Can Sparkling Save California Wine?

Good news is rare in California wine these days. Sales are down, wineries are closing, vines are being burned, and grapes are left unpicked. Words like “dismal” and “bleak” are commonly invoked to describe the current state of affairs in the Golden State. But Mark Garaventa, Chief Commercial Officer and General Manager of Rack and Riddle in Healdsburg, Sonoma, has a sunnier take.Mr. Garaventa, who oversees the largest custom sparkling wine company in California, with clients ranging from boutique producers to brand name wineries, has witnessed strong growth in sales and production of sparkling wine in recent years. While sales of red and white wine have been declining according to the latest Nielsen data, sparkling wine sales have continued to climb. Indeed, as Mr. Garaventa noted sparkling wine is set to outsell Chardonnay in the United States in two years. His company will open a new — and impressively titled — SparklingWine Innovation Park in Healdsburg next month.All these developments might have seemed unimaginable just a few years ago, but sparkling wine has benefited from a cultural shift and a more diverse group of producers, especially on the cheaper end. The result is a more populist drink. As Mr. Garaventa said, “It’s no longer considered a special occasion drink — more of “an everyday celebration.”That shift in perception owes much to Prosecco — the affordable Italian sparkling wine that is the inspiration for CALSECCO, the all-capped, trademarked, and recently launched sparkling wine produced by Rack and Riddle. The name is a nod to its Italian peer with whom it shares a production technique — fermentation in tank rather than bottle as in Champagne. This technique is much faster and cheaper than fermentation in bottle and one that Mr. Garaventa likes to call the “Venetian method” — which certainly sounds more glamorous than “tank.” (Prosecco is produced in the Veneto region of Italy.)CALSECCO, first launched exclusively at Trader Joe’s is styled to echo the light, fruit forward low(er) alcohol style of its Italian peer as well as its affordable price ($10 for a pack of four 8.5-ounce cans). Since I couldn’t find CALSECCO in my local market, the company sent me a box of the cans to try. CALSECCO California Brut Carbonated Wine checks in at 11% — as does most Prosecco — and it’s certainly Prosecco-like- fruity, frothy, off-dry forgettable fun.A few recent entrants to the sparkling wine category that I was able to buy included wines from long-established producers like Kendall Jackson and Joel Gott. The Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Brut Cuvee ($13) launched last September is also made by the Charmat method and was created to “expand and evolve” the Vintner’s Reserve tier of wines according to a company spokesperson. The lightly sparkling wine was soft and rather sweet, not unlike the Chardonnay that made K-J famous.Another new entrant to the sparkling game is produced by Joel Gott, the man (also a brand) famous for good, affordably priced Sauvignon Blanc. The Joel Gott Light Bubbles Sauvignon Blanc ($12) launched in January 2026 was produced by the simplest, and cheapest, method wherein the wine is injected with carbon dioxide gas which gives it a fresh, seltzer-like spritz which makes it a pleasant, un-wine-like drink.Joel Gott ‘Bubbles’ Sauvignon Blanc. Lettie TeagueBottled under screwcap, “Bubbles” is made from the “regular” Sauvignon Blanc with a bit of lower alcohol, higher acid blended in and “spritzed up” to 4,000 ppm according to Mr. Gott who noted it was the inspiration of the company’s younger winemakers who wanted a wine that was “fresh and easy to drink.” The younger winemakers appear to have a hit. “Sales have increased every month,” Mr. Gott said.While these wines and many others are new entrants to the category, sparkling wines have been made in California for decades — many of them well-crafted wines from highly regarded producers like Schramsberg Vineyards, Domaine Chandon, and Roederer Estate.These sparkling wines are the benchmark by which California sparkling wines have been measured for years — the wines that established the worthiness of the category. They’re the wines that I think of first. Made in the costly, time-consuming traditional aka “Champagne” method (twice fermented and aged in bottle) their prices also resemble Champagne.These are also the wines that Senior Vice President of Wine for Total Wine & More, Brian Gelb, regards as (still) the most notable from the Golden State — especially the wines of Schramsberg whose proprietor Hugh Davies he calls “a genius.”Among the more affordable sparkling wines, California lags far behind Prosecco — which leads in sales at Total Wine and More stores followed by French Crémants (sparkling wines made by Champagne method outside Champagne). Mr. Gelb holds a somewhat-skeptical view of the new and less expensive sparkling California wines. “The $15 American sparkling wine that doesn’t overdeliver is a tough sell,” he said.Can sparkling wine save Golden State vintners? It’s a question whose answer depends on the quality of the wines and the commitment of these new producers. Are they in for the long haul or simply latching onto a trend? Only time in the bottle — or the tank— will tell.

Can Sparkling Save California Wine?

Can Sparkling Save California Wine?

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