| Category |
Description |
| Color & Type |
Sparkling |
| Varietal |
Proprietary Blend |
| Country |
USA |
| Region |
California |
| Sub-region |
North Coast |
| Vintage |
2012 |
| Percent alcohol |
13% |
| Closure |
Cork |
Label
Schramsberg Brut Rose is flavorful, complex and dry, making it both versatile with food and delicious by itself as an aperitif. The character of the wine is most strongly influenced by bright, flavorful Pinot Noir grown in Carneros, Anderson Valley, and the Sonoma and Marin coastal areas. A few small lots of Pinot Noir are fermented in contact with their skins to add depth and subtle color to this unique sparkling wine. Chardonnay gives spice, structure and length on the palate.
Hand picking, careful handling and gentle pressing produce a wine of delicacy, free of skin and seed tannin. Following the fall harvest and base winemaking period, an extensive process of blending trials and refinement is carried out in the spring. The finished blend is aged on the yeast in the bottle for about two years, just enough to achieve refined effervescence and toastiness without diminishing its refreshing, vibrant appeal.
Winery
Schramsberg
Schramsberg Vineyards is a family-owned Calistoga winery founded in 1862 by Jacob Schram, a German immigrant who was one of the early winemakers in Napa. He planted vineyards and built hillside caves and cellars to store and age wines. The property gained significant attention and prospered through the end of the 19th century.
After Jacob’s death, the property was sold and changed hands several times. It was not used as a vineyard for many years and fell into neglect.
In 1965, after a yearlong search, Jack and Jamie Davies discovered the run-down winery and the tangled remains of once stately gardens and underground cellars. The historic Schramsberg property (declared a Historical Monument in 1957) had been abandoned for years but the Davies took up the challenge and decided Schramsberg would be brought back to life. They restored the estate and set out to produce the finest and most complex hand-crafted sparkling wines in California made in the true champagne method style.
Schramsberg sparkling wines are produced from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes grown in a broad array of cool-climate North Coast vineyards located in Napa, Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties. The winemakers draw from more than 110 individual vineyard sites to create over 250 base wines which are then artfully blended to create Schramsberg’s 12-14 distinctive sparkling wines each year.
Most of Schramsberg’s viticultural and winemaking practices are carried out by hand, and the winery ferments 25% of its juice in oak barrels to produce a richer, more luscious style. They have also developed a library of reserve base wines that are barrel aged for up to 10 years to provide additional refinement and complexity to the finished products.