Wine of the week: Inman, 2018 Blanc de Blancs, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County

Vintner Kathleen Inman said what people would likely find most surprising about her is that she’s not a wine geek.

“I’m a hedonist,” she said. “I enjoy wine in the moment and don't feel the need to make notes or to over-analyze the wine.”

Inman is behind our wine of the week winner — the Inman, 2018 Blanc de Blancs, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County, 13%, $73. It’s an elegant, complex sparkler. It has yeasty and toasty aromas that follow through to the palate, with layered notes of pear, brioche and mineral. This sparkler has nice structure and is spot-on.

The winemaker said if she could only drink one wine for the rest of her life, it would be sparklers.

“As a winemaker, my attention to detail, perhaps bordering on obsessive compulsiveness, is helpful with sparkling wine, particularly in the blending,” Inman said.

Many people would be surprised to learn how many decisions go into making sparkling wine, she added.

“It isn’t just the choice of vineyard, the way it’s farmed or how and when it is harvested,” she said. “Once it’s in the cellar, there are dozens of decisions made at each step and each of those lead to dozens more.”

When winemaking, Inman said, she relies on her intuition; science is there only to help confirm her intuition.

Inman, 60, was born in Angwin and raised in Napa, where some of her family have been since as early as 1869. Others came to Sonoma County as early as 1849.

Since Inman’s parents didn’t drink wine, it wasn’t until she was a college student at the University of California, Santa Barbara that she took an interest in it.

“I joined an evening tasting group, and I discovered in the blind tasting how different one grape variety could be when grown in different parts of the world,” Inman said. “And at the same time, I discovered how grapes grown in the same place but made into wine by different people could be equally varied. I became obsessed with learning more. How endlessly fascinating, I thought.”

The epiphany led Inman to a summer job at Napa Creek Winery in St. Helena, but she had no intention of having a career in wine.

Inman initially studied engineering, then changed her major to art history, focusing on medieval manuscripts. Later she earned an MBA and worked in corporate finance.

Inman left for England in 1983. It wasn’t until 1997 that she made the decision to return to California to make wine.

“I was able to combine my business skills with my love of growing things and making food — and wine — for people to enjoy,” she said.

Founded in 1999, Inman Family Wines’ first vintage was in 2002. Inman produces between 3,800 and 4,800 cases a year, a mix of still and sparkling wines.

“My favorite (growing region) is the Russian River Valley,” Inman said. “No surprise there. I love it because of the diversity of grapes you can grow here, the soil and temperature variations and the raw beauty of this part of Sonoma County.”

You can reach wine writer Peg Melnik at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.