Varietal: Albarino
Ulloa Cellars Carboniste
Where: Gomes Vineyard is located on Andrus Island in the fertile, oxygen-rich Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Farmed by the Gomes family since the 1800s, the property is planted with rootstock from Rias Baixas, the birthplace of Albariño.
Who: Jacqueline Person, who is also a winemaker at Naked Wines, launched Carboniste in 2017 with her partner Dan Person, former assistant winemaker at Schramsberg.
Why: Carboniste’s inventive and affordable offerings help forge new territory in the realm of sparkling wine. Read their recent profile in The San Francisco Chronicle.
How: Fruit for this wine was pressed whole-cluster, then settled as juice. After three weeks, the first fermentation was complete. Sediment was kept with the wine and bottled with fresh yeast and a small amount of sugar. After three months, the sediment was removed and a light dosage was added. Finally, bottles were sealed with crown caps to preserve the youth and zest of the wine.
As Carboniste’s flagship wine, the sparkling Albariño “has accomplished our goal of making a wine that is truly inspired by the terroir that we have in California,” Jacqueline says. “We don’t want to make something Champagne-like, but just the opposite.
I think it captures the pure, tasty sunshine that California has to offer.”
Croma Vera is a tiny (but mighty) winery making damn good wine. Located on the Central Coast of California and led by owner Mindy Oliver, Croma Vera whips up small-batch, Spanish-inspired wine, 150 crates at a time. Tempranillo, Albariño, and Garnacha all flourish in this region. Believing that wine is only as good as the grapes it is crafted from, Oliver works exclusively with these varieties. She is wildly meticulous about the quality and sourcing of every grape that goes into the barrel, forcing a very limited production. Get your hands on this wine if you’re lucky!
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