to slightly color the white juice. Beyond color, this also adds a bit of tannin and 'bite.' Many sparkling wines from Napa and Sonoma Valleys are excellent and range from around $20 - $60 in wine shops, and around $50 to $100 in restaurants.

Sparkling wine from Spain also uses the traditional method like Champagne, France, but the grape varieties are Parellada, Macabeo, and Xarello. Here's a tip: Spanish sparklers are as delicious as California wines, but much more affordable. As a bonus, some producers also generate the same yeasty, buttery, croissant aroma character as you may find in Champagne.

Sweeter than Cava and a different flavor profile entirely is Prosecco, which is produced in an area of Italy not too far from Venice. Prosecco is produced using a different method entirely, resulting in a product that usually contains some residual sugar and is usually quite affordable, both in stores and restaurants.

So go ahead, enjoy Valentine's Day with a sizzling sparkler. Who knows what the night may bring?