The dry 2021 vintage allowed us to hang this fruit into the 4th week of October, highly unusual for California sparkling wine. Spring frosts reduced the crop, especially on the Betty Ann Vineyard, resulting in a concentrated harvest of small, open clusters with tiny berries.

With three months of the base wine on the native fermentation lees and 20 months en tirage, this sparkler shows the best of yeast autolysis brioche to play against the citrus notes of classic Colombard. The finish is long and bone-dry with fruit sweetness without any late sugar additions that would normally occur in sparkling wine. 1.25 mL per bottle of Betty Ann Brandy was used as the dosage, yielding an elegant mid-palate.

Wes Cameron Ranch, Russian River Valley with brandy dosage from Betty Ann Vineyard. 11.7% alc by vol., 3.12 pH, 7.07 g/L TA, Residual sugar <.05, 44 cases, Winemakers: Greg La Follette, Evan Damiano, Craig Roemer and Billy Davies