Wine of the week: Korbel Natural, 2017 Russian River Valley Champagne

The 2020 vintage has tested our collective mettle with a pandemic coupled with wildfires. With the holidays in the offing, it’s time to uncork bubbly and toast to our humanity and our efforts to protect each other during this unprecedented year.

“Winemaking in the age of COVID-19 has been about shared responsibility of looking out for each other,” said Paul Ahvenainen, winemaker of Korbel Winery. “I find myself proud of the efforts everyone has made to keep each other safe. We have managed to keep things under control and keep many people employed.”

Ahvenainen is behind our wine of the week winner — the Korbel Natural, 2017 Russian River Valley Champagne, 12.5%, $16. This champagne is a steal and it’s in good supply, which makes it a bubbly that’s accessible to everyone. It has aromas of yeast, brioche and strawberries. And on the palate, it has flavors of apple, lemon and raspberries. Buoyed by crisp acidity, it has a nice mousse. The Korbel Natural is impressive.

Other tasty sparklers include runner-up Gloria Ferrer, NV Sonoma Brut, 12.5%, $22; Scharffenberger, NV Mendocino County Brut Excellence, 12%, $20; J Vineyards, NV California Cuvee, 12.5%, $25; Barefoot Bubbly, NV Extra Dry, 10.5%, $10, and La Marca NV Luminore Brut Prosecco, 11%, $25.

As for the Korbel Natural, Ahvenainen said what makes it a standout is the interplay between pinot noir and chardonnay.

“I don’t think of the Natural as a blanc de noir, although it is a majority of pinot noir,” he said. “Really the Natural is about the play of flavors between the pinot noir (65%) and the chardonnay (35%). Korbel Natural has always been my favorite. This wine is all about the grapes we grow on our estate Russian River Valley vineyards. The vineyards do the talking in this cuvée. We as winemakers just shepherd the wine along.”

The most challenging part of making sparklers is the painstaking detail that’s required, the winemaker said.

“It’s the precision that’s needed to be successful in the secondary Méthode Champenoise process,” he said. “It’s a lot of work.”

But Ahvenainen said it’s gratifying to follow the process through its entirety, from planting the grapes to sipping the finished product.

“The wines are very delicate and show flaws easily,” he said, “so you have to be at the top of your winemaking game to be a sparkling winemaker.”

Ahvenainen, 58, joined Korbel in 1985. He was born in Helsinki, Finland, and he emigrated to the United States in 1968. He studied at the University of California Davis, and graduated with a degree in fermentation science in 1985.

“I don’t make wine alone,” Ahvenainen said. “It’s important to me that people understand that over 300 people work hard every day at Korbel. My job puts me in the limelight at times, but it’s not about me. It’s about the team.”

Wine writer Peg Melnik can be reached at peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5310.