Winemaker Notes
Delicious with pumpkin spiced pancakes, cinnamon buns, BLTs, pea soup, goat cheese, blue cheese, crème brulée, rhubarb and raspberry tart, strawberry shortcake.
Blend: 72% Pinot Noir and 28% Chardonnay.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
The Sterling family originally created this wine to mark the Reagan-Gorbachev summit in 1985, blending a cuvée with a rich dosage that nods to the preference in the Russian market for the sweeter side of Brut. That sweetness comes across as juicy Bosc pear and tangerine, balancing the leesy fruit-skin flavors that keep the wine smoky and savory in the end. It’s rich, layered and ready to enjoy on its own. (1,200 cases)
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Wine Enthusiast
Rich and thick in mousse, this sparkling wine is made in creamy, lush style and it succeeds in delivering plenty of soft supple layers of flavor. Peach and cherry cordial come to mind around flecks of brioche and crème brûlée. It finishes dry
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.