Winemaker Notes
By nose, caramel apple, nutmeg and orange zest. By mouth, ripe red apple, lime, brioche and brown sugar.
It is lovely with dessert, especially lemon tart, strawberry pie and anything to do with ginger and spice.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
First made during the Reagan-Gorbachev years, this blend of 74% Pinot Noir and 26% Chardonnay tastes of hazelnut torte and almond paste, offering richness interwoven with moderate acidity. On the lusherside of the sparkling spectrum, it offers a sweetness of peach, brown sugar and lemon meringue.
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Wine Spectator
Delicate and refined, showing raspberry and gingerbread aromas that lead to sleek, focused flavors of red apple, vanilla and almond, finishing on a clean, minerally note. Drink now.
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.
A standout region for its decidedly Californian take on Burgundian varieties, the Russian River Valley is named for the eponymous river that flows through it. While there are warm pockets of the AVA, it is mostly a cool-climate growing region thanks to breezes and fog from the nearby Pacific Ocean.
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir reign supreme in Russian River, with the best examples demonstrating a unique combination of richness and restraint. The cool weather makes Russian River an ideal AVA for sparkling wine production, utilizing the aforementioned varieties. Zinfandel also performs exceptionally well here. Within the Russian River Valley lie the smaller appellations of Chalk Hill and Green Valley. The former, farther from the ocean, is relatively warm, with a focus on red and white Bordeaux varieties. The latter is the coolest, foggiest parcel of the Russian River Valley and is responsible for outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.