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Caraccioli Cellars, “Brut Cuvée”

California, United States 2010 (750mL)
$48.00
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Caraccioli Cellars, “Brut Cuvée”

I can’t think of a more difficult undertaking in wine than making a ‘Champagne-method’ sparkling wine somewhere other than Champagne. This isn’t because great sparkling wines can’t be made anywhere else, but because the Champagne ‘brand’ is just so powerful and pervasive it’s an uphill battle for everyone else.
Nevertheless, winemakers the world over persist—the magical qualities of méthode Champenoise sparklers, and the process of crafting them, are just too alluring. And of the many world-class sparklers being made in California these days, today’s “Brut Cuvée” from Caraccioli Cellars is my favorite. I first discovered this wine while leading a group of wine lovers on a tour of Carmel-area tasting rooms. I walked into the Caraccioli salon and who is pouring wine but (the late) Michel Salgues—longtime Roederer Estate winemaker and the deft hand behind the Caraccioli sparkling lineup. Gary Caraccioli, the estate’s founder, was there behind the bar, too, along with his son, Scott. Star power aside, my assessment of the wines would have been the same: These aren’t merely great Californian sparkling wines—these are world-class, Champagne-equivalent sparkling wines. “Brut Cuvée” 2010 is the wine I chose for my first offer through SommSelect; Scott Caraccioli was kind enough to open up his library give us a small parcel of the ’10 for this exclusive offer, and at current vintage pricing to boot. If you want to taste what I consider to be the pinnacle of California bubbly, I urge you to check this out!
To this day, after 40+ years in the wine business, I belong to just two wine clubs: The Ridge Advanced Tasting Program and, after that day in Carmel, Caraccioli’s. They made that big of an impression, and the story behind the wines is as good as the final product. The Caraccioli family has been farming in the Salinas Valley for generations, but didn’t get into wine until the early 2000s, when Gary Caraccioli convinced his uncle and brother to branch out into Santa Lucia Highlands viticulture. Gary and his brother, Phil, grew up watching their Swiss-Italian grandfather make homemade wine from local grapes; he wanted to be a part of the local wine culture. The family launched Caraccioli Cellars in 2006 and set their sights on making great sparkling wine; it would have been hard to find someone more qualified than French enologist Michel Salgues, who had originally moved to California in 1985 to take over winemaking at Roederer Estate. Salgues ran Roederer Estate until 2004, after which he became an international consultant. He forged a deep connection with the Caracciolis, and it goes without saying that the wine world lost a giant when he passed away last year.

No wonder Scott Caraccioli, who is the General Manager for the winery, wanted to stash away some of this 2010: It’s part of Salgues’ legacy, and was crafted as meticulously as any vintage-dated Champagne. Comprised of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir from the Hahn and Talbott vineyards in Santa Lucia Highlands, the ‘base’ wine was fermented mostly in stainless steel, with about 30% finished in neutral French oak barrels. Once fermentation finished, some of the wines spent a few months aging in oak before the second fermentation in bottle, after which the wine spent four years en tirage (on the spent yeasts) before disgorgement and final bottling. It then spent another 18 months aging ‘on the cork’ before it was released for sale.

This exceptionally long lees/bottle aging is evident in the complexity and depth of this 2010, which still has what I like to call an ‘arctic ice’ jolt of acidity running through it. This still has a long, long life ahead of it. In the glass, it’s a burnished yellow-gold with a distinct coppery cast, with aromas of yellow apple, lemon curd, crème brulée, brioche, and acacia honey. These rich aromas lead into a crisp, bone-dry, assertively citrusy palate that shows firm structure and a mouth-watering, salted-lemon quality. It is bright, long, and still-youthful, promising further evolution should you decide to cellar a few bottles. In the meantime, serve this around 50 degrees in all-purpose white wine glasses or even red wine stems (I’m with these SommSelect guys on the ‘ditch the flute’ thing) and put its acidity to work alongside a classic appetizer from my old stomping grounds, the legendary Sardine Factory in Monterey. That’s my home state putting its best foot forward, to say the least. Enjoy!
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Country
United States
Region
California
Sub-Region
United StatesSanta Lucia Highlands AVA
Soil
Sandy/Gravelly Loams
Farming
Sustainable
Blend
Chardonnay 60%, Pinot Noir 40%
Alcohol
12.0
OAK
Partial Used French
TEMP.
50
Glassware
All-Purpose Whites
Drinking
Now-2025
Pairing
Sardine Factory Calamari Puffs

United States

Washington

Columbia Valley

Like many Washington wines, the “Columbia Valley” indication only tells part of the story: Columbia Valley covers a huge swath of Central
Washington, within which are a wide array of smaller AVAs (appellations).

Oregon

Willamette Valley

Oregon’s Willamette Valley has become an elite winegrowing zone in record time. Pioneering vintner David Lett, of The Eyrie Vineyard, planted the first Pinot Noir in the region in 1965, soon to be followed by a cadre of forward-thinking growers who (correctly) saw their wines as America’s answer to French
Burgundies. Today, the Willamette
Valley is indeed compared favorably to Burgundy, Pinot Noir’s spiritual home. And while Pinot Noir accounts for 64% of Oregon’s vineyard plantings, there are cool-climate whites that must not be missed.

California

Santa Barbara

Among the unique features of Santa Barbara County appellations like Ballard Canyon (a sub-zone of the Santa Ynez Valley AVA), is that it has a cool, Pacific-influenced climate juxtaposed with the intense luminosity of a southerly
latitude (the 34th parallel). Ballard Canyon has a more north-south orientation compared to most Santa Barbara AVAs, with soils of sandy
clay/loam and limestone.

California

Paso Robles

Situated at an elevation of 1,600 feet, it is rooted in soils of sandy loam and falls within the Highlands District of the Paso Robles AVA.

New York

North Fork

Wine growers and producers on Long Island’s North Fork have traditionally compared their terroir to that of Bordeaux and have focused on French varieties such as Cabernet Franc and Merlot.

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