Schramsberg The Best Methode Champenoise Sparkling Wine Producer in America on SALE!!!


"I rejoice as a moralist at the prospect of a reduction of the duties on wine, by our national legislature. It is an error to view a tax on that liquor as merely a tax on the rich. It is a prohibition of its use to the middling class of our citizens, and a condemnation of them to the poison of whiskey, which is desolating their houses. No nation is drunken where wine is cheap; and none sober, where the dearness of wine substitutes ardent spirits as the common beverage. It is, in truth, the only antidote to the bane of whiskey. Fix but the duty at the rate of other merchandise, and we can drink wine here as cheap as grog; and who will not prefer it? Its extended use will carry health and comfort to a much enlarged circle. Everyone in easy circumstances (as the bulk of our citizens are) will prefer it to the poison to which they are now driven by their government. And the treasury itself will find that a penny apiece from a dozen, is more than a groat from a single one. This reformation, however, will require time."  Thomas Jefferson, American president and Renaissance man, (1743-1826)


It is only fitting to use a quote from the great Thomas Jefferson for this offering as he was the first American to believe that we could make wines on par with that of France.  I have had the fortune of attending several tastings where the Davies family showcased their American made Sparkling wines tasted blind among the best of France and on both occasions tasted blind the crowd of sommeliers, wine writers and industry professionals picked the J Schram wines overall as the favorites. Hey- it’s not the first time that American made wines have bested the wines of France check out the movie "Bottle Shock" where at the 1976 Tasting of Paris French tasters picked American wines 1st when tasted blind against the best of France! 


On the eve of our biggest tasting of the year that features bubbles from all over the world we have the greatest example of Methode Champenoise wines that this country has to offer on SALE!!


 


The finest bubbles that America has to offer:



 


2014 SCHRAMSBERG J SCHRAM ROSE

Price: $175.00 Your Price: $154.00


Forward and inviting aromas of rich baked strawberry and raspberry, with hints of cinnamon and cloves. On the palate, it is polished and juicy with intense berry and citrus flavors and seamless integration of fresh fruit fresh acidity and a good amount of spice on the long complex finish  KILLER!!


Made from the vintage's best lots from our collection of eighty of the very best cool climate vineyard sites in Northern California, this limited production sparkling rosé is pure luxury and elegance in a bottle.  When this wine was released we attended a blind tasting paring this new method Champenoise sparkler from California against some of the top names in tete du cuvee Rose Champagne including Krug Rose, Perrier Jouet Belle Epoche Rose, Veuve Clicquot La Grand Dam Rose, Dom Perignon Rose and Cristal Rose.  There were 30 industry professionals in the room on that day and to the surprise of many the J Schram Rose finished in 1st place among all of those big name champagnes!  



2013 SCHRAMSBERG J SCHRAM NOIRS BRUT NAPA

Price: $130.00             Your Price: $114.40            Quantity in Stock: 12


From the inception of the Davies efforts in 1965, they have sought to achieve the greatest elegance and individuality possible in their sparkling wines. J. Schram epitomizes their philosophy to create a wine in which no effort has been spared and no care has been omitted. This wine is a fine expression of American individuality and innovation.


Wine grapes from the finest vineyards of Northern California are nurtured throughout the ripening process, before they are hand-picked. Complexity is gained through fermentation in both oak barrels and stainless steel tanks. Some small lots undergo malolactic fermentation to enrich aromas and infuse creaminess on the palate. The wine is then aged in Schramsberg's historical mountainside caves for over five years.


Dedicated to their founder of 1862, Jacob Schram, this special bottling has been a great success since its first release in 1992. J. Schram reflects Schramsberg’s continuing role as a pioneer in world class sparkling wines. It is our nominee when you want an American statement of international excellence. J. Schram is appealing as an aperitif or enjoyed with fresh shellfish, caviar, smoked salmon, mild cheeses, seafood brochettes and risotto with prosciutto.


The Schramsberg team and the Davies Family is thrilled to release the first bottling of J. Schram Noirs, our finest Pinot Noir brut offering. For decades labeled as the Schramsberg Reserve, we bottled our special limited Noirs blend in the J. Schram proprietary glass with the 2013 vintage, filling out our ultimate sparkling wine tier with three selections: Blancs, Rosé, and Noirs. Representing 2% of our annual production, this richly flavored and full-bodied sparkler is made from only the finest base-wine lots produced each year. We release this finished sparkling wine nine years after the grapes are harvested, yet this fruitful, dry, toasty and creamy bubbly will age gracefully for decades to come.


Though primarily Pinot Noir, small amounts of select Chardonnay lots are added to the blend to lend additional backbone and length to the palate. Distinct barrel and malolactic fermented lots are also layered in to provide viscosity and depth. Each bottle is aged in contact with its yeast in our historic Diamond Mountain hillside caves for eight years, affording the development of seasoned, roasted and caramelized richness. The yeast is then removed and a finishing dosage, determined through extensive and comprehensive trials, is added to fine-tune the wines balance of flavor and structure.


 


See the source image


2013 SCHRAMSBERG J SCHRAM BLANCS BRUT SPARKLING WINE CALIFORNIA

Price: $132.00 Your Price: $116.16   Quantity in Stock: 23


Originally released as our J. Schram, with the 2013 vintage this bottling was renamed the J. Schram Blancs to denote this wines Chardonnay-based core. From the inception of Schramsbergs efforts in 1965, the winery has sought to achieve the greatest elegance and individuality possible in our sparkling wines. J. Schram Blancs epitomizes Schramsbergs philosophy to create a wine in which no effort has been spared and no care has been omitted. Representing only 2-3% of the winerys annual production, the Chardonnay-focused J. Schram Blancs blend is assembled from the very best base wine lots of the approximately 300 produced each year. This special bottling is dedicated to Schramsbergs founder, Jacob Schram, and has been a great success since its premier 1987 vintage was released in 1992.


Cluster samples from over 115 cool-climate vineyard sources are pulled several times before the optimal pick date for each block is selected. Complexity within the wine is gained through both oak barrel and stainless-steel tank fermentation. Additional layers are provided through small lots that undergo malolactic fermentation in barrel, enriching aromas and infusing creaminess on the palate. Our J. Schram Blancs is aged for eight years on the yeast in Schramsbergs historic Diamond Mountain caves; each bottle is then riddled by hand and finished with an exceptional brut dosage.


J. Schram Blancs is quite appealing on its own as an apéritif or enjoyed with fresh shellfish, caviar on toast point, smoked salmon, sharp cheeses, seafood brochettes, cedar-planked lobster, mesquite-grilled quail, or Serrano ham and porcini risotto.


The 2013 North Coast vintage harvest was an ideal season with dry conditions and a long, sunny summer. Condensed, even and excellent are three words used to describe the growing season. The season began early, with a warm and dry spring, and beautiful weather extended all the way through an early harvest. Yields overall were above average and fruit showed great balance of acidity and sugar, leading to optimal flavor development.


 


Other Wines Available from Schramsberg:




NV SCHRAMSBERG MIRABELLE

Price: $26.25   Your Price: $23.10     Quantity in Stock: 5


Mirabelle is Schramsberg’s multi-vintage brut sparkling wine. This young, bright bubbly, principally comprised of Chardonnay, exhibits the crisp acidity and vibrant green apple, citrus fruit that is characteristic of this grape when grown in the North Coast. Pinot Noir adds body, mid-palate and further depth of fruit flavor. Unlike their vintage bottlings, Mirabelle gains unique depth from the additions of lots aged in barrels and tanks at the winery from prior vintages. These older base-wine lots, which typically form 20% of the finished blend, add significant palate richness and aromatic complexity.


As with Schramsberg’s single-vintage sparkling wines, all grapes for Mirabelle are grown in the cool climate pockets of the area, including Carneros, Anderson Valley, and the Sonoma and Marin coastal areas of Northern California. The fruit is hand-picked in the early morning hours at optimal maturity. Individual lot fermentations allow the winemakers to carefully

select the components that make up the finished blend. After bottle fermentation and about two years of aging en tirage, subsequent trials determine the ideal dosage to finish this brut style.


Mirabelle Brut works well as a dry apéritif and is also well-suited as an accompaniment to a broad range of foods, including oysters on the half shell, sushi, baked halibut, cheeses and cream-based pasta dishes.


NV Schramsberg Mirabelle Rose image


NV SCHRAMSBERG MIRABELLE ROSE

Price: $27.75   Your Price: $24.42     Quantity in Stock: 16


The Mirabelle Brut Rosé is a specially crafted blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Schramsberg’s select cool-climate vineyards in Carneros, Anderson Valley, and the Sonoma and Marin coastal areas of Northern California. Pinot Noir lots, including a few fermented with skin contact, provide brightness of berry fruit and body, while Chardonnay lots lend length and zest to the palate. Additional flavor depth and aromatic complexity results from the blending of base wine lots aged in barrels and tanks for one or more years. The finished Brut Rosé exhibits fresh, elegant and toasty aromas that lead into lively and delicious fruit flavors on the palate.



2018 SCHRAMSBERG ROSE BRUT

Price: $51.00   Your Price: $44.88     Quantity in Stock: 2


Schramsberg Brut Rosé is flavorful, complex and dry, making it both versatile with food and delicious by itself as an apéritif. The character of the wine is most strongly influenced by bright, flavorful Pinot Noir grown in Carneros, Anderson Valley, and the Sonoma and Marin coastal areas. A few small lots of Pinot Noir are fermented in contact with their skins to add depth and subtle color to this unique sparkling wine. Chardonnay gives spice, structure and length on the palate.


Hand picking, careful handling and gentle pressing produce a wine of delicacy, free of skin and seed tannin. Following the fall harvest and base winemaking period, an extensive process of blending trial and refinement is carried out in the spring. The

finished blend is aged on the yeast in the bottle for about two years, just enough to achieve refined effervescence and toastiness without diminishing its refreshing, vibrant appeal.


Enjoy this rich, delicious sparkler on almost any occasion: at your favorite restaurant, a special dinner at home, at a beach picnic or a backyard barbecue. A very versatile wine, try it with sushi, salmon, rock shrimp, pizza, roast chicken, BBQ ribs, burgers,chocolate raspberry tarts and creamy cheeses with summer fruits.


2017 SCHRAMSBERG BLANC DE NOIR NORTH COAST

Price: $37.50   Your Price: $33.00     Quantity in Stock: 5


Blanc de Noirs (white from black) is the counterpart to Blanc de Blancs (white from white). Made primarily from the red grape Pinot Noir, this is a complex, medium-bodied, brut sparkling wine. Schramsberg pioneered the Blanc de Noirs style in the United States, releasing the first such American sparkler in 1967. The key to producing this complex Blanc de Noirs is their vast and varied focus on diverse cool-climate vineyards. Pinot Noir from Carneros and Anderson Valley combine with fruit from low-yielding Sonoma and Marin coastal vineyards to develop a sparkling wine with a breadth of fruitful aroma and flavor. Select Chardonnay lots give zest and backbone to the blend.


Making a white wine from a red grape requires great care - hand-picked fruit, early morning harvest, optimal fruit maturity and delicate pressing. A balance of bright flavors, crisp acidity and minimal tannins is achieved. Barrel and malolactic fermentation of particular lots add richness and body. Some two years of yeast contact in the bottle harmonizes all the elements together in a mature, toasty style. The youthful fruit character of the wine will caramelize and soften with additional age in the bottle. With proper storage, this sparkling wine will be delicious for many years, even a couple of decades to come.


Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs is particularly well-suited to serve with a variety of foods, including soft and nutty cheeses, macadamia nut-crusted halibut, and pork tenderloin with fresh rosemary and lemon thyme.



2017 SCHRAMSBERG BLANC DE BLANC BRUT MAGNUM

Price: $85.50   Your Price: $75.24     Quantity in Stock: 1


2018 SCHRAMSBERG BLANC BE BLANC NAPA SPARKLING

Price: $34.50               Your Price: $30.36


Blanc de Blancs (white from white) made from Chardonnay is the counterpart to the Blanc de Noirs (white from black), made from Pinot Noir. Blanc de Blancs was the first wine Schramsberg produced in 1965 and was America’s first commercially produced, Chardonnay-based brut sparkling wine. Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs gained international recognition in 1972 when then President Nixon served the wine at the historic "Toast to Peace" in Beijing, China.


The Schramsberg style of Blanc de Blancs is dry and crisp. Small lots of malolactic- and barrel-fermented wines are added for complexity. The wine is aged on the yeast lees in the bottle for about two years prior to disgorgement. With its vibrant, fruitful and crisp nature, this sparkling wine will maintain its freshness, structure and refined finish for many years, even decades following its initial release.


While this wine can be enjoyed by itself as an apéritif, it is also perfect with fresh oysters and other shellfish, crab cakes, ceviche and grilled sea bass. It is also delicious with lemon chicken and Thai curries. Serve with aged Gouda or other hard cheeses and as a counterpoint to soft triple creams.


 




2015 SCHRAMSBERG CREMANT DEMI SEC NAPA

Price: $37.50   Your Price: $33.00


Schramsberg Crémant Demi-sec is a delicate, off-dry dessert-style wine: an American original. Crémant is French for "creamy" and traditionally refers to a sparkling wine with softer effervescence. It has roughly half the pressure of their other sparkling wines and presents a creamier texture with more exotic flavors. Schramsberg made California’s first Crémant in 1972. After rigorous study, their winemaking team chose the unique California grape named Flora (a cross of Sémillon and Gewürztraminer developed at UC Davis) to be the core component of this sparkling wine. Flora unites the fruit-forward character of Gewürztraminer with the strength and depth of Sémillon. Select lots of Chardonnay add zest and length to the palate while a touch of Gewurztraminer on its own lifts the spiced, fruitful nature of the blend. Aging on the yeast for about two years prior to disgorgement adds complexity, yet the wine will retain its youthful appeal for 20 years or more.


Schramsberg Crémant has been served at many State events, including President Reagan’s Second Inaugural Luncheon and President Clinton’s dinner for the prime minister of Canada. Most recently, the Crémant Demi-sec was served at the dinner celebrating the 60th wedding anniversary of President and Mrs. George H.W. Bush.


This delicious sparkler has spicy, floral aromatics, and apricot and peach flavors that will gently caramelize with further aging in the bottle. The sweetness in Crémant is subtle, providing a fine balance with desserts, such as fruit tarts, poached fruit, light cakes, custards, exotic sorbets, crème caramel, gingerbread and crème brûlée. It also complements a wide range of spicy Asian foods and matches especially well with foie gras.



A bit about Schramsberg Winery:


When Jack Davies left his comfortable position with Ducommun Inc.  over 30 years ago, he put the world of commodities behind him.   With an absolute aversion to ordinary products, he turned his attention to creating a product with individuality.   A self-proclaimed "wine fanatic," he found that individuality in California sparkling wine.  Davies parlayed his 15 year business experience, ranging from packaging to aerospace technology, and applied his marketing and production sense to the creation of a unique sparkling wine which today enjoys a worldwide reputation.  Jamie Davies, Jack's wife and business partner, traded in her successful career as co-owner of the Hansen Peterman art gallery in San Francisco to apply her knowledge of design to the startup winery.  Together they left the "good" life behind and found the "great" life as they developed the United States' first American-owned and American-produced premium vintage sparkling wine.  Over the years Schramsberg has been toasted by Kings, Queens, Presidents, and Heads of State everywhere.


Nestled in the northern Napa Valley and dating back to 1862, Schramsberg is America's oldest mountainside winery.  The Davies started their winery with a connoisseur's taste for drinking wine, but no knowledge or experience in making it.  Backed by friends and business associates and drawing on their life savings, they purchased a defunct vineyard and estate in 1965.  As soon as they saw the property, both Jack and Jamie knew it was for them.  "We started literally from scratch - as in scratch the earth with your own hands and plant vines," Jack Davies explained. "When we first moved to Schramsberg, the community was so skeptical about our prospects, that they started a rumor claiming we had planted our first vines upside down."  With the assistance of friendly local vintners, Jack and Jamie did indeed plant the first five acres with their own hands.  Today those original five acres have expanded to sixty and now produce Schramsberg's finest grapes including chardonnay, pinot noir, and other classic French varieties.   In the early years, when the grape press broke down, Jamie went so far as to crush the grapes with her own feet.  As amateur vintners, both were faced with their share of disasters in the first few years.  "There were a couple of times when I nearly killed myself because of my ignorance.  Once I passed out from epoxy fumes while working inside a storage tank, repainting its interior wall," explains Jack Davies.  "In another episode, I nearly got myself blown to pieces while cleaning used barrels with a burning sulphur wick to sterilize the barrels. I washed the insides with hot water unaware that I had caused the alcohol to vaporize.  When I actually used the burning wick to clean the barrel, I inadvertently turned it into a bomb," added Jack.


Today Schramsberg produces a full line of sparkling wines that amount to about 40,000 cases annually.  These include five principal vintage-dated cuvées:  A Blanc de Blancs (primarily chardonnay with some pinot blanc); a Blanc de Noirs (typically made from pinot noir with as much as 30% chardonnay); a Cuvée de Pinot Brut Rosé (a very dry rosé made from gamay and pinot noir); a Crémant Demi-Sec (a medium-sweet, low effervescence wine made from flora and finished with about 3% residual sugar); and a Reserve (this bottling is aged at least five years on the yeast; the other bottlings see about two to three years en tirage).


Jack and Jamie Davies are steeped in more tradition of the Napa Valley than anybody else alive today.  When they bought Schramsberg, they purchased an estate that had once before been a major player on the California stage.  The original owner, Jacob Schram, produced world class wines during California's golden era in the 1880's.  Robert Louis Stevenson once visited the vineyard and was inspired to write that the Schram wines were "pleasant music for the mind."  To honor that tradition, Schramsberg released in 1993 its first prestige cuvée, the 1987 J. Schram.  It was designed to rival the top prestige cuvées of France.  At the time of its debut, it was the most ambitiously-priced sparkling wine ever produced in the United States.  Although of undeniable high quality, the J. Schram cuvée still does not compete at the top level of French Champagnes.  In fact, the best wines we have tasted from Schramsberg have been several of the late-disgorged cuvées released to commemorate special occasions.  Particularly impressive was the "30th Anniversary" bottling - a 1984 Blanc de Noirs that spent almost ten years on the yeast!!


Jack and Jamie were not content to revive a once-famous winery that had blazed quality trails nearly a century before; they wanted to do something special and unique - to be the first to produce world-class méthode champenoise wines in California.  Among many innovations, Jack and Jamie were the first to use chardonnay in their blends; the first to use pinot noir in the classic tradition in Blanc de Noirs; the first to make a reserve with over four years aging on the yeast; the first too introduce late-disgorged cuvées; and numerous other firsts.  Jack Davies was also responsible for several innovations in the production of sparkling wine.  He revived the underground tunnel method of aging wine and dug new tunnels at a time when other vintners thought the technique was not feasible.  He also developed a vacuum suction method of moving grapes from delivery truck to wine press.   This gentle process actually reduces the shredding damage to the grapes caused by traditional pressing and helps to eliminate the tannins responsible for bitterness in wine.


There were many skeptics in Schramsberg's early days, but Jack and Jamie went hard about it and toiled in obscurity until one winter day in January of 1972 the entire world watched as Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon toasted Chairman Mao Tse Tung and Chou en Lai in one of the most historic and astonishing events of the 20th century.  The toast was made with Schramsberg sparkling wine.  From that day until the present, Schramsberg has been one of the pacesetters and has inspired well over fifty producers (more than a few of them French) to make a go at it of producing California sparkling wine.  The winery has also been a university training ground for some of California's best sparkling winemakers.  Harold Osborne, the winemaker for Kristone, an impressive new producer in Santa Barbara once worked at Schramsberg; Greg Fowler of Mumm Napa Valley also made wine there in the early 1980's.  Alan Tenscher, winemaker in the early 1990's, is now the head winemaker of the Franciscan Estate winery group. The influence of Schramsberg and its proprietors has been enormous during the last three decades.  The most appropriate words used to describe the Schramsberg legacy were made in a toast to Jack and Jamie Davies on the occasion of their 25th anniversary in 1991.  This is what was said on that evening:  "Some producers will earn a paragraph in the history of sparkling wines in California.  The coming of the French will need a page.  But it will merit a chapter to spell out what Jack and Jamie Davis have done here."


The work was never done alone. Throughout the years Jack and Jamie gathered a strong and able staff to help them run the expanding business. Members of the Schramsberg team tend to stay; many employees have been with the winery for more than twenty years. In 1996, Hugh, the Davies' youngest son, joined the winery full time, adding his talent to the winemaking staff. To every ones great sorrow, Schramsberg lost Jack Davies in the spring of 1998. Jamie carried on with the support of her family, the dedicated staff, and the legion of friends she made during the Schramsberg odyssey until her death in the spring of 2008.  Now, Hugh Davies, with the support of his own family and friends, continues the work and carries on the dream his parents, Jack and Jamie, started together. 

back