Sparkling Zinfandel 2017
Varietal:
100% Zinfandel
Alcohol:
12%
Vineyard:
King Vineyard, Suisun Valley; grown sustainably with compost teas and without pesticides and herbicides; dry farmed.
Tasting Notes:
This wine has aromas of red apple skin, wet stone, and brioche. It is saline and savory on the palate, and has a fine bead similar to a cremant.
Martha's Notes
This wine borrows a lot from méthode champenoise, but is made without added sugar or commercial yeast. We age our 2017 Zinfandel rosé base wine for one year on lees for complexity, and then—instead of adding sugar and commercial yeast—we add a small amount of fermenting 2018 juice for our secondary bottle fermentation and bottle immediately. We bottled the sparkling with approximately 18 grams per liter of residual sugar (which results in ~3.5 atmospheres of pressure after disgorging), so this wine drinks more like a cremant than a Champagne (softer bead). The bottles spend 8 months sur latte (on their side) to give the sparkling further lees contact, then we let them settle sur pointe (on their necks) for a few weeks. We hand disgorge, top the bottles with another bottle, and voilà!
Production Notes
Inspired by méthode champenoise: Aged our 2017 Zinfandel rosé base wine for one year on lees, added fermenting 2018 juice to kickstart fermentation, and bottled immediately. The bottles spend eight months on their sides to give the sparkling further lees contact.
Production: 48 cases
At Bottling:
No SO2 added. All wines are vegan.