2021 EVA MAE RESERVE SPARKLING WINE
Our family wine project was founded with the 2018 vintage as a way to honor a heritage family vineyard near Fresno, CA. That has been done annually with our flagship Rosé of Grenache. In 2021 Brett and Brianna brought Eva Mae into our family. We decided to honor her with the creation of a “birthdate” sparkling wine from the same heritage vineyard block.
In 2020 Brett made a barrel of still white wine from the red Grenache grapes that we released as the 2020 Blanc de Grenache. This well-received wine provided the model for our sparkling cuvée’s base wine. After six months on the primary lees (with lees stirring every 2 weeks) in Neutral French oak wine barrels, the wine was transferred to Rack & Riddle, the preeminent custom sparkling wine facility in Northern California, for the traditional second fermentation in the bottle (Methode Champenois). The first batch of the wine was riddled and disgorged in November 2023 after 18 months on the lees. Prior to disgorgement the decision of how much sugar to add back is the key winemaking decision. We knew we wanted a crisp, dry style. Our two tasting panels settled on 4.0 g/L of dosage as best showing off the positive attributes of the wine. However, these wine professionals were all enamored with the sample that had no sugar added to the dosage sample. Hence, a small portion of Eva Mae's Cuvée was finished with no added sugar. This is designated as "Zero Dosage".
We quietly held back about 120 cases worth and left it in tirage (on the lees in the bottle) to see how the wine would develop. We didn’t have a specific end point in mind but after tasting a couple times we decided to have it disgorged in April 2026 after 47 months in bottle. The extra time on the lees in the bottle has allowed the wine to become more delicate and have more secondary aromas of brioche and other baked items. The bubbles have become more refined and lightly dance across the palate. To preserve all these benefits from the extended ageing, we also decide to forgo a dosage. This is a truly unique and impressive expression of old-vine Grenache.
TECHNICAL DATA
Harvest Date – August 16, 2021
Harvest Brix – 23.3 ̊
Residual Sugar – 0.0 g/L (Zero Dosage)
Alcohol – 12.85%
Titratable Acidity – 7.8 g/L
pH – 3.21
Riddled and Disgorged - April 2026
DOWNLOAD TECH SHEET
Our family wine project was founded with the 2018 vintage as a way to honor a heritage family vineyard near Fresno, CA. That has been done annually with our flagship Rosé of Grenache. In 2021 Brett and Brianna brought Eva Mae into our family. We decided to honor her with the creation of a “birthdate” sparkling wine from the same heritage vineyard block.
In 2020 Brett made a barrel of still white wine from the red Grenache grapes that we released as the 2020 Blanc de Grenache. This well-received wine provided the model for our sparkling cuvée’s base wine. After six months on the primary lees (with lees stirring every 2 weeks) in Neutral French oak wine barrels, the wine was transferred to Rack & Riddle, the preeminent custom sparkling wine facility in Northern California, for the traditional second fermentation in the bottle (Methode Champenois). The first batch of the wine was riddled and disgorged in November 2023 after 18 months on the lees. Prior to disgorgement the decision of how much sugar to add back is the key winemaking decision. We knew we wanted a crisp, dry style. Our two tasting panels settled on 4.0 g/L of dosage as best showing off the positive attributes of the wine. However, these wine professionals were all enamored with the sample that had no sugar added to the dosage sample. Hence, a small portion of Eva Mae's Cuvée was finished with no added sugar. This is designated as "Zero Dosage".
We quietly held back about 120 cases worth and left it in tirage (on the lees in the bottle) to see how the wine would develop. We didn’t have a specific end point in mind but after tasting a couple times we decided to have it disgorged in April 2026 after 47 months in bottle. The extra time on the lees in the bottle has allowed the wine to become more delicate and have more secondary aromas of brioche and other baked items. The bubbles have become more refined and lightly dance across the palate. To preserve all these benefits from the extended ageing, we also decide to forgo a dosage. This is a truly unique and impressive expression of old-vine Grenache.
TECHNICAL DATA
Harvest Date – August 16, 2021
Harvest Brix – 23.3 ̊
Residual Sugar – 0.0 g/L (Zero Dosage)
Alcohol – 12.85%
Titratable Acidity – 7.8 g/L
pH – 3.21
Riddled and Disgorged - April 2026
DOWNLOAD TECH SHEET
Eva Mae meeting the Riddler. Dosage tasting ~ Determining the ideal sugar addition level.
