Schramsberg J. Schram 2005
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Schramsberg's very special J. Schram bottlings inevitably make their ways to the head of the class every year, and this newest effort is nothing less than an absolute tour de force. Like the very greatest of the world's sparkling wines it exhibits an uncanny combination of layered richness and lightness with remarkably deep, very long-lasting, fully champenized flavors and an unending mousse of miniscule bubbles. It is the kind of wine that encourages the shameless use of superlatives in its description, and, yet even when found, those words are never enough.
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Wine Enthusiast
This fourcounty blend is a selection of what the winemakers consider their best lots of the vintage. Made from 86% Chardonnay and 14% Pinot Noir, it most certainly needs some time in the cellar, as it’s scoury right now. But its richness is already apparent: it shows complex toast, leesy yeast, creme brûlée, lemondrop sour candy and ripe pear flavors. A gorgeous sparkling wine...
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2005 J. Schram is a blend of 86% Chardonnay and 14% Pinot Noir. Generally these wines are aged six years on their yeast prior to bottling. This wine, which comes from four different northern California counties (most from Napa), exhibits a light straw color along with crisp notes of pear, apple skin and brioche in a medium-bodied, complex yet delicate style with tiny pinpoint bubbles, persistent effervescence and a dry, crisp finish. This beautiful sparkling wine is intense yet delicate. It should drink well for 6-8 years.
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Tasting Panel
Lush and juicy with rich fruit and tangy acidity; complex and lively with apple fruit and notes of citrus; elegant, dense and long.
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Wine Spectator
Bold and opulent, yet balanced with a core of crisp and minerally fruit. Aromas of lemon tart and almond brioche open to rich flavors of apple, cinnamon and candied ginger.
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In 1965, Jack and Jamie Davies founded Schramsberg and set out to make world-class sparkling wine in the true méthode traditionelle style on the property originally established in 1862 by German immigrant Jacob Schram. There were only 22 bonded wineries in Napa Valley and fewer than 100 acres of California vineyards planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Schramsberg was the first California winery to provide a Blanc de Blancs in 1965 followed by a Blanc de Noirs in 1967. Now their son, Hugh Davies, leads the winery’s management and winemaking team.
The Schramsberg estate in Napa Valley’s famed Diamond Mountain District is a registered historic landmark with Napa’s first caves, hand-dug in the 1880s, and its first hillside vineyards. Quality focus drives all aspects of wine production starting with access to over 120 cool-climate sites in Carneros, Marin, Mendocino and Sonoma, which result in over 200 separate lots. Unique among California sparkling wine houses, Schramsberg ferments about 25 percent of its juice in oak barrels to produce rich, flavorful, complex wines.
Most of Schramsberg’s viticultural and winemaking practices are carried out by hand: grapes are hand harvested, the wines are handcrafted, and the bottles are stacked and riddled in underground caves. The family and the winery embody excellence and innovation in winemaking, as well as preservation of their land, their history and their community.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
Reaching up California's coastline and into its valleys north of San Francisco, the North Coast AVA includes six counties: Marin, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake. While Napa and Sonoma enjoy most of the glory, the rest produce no shortage of quality wines in an intriguing and diverse range of styles.
Climbing up the state's rugged coastline, the chilly Marin County, just above the City and most of Sonoma County, as well as Mendocino County on the far north end of the North Coast successfully grow cool-climate varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and in some spots, Riesling. Inland Lake County, on the other hand, is considerably warmer, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Sauvignon Blanc produce some impressive wines with affordable price tags.