Raise a Glass to Sparkling Wine Made the Champagne Way on California’s Central Coast
If Champagne, France is the gold standard for sparkling wine, then California’s Central Coast is quietly — and deliciously — becoming its most exciting rival. Tucked into the fog-kissed valleys of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, a handful of dedicated producers are crafting méthode champenoise bubbles that hold their own against anything poured in Épernay. These aren’t your average tasting room pours. We’re talking dedicated sparkling programs, multiple cuvées made entirely in-house, curated flights, and Bubbles Clubs worth joining for life.
Méthode Champenoise is how sparkling wine is made in the Champagne region of France, also called méthode traditionnelle or classique. This is the highest-quality and most labor-intensive way to make sparkling wine. It involves bottling the still wine with additions of sugar and yeast after a first fermentation, ensuring a second fermentation happens in the bottle, trapping the bubbles inside. It then goes through aging (and periodic turning of the bottles to force the lees to the neck of the bottle), until it’s ready for dégorgement (to get these lees out) and dosage (to finish the wine)…