2022 “Pezsgő” Sparkling Pinot Noir

TASTING NOTES
Light, fresh, clean and fermenty. In a world of grungy Pét-Nats, Pezsgő is like Pinot Noir’s elixir of youth. The amazing aroma of crushed cranberries and fresh fermentation bursts from this naturally sparkling wine. Pezsgő is made from the finest fruit, but it isn’t fussy or fancy. It is fresh and informal, simple and elegant, with clean, raw flavors of raspberries, pink grapefruit, and citrus pith. This natural wine contains sediment–let it settle before serving, or invert to serve slightly cloudy. 

HISTORY
Poseidon Vineyard, located at the confluence of Carneros Creek and the Napa River, was planted in 1973 by the Molnar Family to the Burgundian varietals: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The maritime environment of the Carneros grape-growing season delivers cool, foggy mornings followed by warm days that slowly nurture ripening.

The name Pezsgő is as curious and fun as the wine it describes. Hungarian for sparkling wine, this Pét-Nat Pinot Noir nods to our family heritage and the evervescent energy of the bubbles in the bottle. While many would sniff at turning Napa Valley Pinot Noir into a pétillant naturel, we’ve been growing grapes for California’s top sparkling programs for nearly 50 years. So we felt it was time to make something sparkling in our own style: fresh and informal, simple and elegant, with the raw flavor and heady aroma of fermenting Pinot Noir that fills the cellar each harvest. Pezsgő isn’t fussy or fancy, but it is of superior quality, made in the Ancestral Method of natural winemaking.

WINEMAKING
We destemmed Martini clone Pinot Noir and cold-soaked the berries in a tank for 24 hours. We pressed the juice and chilled it to settle another 3 days, then let it warm slightly until native fermentation began. Just before the fermentation was finished, we bottled it up with no sulfur, fining nor filtering, allowing the fermentation to finish in bottle and create all those lovely bubbles. This is the Ancestral Method of making sparkling wine, what the French call Pétillant Naturel, or Farmer’s Champagne. 

Casey Graybehl, R&D Winemaker