2019 Caraccioli Cellars, Brut Cuvée, Escolle Vineyard Sparkling Wine, Santa Lucia Highlands.
The bright gold, delicately aromatic and shimmering 2019 Caraccioli Brut Cuvée, terroir driven grower producer style Methode Champenoise, sparkler is again almost perfection in the glass, like the previous vintage, with a vivacious and luxurious mousse and a beautifully layered palate. There’s a cascade of Meyer lemon, tangy peach, green apple and crisp pear fruit, along with exceptionally well integrated yeasty richness, mineral, sea shore and hazelnut, along with clove spice, delicate florals and wet stone accents. I help but be completely seduced by this 2018, I can’t remember a California sparkling wine reaching this level of depth, energy and elegance, bravo Scott Caraccioli and team for this amazing release, which by the way saw 58 months on the lees! As mentioned, Caraccioli’s estate Escolle Vineyard, which is set on the Santa Lucia Highlands’ sandy loams and sees a huge cool Pacific Ocean influence, was first planted in 2008, and is named after the historic local legend Honoré Escolle. Caraccioli says he was one of Carmel’s founding fathers, and was very influential in many ways to Monterey the region, as well as operating the main kiln for pottery and clay works in the area and was known to camp on the land where the vineyard lies. The Escolle Vineyard, as noted here, has become one of the most prized vineyards in the region and noted for the quality of the fruit, especially its Chardonnay and Pinot Noir fruit, but serious promise in the Gamay and Syrah vines here is something to watch as well. This 2019 out of Magnum was an exceptional treat and I highly recommend grabbing it in both the 750ml and Magnum formats, you’ll be highly rewarded and glad you did!
Few other wineries, as I’ve mentioned before, have put together such a fine collection of terroir driven wines in such a short time than Caraccioli Cellars, especially their Sparkling wines, which is the main focus of the winery. It all started with the help of the late Michel Salgues, who had worked for famed Champagne house Louis Roderer for most of his career, including the last nineteen years at Roederer Estate in Anderson Valley, where he was the founding winemaker. Scott Caraccioli and his team have quickly gained a solid reputation for his grower producer style bubbly and is now considered one of the best producers in California of Champagne method sparkling wines. Caraccioli follows a very traditional regime from the vines to the bottle, with early picks to long lees aging on these elegant and extra lively wines. Caraccioli first does a light pressing of the cool and fresh juice in small lots, with the winery noting that they do 120 gallons (well below what the law in Champagne mandates: 150-180gl.) at a time. The Cuvée and Rosé see no skin contact and mostly gets some stainless, though some of the lots are fermented in barrique, with all of the primary fermentation(s) being spontaneous, done with ambient yeasts. The Caraccioli Brut Rosé undergoes the same processes and initial blend of 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir, as this Brut Cuvée. The difference in the Rosé is that Scott hand picks of a barrel of Pinot Noir still wine to blend into the final Rosé for color, while Brut Cuvée is all naturale. As mentioned in prior reviews, to enhance complexity and depth the young wine is barreled down-post fermentation for a few months, taking as Caraccioli explains, a little rest before blending, though in a few years there is some stainless aged juice and a long élevage in bottle. Like a broken record, I am suggesting you check out the whole line of offerings at Caraccioli as soon as possible, there’s a lot to admire here, not just the sparklers.
($65 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive