“What I like about sparkling wine is that it makes you so happy,” commented Sherrie Holzer, winemaker at Rava Wines. “You just pop the cork. No one’s angry when there are bubbles in the air.” Indeed, the start of a New Year is the first among many celebrations that call for a toast with a glass of bubbly.
Photo courtesy: Rava Wines
I got a head start on the new year with a visit to Rava with Holzer. We were joined briefly by co-owner Lauren Rava and her 10-year-old daughter Jade. Known for its méthode champenoise style of sparkling wines, Rava’s annual production of sparkling wines is a mere 5,000 cases. Typically the wines are non-vintage unless it’s a special bottling.
Due to its expansive state-of-the-art production, the winery’s portfolio of some 20 to 25 clients, marks Rava as the largest custom crush facility on the Central Coast producing the méthode champenoise (or the traditional method) style of sparkling wine.
While Holzer loves the festiveness around sparkling wines she admitted it’s also harder to make. “Red wine is very flexible and can cover up flaws with expensive new barrels,” Holzer explained. “You can mask things with red whereas sparkling wine is just so unforgiving.”
“It has to be so clean and perfect because as bubbles get amplified so do flaws. It’s more transparent but also has all the layers. Because I’m kind of a perfectionist, I like the challenge.” The challenge begins with the base wine which has to be perfect.
The traditional method, where the second fermentation is done in the bottles instead of the tank method, starts with the base wine (cuvée). The cuvée is made from grapes harvested at slightly earlier stages of ripeness to capture the natural acidity and phenolic complexity. The first fermentation is done in a combination of neutral French barrels and stainless-steel tanks.
The cuvée, along with a mixture of sugar, yeast and nutrients, is bottled for the secondary fermentation where it’s aged (en tirage) and benefits from contact with the lees (yeast sediment). Aging depends on the wine. Albariño, for example needs to be aged three years to tame its higher acidity, noted Holzer. “The Chardonnays for 24-36 months to gain the yeasty characteristics and softness.” The Rosés less than year to capture their fresh red fruit characteristics.
The wine is then riddled — a time-honored tradition of rotating the bottle by hand to move the dead yeast cells down to the crown cap while tilting the bottle until it’s upside down. But here at Rava’s state-of-the-art 1,700-square-foot facility, riddling is done on four large gyropalettes, a mechanical device that jiggles and vibrates the bottles on a cycle.
“Each case holds 504 bottles and we can do all four cases at the same time,” explains the winemaker. It takes five days to go through the cycle of bottles that start out lying flat in the case and end with the neck down as the yeast sediment settles at the neck once the cycle is finished.
Photo: Mira Honeycutt
“From here our object is to get the wine as cold as possible before disgorging,” Holzer commented. “So when we pop the corks to get the yeast off, we don’t lose the wine. The colder the bottle the less loss of wine.” Finally, a small dosage of sugar and wine is added before the bottle is sealed. “Sparkling wine can age in the bottle for five to ten years,” Holzer added.
Chad and Lauren Rava farm more than 1200 acres of vineyards along the Central Coast, from Monterey County to the Rava Estate in Paso. Chad manages the vineyard operations, new plantings and harvest decisions.
The spectacular estate of Rave Wines, once a horse barn in the El Pomar District. was established in 2016. The 500-acre estate vineyard surrounding the winery is planted to some 15 Italian, Spanish and French varieties including Grenache, Teroldego, Nebbiolo, Negro Amaro, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Petite Sirah, Primitivo, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Meunier, Tannat and Merlot. Some go into still wines and others into sparkling.
Photo: Mira Honeycutt
“We grow so many still wine grapes, but we are known for sparkling,” Holzer commented. Most of the grapes are sourced by prestigious wineries along the Central Coast, but Holzer is quick to point: “I get the first pick on varieties.”
Producing sparkling wines is a challenge which begins at harvest where the goal is to pick grapes at lower sugar. This is done “so we can retain the acidity as I want the base wine to have lower alcohol to start with,” said the winemaker marking her third harvest at Rava this year. “There’s a fine line as I’m looking for chemistry, waiting for the right flavors to pop.”
In general, Holzer’s approach to winemaking is fantastic fruit first. “I don’t want to taste fresh oak barrel, I want it to lightly frame the wine.” This goes back to Chad Rava’s Italian heritage “where the style is lower alcohol, lean and more acidic, which makes it food friendly.”
The range of grape varieties in Rava’s sparkling (non-vintage) incarnations never ceases to amaze me. There could be as many as 16 sparkling bottlings starting with the flagship and traditional Blanc de Blanc (Chardonnay) and Blanc de Noir (Pinot Noir). Then there are such untraditional varieties as a crisp and minerally Albariño, an herbal-scented Grüner Veltliner, an aromatic Riesling, a jasmine-laced Muscat and a fruity Lambrusco-style Negro Amaro, which is an earthy variety native to Southern Italy.
The blends are just as unique: Sparkling in Bloom is a rollicking synergy of Albariño, Chardonnay and Muscat with a splash of Grenache Rosé for that hint of blush and a zesty yet fragrant blend of Pinot Blanc supported with Pinot Meunier.
Holzer grew up in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and the small-town charm of Paso reminds her of her hometown. She received her degree in Oenology and Chemistry at Fresno State and worked at J Vineyards & Winery in Healdsburg before moving to Paso in 2007 to join the winemaking team at Castoro Cellars. Then she took over as winemaker at Rava.
“I like the winemaking camaraderie here more than I did up north,” she said. “Everyone’s very helpful here; the winemaking team elevates each other.”
Although there has been an increase in sparkling wine production in wineries along the Central Coast, “I’d like to have people take sparkling wine more seriously.” Holzer reflected. “People underestimate its aging capability and don’t understand its versatility.” For instance, it can be savored through an entire meal, instead of accompanying an appetizer or dessert.
Then too, people hold on to it for special occasions. “It’s flattering that they save it for celebrations, but how about having it on a Tuesday night?” Or Wednesday night, which turned out to be on New Year’s Day this year.
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