When it comes to sparkling wine, patience is a virtue.
By: Doris Taal
Our visit to Argyle Winery and their tasting room…
On Thursday, we had sparkling wine for breakfast… (Mimosas minus the orange juice,) and it was a delight! Our lavish morning was spent across the street from the Ponzi Wine Bar at Argyle, where we learned from Matt and Ron about Argyle’s history, grape sources, and the process behind making the sparkling wines, in particular. It turns out this takes a lot of time and patience! We tasted the 2007 Blanc de Blanc (made completely from Chardonnay grapes), the rare 2001 Extended Tirage, a beautiful sparkling wine made with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and the 2008 Brut Rosé (Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir). Argyle’s one-of-a-kind 2008 Black Brut is a refreshing change of pace from traditional sparkling wine with its dark red color (lots of fun). In the end, we could not leave without tasting at least one of their Pinot Noirs. We finished with the 2008 Spirit House Pinot Noir, which focuses on grapes sourced from higher elevation vineyards. My favorite for the day was the 2001 Extended Tirage because of the nose, the palate, and appreciation for how long this wine is in the bottle before it’s released.
We returned to Argyle on a beautiful Monday morning to observe the sparkling wine disgorgement and dosage process. Dustin, Argyle’s cellar master, verygenerously spent a great deal of time with us explaining the bottling, riddling (periodic turning of the bottles in order to accumulate the yeast sediment in just the right area of the bottle), dosage (precise addition of wine concentrate to feed the yeasts), and corking process. It was amazing to see the machinery and technology behind every piece of equipment. Not to mention the thoughtful and experienced palate necessary to determine the exact dosage to add to perfect the bouquet and make a superb sparkling wine. I admit, I had a taste for champagne and sparkling wine before I went, but my appreciation has grown even stronger. Years ago, it was by accident, but now, the production of sparkling wine has evolved into a very artistic, scientific process that takes the best of technology, science, art … and P A T I E N C E.