“There’a a renaissance of sparkling wine production in the golden state.”

“But then in 1965, Jack and Jamie Davies purchased the historic Schramsberg property on Napa’s Diamond Mountain with the goal of producing world-class California sparkling wine, producing the country’s first vintage-dated blanc de noirs in 1967. Schramsberg’s success with high-quality sparkling wine was undeniable, and no doubt helped to fuel the expansion of the category that would take place over the next 20 years.”

“‘I think they’ve really made it more practical for some of these new producers to exist and to do the work’, says Schramsberg CEO Hugh Davies. ‘It could be done in a garage, with antiquated equipment, but it’s probably better to be done in a more professional way.’

Davies is quite bullish on the category as a whole, and welcomes what he sees as solid growth in the market.

‘We’ve gone from 11 million cases of sparkling wine consumption per year in 2003 to more than 27 million cases in this country’, continues Davies. ‘Granted, a lot of that is Prosecco, but not all. It’s exciting to see a range of new styles and bottlings done in California, and many with premium vineyards.'”