The good folks at Schramsberg in Calistoga, CA, were kind enough to send me a bottle of their Blanc de Blancs sparkling wine to evaluate. I agreed to accept a sample on the condition that I would not promise that the wine would be reviewed, or if it was, that the review would be glowing. I’m happy to tell readers and listeners about good wines I run across, but if I run across a dud, I’m going to say so. (Of course, what I think is a dud may be a treasure to someone else, so as with all reviews, take them with a grain of salt.) I received the sample free of charge, and I want to make sure I disclose that fact. I’m not like Robert Parker, who has the resources to buy every wine he reviews.
For some reason I’d never heard of Schramsberg until sometime this year. I suppose there are a lot of wineries that I’ve not heard of. This winery has been around since the 1800s, and even has some connection to the writer Robert Louis Stevenson.

Anyway, the wine sample I received is the 2002 Blanc de Blancs, which is 100% Chardonnay, but the fruit comes from various places in California. The bubbles are quite fine, and in a nutshell, I’m pleasantly surprised. My experience so far with sparkling wines has been that the Champagnes tend to beat California bubblies, but there are definite exceptions to that rule.

The nose is fairly subtle, but the palate is pleasantly mild–not too strong, not too light. It fits in between a Pomery and Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label. The finish lasts for a decent length, maybe seven seconds. Intriguingly, the winemaker’s tasting notes seem to be spot-on. I usually don’t quite get the same characteristics that they do.
Would I buy this wine? Absolutely. Would I have tried it if I hadn’t received a sample? Maybe not–which is a lesson to all of us. We shouldn’t be afraid to try wines that we are not familiar with.

How would I rate this on the Parker scale? Somewhere in the 85 to 89 range. Professor Bainbridge’s scale would probably be a B+. 3.5/4.0 stars. Hopefully those will give you some idea of its quality.

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