I have often mentioned Gruet sparkling wines, generally as an aside, in many posts and newsletter articles over the past many years. However, although it is one of our favorite sparkling producers, Gruet has never been the primary focus of any commentary.

Joy and I first encountered Gruet when visiting our friends Bill and Mary Vogel in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They had relocated to the warmer SW from the snowy and cold NE more than 20 years ago. On a tour of the sites during our first to the area, traveling from Albuquerque to Santa Fe through the Sandia Mountains, and as we passed a nondescript strip mall, I spotted a sign suggesting a winery. A short detour was in order.

The winery was Gruet, the space (for both tasting and winery) was confined, but the staff was friendly, and the sparkling wines were excellent. I shared our impressions with Steve Morrison of Sterling Cellars in New York. Gruet was soon in Sterling Cellar’s sparkling section, and soon after Gruet was a Sterling customer favorite.

For those of you who have not yet tried Gruet…you should. But first, let’s discuss how a French winemaker ends up in New Mexico?

This 275,000-case winery makes sparkling wine in New Mexico, but its origin is Bethon located in the heart of the French Champagne region. The late Gibert Gruet first made wine in 1967 on Bethon land given to him by his winemaker father. It was at Gruet et Fils that Gilbert’s son Laurent, now the winemaker at Gruet, learned the intricate ropes of méthode Champenoise.

European winemakers had started to buy land in California in the early 1980s following the Great Tasting of 1976 in which California wines bested some of the finest French offerings. Gilbert Gruet, who died in 1999, joined that Western exploration. However, Gilbert’s focus was New Mexico. The climate was excellent, and the soil was terrible (excellent for grapes that improve as they struggle to find nutrition). He purchased a vineyard near Truth and Consequences, a town located a couple of hours south of Albuquerque. Laurent and his sister Nathalie (now the company President) were given responsibility for the new venture. In 1989 they released their first sparkling wines. They started with 2,000 cases. Shortly thereafter Joy and I stumbled across their strip mall operation.

Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the two primary grapes in Chardonnay thrive in the dry air of New Mexico. The climate is dry and windy. The nights are cool. Pests and rot are minimized. Hot days and chilly nights preserve the acidity that is critical that is critical to sparkling wines.

Gruet uses classic production Champagne methods. Secondary fermentation in the bottle and riddling to eliminate the dead yeast cells. Aging in bottles.

Gruet has expanded his vineyards, including acreage in the Sandia Mountains between Albuquerque and Santa Fe. They also source grapes from California and Washington state.

The key, says Laurent, is price. The sparkling wine market is very competitive. Simply put, “You cannot be too expensive…if you are too expensive, people will buy something else”. With entry level bottles selling for less than $20, you can find Gruet everywhere. And, despite growth they have not sacrificed quality. In 2011 The Wine Spectator listed Gruet’s NV Blanc de Noirs on its Top 100 List.

A couple of years ago (pre-Covid), Joy and I had the opportunity to talk with Laurent Gruet at The South Walton Beaches Wine and Food Festival. He was as approachable as are his wines. He introduced us to his newest style, NV Sauvage.

A Blanc de Blanc (white wine made from white grapes) is light in color, dry in style, and delicate in the mouth. The nose suggests a bright drink with just a touch of citrus. The flavor package offers both green apple and grapefruit. The finish is long. Decanter magazine noted that you may find “buttercream and hints of mushroom” while awarding it 90 points.

When you find Sauvage (unfortunately, not easily in South Carolina) also acquire some oysters or briny fish and enjoy the combination. You should find the Sauvage in the $20 range.

However, even if the limited production Sauvage is not readily available, you should find the full range of other Gruet sparklers virtually everywhere.  Their NV Brut Rosé is a particularly excellent value.

And should you find yourself in either Santa Fe or Albuquerque, Gruet has tasting rooms in both cities. They have clearly left the strip mall behind.

As the United States resumed wine importation following Prohibition, importers, distributors, shops, restaurants, and consumers primarily sought Bordeaux and Burgundy.  Italian wines were rarely considered. Italian wines generally offered little quality and earned little respect. Unlike French wines, there were no enforceable standards for Italian wines, there was little consistency, and there were virtually no exports. The U.S. viewed Italian wines through the lens of Italian Swiss Colony (vinifed in Sonoma, California in a 500,000 cistern), sweet Lambrusco, and Chianti notable largely for its straw covered bottle that was coveted as a candle holder.

In the mid-20^th century the Italian government began to establish rigorous standards for both wine production and quality. Once consistency was assured and the quality improved, Italian wines were aggressively marketed, and tourists touted the vineyards quality. Vintners Angelo Gaja and Pierro Antinori became ‘rock stars’ of the wine universe. Exports quickly grew. Tuscany was ‘discovered’ as a wine attraction comparable to its culture.

Tuscany is truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. The vistas are breathtaking, the history intriguing, the food wonderful, and today’s wines taste of a commitment to the region’s history, to it’s flavors, and to representing the extraordinary terroir.

The grape that defines Tuscany is Sangiovese. More than 60% of the vineyards are planted with the varietal. The region’s winemakers believe that Sangiovese was originally planted by the Etruscans as early as the 2^nd century, but it was only by the late 16^th century that it was both identified by its contemporary name, and as the literature of that period correctly suggested, with proper care the grape could produce a very fine wine.

Sangiovese is grown in Argentina and California, Australia, and Chile, but it is in Tuscany that it is king. Virtually every Tuscan red wine of consequence is produced from Sangiovese. Vino Nobile de Montepulciano, Chianti, Rosso di Montalcino, and of course, Brunello are all products of Sangiovese.

A Chianti must contain at least 80% Sangiovese with the distinction between Chianti and Chianti Riserva being the length of time the wine spends in barrel. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano must contain 70% Sangiovese to earn DOCG status. Rosso di Montalcino, often referred to as a ‘baby Brunello’, requires 100% Sangiovese, but is aged for only one year before release. The Rosso spends only six months in oak.

And then there is Brunello.

Brunello is to Sangiovese what Barolo is to Nebbiolo, First Growth Bordeaux to Cabernet and Merlot, and Burgundy to Pinot Noir.

Brunello’s standards were established in the 1860s, but the quality was not assured until 1980 with the DOCG approval. Brunello is also produced from 100% Sangiovese, and then must be aged for a minimum of two years in oak and another two years in bottle before release. A Brunello Riserva requires an additional year of bottle aging before it is released. Some winemakers choose to extend their Brunello’s stay in oak for a third year.

The Italian government, recognizing the export potential for wine, established quality standards for specific styles of wine with those bottles labeled as Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) representing the highest quality. There are now more than 70 Italian wine styles that may be labeled DOCG.

That brings us to the recently released 2015 vintage…. referred to, by some reviewers, as ‘great’. As with many great vintages the 2015 Brunello (not the Riserva) is compared to those ‘great’ vintages that preceded it…1997, 1999, 2001, 2004, and 2006, and 2010. All of them rated by reviewers like The Wine Spectator as mid to high 90s for the entire vintage.

It may be premature to rate the 2015 as one of the ‘great’ vintages. However, our experience with the 2015 Brunello has been uniformly pleasant.

A favorite is Caprili.

One of the earliest organized estates in Montalcino, Caprili was founded in 1965. At the time, there were then less than 20 estates in the region. There are now more than 200 Tuscan wine estates.

The Bartolommei family has been producing Caprili Tuscan wines through four generations, and have developed a reputation for consistent quality and excellent value. They produce roughly 60,000 bottles each vintage. Nearly 40,000 of those bottles are Brunello. The Caprili Brunello is aged for three years in oak.

The 2015, selling nationally for around $50, has been very well received. The Wine Spectator, James Suckling, and Vinous gave it a 95. Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, and the Wine Enthusiast awarded the 2015 a 93.

The critics agree that it was one of the finest wines of the vintage and is one of the best values. They extol its deep cherry and raspberry flavor package. We enjoyed the velvet mouthfeel of a wine with well-integrated tannin. The finish is lingering. It is a wine ready to drink now.

You are unlikely to find much 2015 Rossi di Montalcino. However, there are some excellent options for these less expensive ‘Baby Brunello’ from more recent vintages. The Rosso will generally be lighter and will offer slightly greater acidity in a balanced flavor package that is an excellent accompaniment to white sauce pastas, and meat and cheese starters.

You can find a 2016 Mocali Rosso di Montalcino for around $20. The 2018 Caparzo di Montalcino is another under $20 excellent option. Both wines can be found nationwide.

Jess Jackson was a man of many talents.

A California native and a product of the Great Depression, from an early age he worked to support his family, and then worked his way through law school (finishing when he was just 21) with jobs as widely varied as police officer and dock worker. He became a very successful real estate attorney and was a founding member of Decimus, a company that leased IBM mainframe computers to California corporations. In 1974, with then wife Jane Kendall Jackson, he purchased a pear and walnut orchard in Lakeport, California.

Lakeport, located in Lake County, is approximately 75 miles north of Napa, and 120 miles north of Jackson’s San Francisco home. The California wine industry had just begun to recovery from more than three decades of stagnation following the repeal of Prohibition, and in the early 1970s Lake County supported only 100 acres of wine grapes. However, Jackson was convinced that there was a likely market for higher quality grapes, and in response he ripped out the orchard and added to county’s hundred acres ‘premium’ Chardonnay (and a few other varieties).

Originally, Jackson intended to sell his grapes to wineries. However, by the early 1980s there was a glut of grapes available to winemakers, and rather than sell his ‘premium’ juice for less than production cost, Jackson decided to vinify his own wine. Although Jackson and Jane Kendall Jackson divorced in the early 1980s, the winery formed by that decision was and remains jointly named.

Jackson determined that he was best representative of his wine. He talked his way into the iconic Oyster Bar in New York’s Grand Central Station, and by the late 1980s Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay was a staple of virtually every wine shop and on virtually every restaurant list. It certainly helped that Nancy Reagan liked the Vintner’s Reserve and served it at the White House.

Jackson married fellow attorney Barbara Banke in 1984, and together they acquired an additional 25,000 California acres and planted 14,000 acres of grapes. They developed or purchased nearly two dozen wineries. All Jackson Family wines state the goal of sustainability. They rotate crop covers, compost, have developed programs of both water conservation and integrated pest management, and have maintained animal habitat corridors.

Jess Jackson died in 2011. However, his wine empire, now managed by his late wife and some of his five children, has now expanded to more than 50,000 acres in the U.S. alone, forty wineries, and sells six million cases each year. They have interests in wineries and vineyards in Bordeaux, Tuscany, South Africa, Australia, and Chile.

One of those forty U.S. wineries is Cambria, located in the Santa Barbara wine country, and managed by Jackson and Banke’s daughters, Julia and Kate. Specifically, we are focus on the 2018 Katherine’s Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay.

The Santa Maria Valley is an AVA of Santa Barbara. The region is noted for an ‘ever present fog’ and diverse soils that are ideal for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. They also grow Viognier and Syrah in the region.

We really like this wine. Joy and I especially like it when it is available for less than $15 at Costco.

Consistently good, the 2018 Katherine’s Vineyard was rated 92 points by the Wine Spectator, who referred to it as “Lithe and powerful, featuring a vibrant core of apple and peach pastry flavors, with dried tropical fruit accents”. If you appreciate the buttery characteristics of California chards, then you will enjoy this wine.

Drink it young.

Available nationally.