Where to find sparkling wine in Sonoma County

Champagne is the crème de la crème; it has global cachet with wine-lovers clamoring for it. But what if you could taste something just as divine here in Sonoma County?

California sparkling wine offers exactly this. At its best, sparkling wine can seem like runway-standard Armani couture for the price of the Armani AX sold at Macy’s.

With entry-level bottlings typically priced at $40, and some dipping below $20, California sparklers are less expensive than French Champagne, which generally starts at $70 a bottle.

With just a few exceptions, the term Champagne is reserved for bubbly produced in the Champagne region of France. Champagne producers adhere to a complicated process called méthode traditionnelle that dates back centuries.

All the top sparkling wine houses in California follow Champagne’s traditional method. But three in our backyard have a French parent company, a direct tie to this long-treasured tradition of crafting bubbly. Napa’s Domaine Carneros is owned by Taittinger; Louis Roederer is the parent company of Roederer Estate in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley; and Mumm Napa is owned by Pernod Ricard.

With a lineage in France, these companies are mentored on how to finesse a Franco-American bubbly.

Arnaud Weyrich, senior vice president and winemaker of Roederer Estate, said the parent company shares Roederer’s philosophy, its attention to detail and a preference for farming its own grapes.

Explaining why a California sparkler and a French Champagne might differ in price by $40 or more, Weyrich said there are many factors, such as the high cost of land and fruit in Champagne.

Remi Cohen, CEO of Domaine Carneros, agreed with Weyrich, adding that status also plays a role.

“Champagne can command higher prices because it has a long-standing global reputation,” Cohen said. “It’s an incredible wine. The California sparkler is a younger entry. It’s just starting to get global recognition.”

Domaine Carneros

At this house of bubbly, the entry-level sparkler is the Domaine Carneros 2018 Estate Brut Cuvee at $37. Its French counterpart is the Taittinger Brut L Francaise at $70. That said, the price ranges of more expensive bottlings in both companies sometimes overlap. At the high end, Domaine Carneros’ flagship is Le Reve 2015 priced at $125.

“We sell 90% of our wines to Americans,” Cohen said. “Our wines are the best of both worlds. They encapsulate the beautiful sunshine (of California), but we pay homage to our French ownership and French tradition with sparklers that have complexity.”

The French like higher-acid, drier wines, Cohen said. The American palate favors fruit-forward sparklers, but its preferences are shifting to more acid and minerality.

“Americans are catching up,” Cohen said.

Domaine Carneros follows the traditional French method of producing Champagne in order to craft sparklers of the highest quality, Cohen said.

While Champagne is widely recognized for its flair, what’s less well known is the complicated process of making it.

Méthode traditionnelle, also used for making top California sparklers, involves a pivotal step: The bubbles are created during the second fermentation, with all the action happening in the bottle. Basically, the yeast goes on an eating binge, devouring the sugar. The byproducts of that binge are those delightful bubbles — carbon dioxide and the yeast particles that impart rich toasty flavors during aging.

To make its sparkling wines, Domaine Carneros has followed the traditional method since its founding in 1987, when it opened its chateau in the Carneros region.

Cohen said the late Claude Taittinger, who managed the Taittinger Champagne house for nearly five decades, “fell in love with the region and had looked for just the right site.”

The vintner, she said, was convinced that in America he had found a great opportunity to make a sparkling wine. Taittinger had been importing Champagne to the U.S. since 1947, and it already had nice visibility.

And by 1987, Cohen said, “the wine industry in Sonoma and Napa were burgeoning.”

Roederer Estate

This sparkling wine house’s entry-level sparkler is the Roederer Estate Brut NV (non-vintage) at $32. The cheapest Champagne at Louis Roederer is its Collection, a multi-vintage blend, at $65.

Weyrich said at the high end, there’s some overlap in pricing between the two companies. Weyrich’s most expensive sparkler is the L’Ermitage Brut 2004 at $120.

For the most part, Roederer Estate, with its multi-vintage bottlings, “is a stepping stone into the Roederer world of wine,” he said.

Louis Roederer began to export Champagne to the U.S. in the 1870s.

“Champagne has a finite acreage in the appellation,” Weyrich said. “The family felt that creating its own estate in California with a similar philosophy of its farming and winemaking in France would help expose Louis Roederer to a new generation of fine-wine drinkers in the U.S.”

Mumm Napa

Mumm Napa’s Brut Prestige, its Brut Rosé and its Cuvee M are all $24. By comparison, its parent company’s entry Champagne is GH Mumm Grand Cordon NV at $45. Mumm Napa’s offerings, however, spiral to $85 for its 2016 DVX Rosé.

When it comes to flavor, Tamra Lotz, winemaker of Mumm Napa, said differences arise because of the terroir (the site, climate, soils, etc.).

“We follow the same methode traditionnelle but because of the warmer climate here, our wines taste different. The fruit tends to be bigger and more dominant in the profile of a California wine, while Champagnes often have more delicate fruit and a beautiful minerality.”

Founded in 1979, Mumm Napa was a joint venture between GH Mumm and Seagram. They hired Champagne-born Guy Devaux to lead the project and determine the location to start a sparkling wine brand in the U.S.

After making a small batch of blanc de blanc in 1983, Devaux decided Napa was the ideal location for the new winery. The first commercial vintage of Mumm Napa was bottled in 1984, with the winery open to the public in 1990.

“’We’re proud,” Lotz said. “to carry on Guy’s legacy in California.”

You can reach Wine Writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdocrat.com.