Blanc de Noirs (white made from black grapes) is the companion to Blanc de Blancs (white made from white grapes).
Schramsberg produces Blanc de Blancs (white wine made from white grapes) and Blanc de Noirs (white wine made from black grapes). Schramsberg pioneered Blanc de Noirs production in the United States and has been producing it since 1967. Blanc de Noirs (white wine made from black grapes) is the companion to Blanc de Blancs (white wine made from white grapes).
Schramsberg produces Blanc de Blancs (white wine made from white grapes) and Blanc de Noirs (white wine made from black grapes). Schramsberg is a pioneer in Blanc de Noirs production in the United States and has been producing it since 1967. The 2020 Blanc de Noirs has aromas of yellow peach, apricot, lemon zest, orange, and subtle elderflower, almond paste, and pie crust. It starts with bright acidity and flavors of lemon bar, honey, and custard, and continues with a juicy, long finish. Blanc de Noirs is a great wine to pair with food. It pairs particularly well with soft cheeses, nutty cheeses, baked white fish with macadamia nut crust, and pork tenderloin baked with herbs such as rosemary and thyme. 2020 began with a dry, mild winter. The buds sprouted earlier than usual and the amount of fruit was smaller than usual, so the harvest started early. The cool and mild summer turned into a heatwave in August and September, and we were hit by wildfires. However, our team overcame these challenges and were able to produce a wonderful sparkling wine. Making white wine from black grapes requires a lot of effort, such as hand-picking the perfectly ripe fruit early in the morning and gently pressing it. This is why we end up with a wine with a well-balanced taste, with a bright flavor, clean acidity, and minimal tannins. If stored properly, this sparkling wine will be delicious for years, or even decades.
Harvest date: August 5th - September 12th, 2020
Barrel fermentation: 18%
Total acidity: 7.8g/L
Residual sugar content: 8.0g/L
pH: 3.2Schramsberg was founded by Jacob Schram on the mountainside of Napa Valley about 150 years ago. In 1965, the Davies became the owners and established the company as a producer of sparkling wines made using the Champagne method. They started with Blanc de Blancs made from Chardonnay, and have continued to produce high-quality sparkling wines that represent America, which have been used many times at official dinners for successive American presidents. In 1965, Jack and Jamie Davies, parents of current president Hugh Davies, purchased Schramsberg. For many years, Schramsberg had been in ruins, but Jack and Jamie Davies decided to use this land to make sparkling wine that America could be proud of. At that time, there were only 21 wineries in California, and the total area cultivated with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir was about 20 hectares. Sparkling wines from outside of France were merely "drinks with bubbles" and were treated as less than wine, and everyone thought that making high-quality sparkling wine was reckless. But Jack and Jamie didn't give up. They said they would make a domestic Champagne-style sparkling wine full of complexity and luxury. They replanted grapes in fields that had been poorly managed for decades, paid close attention to grape cultivation, and reviewed all the brewing processes, adjusting the aging period of the wine through trial and error to create the best taste. And above all, they traveled around the country to spread the name of "Schramsberg", the story that the two of them believed in. The 1965 Blanc de Blancs was the first commercial sparkling wine to use Chardonnay. The 1967 Blanc de Noirs was made mainly from Pinot Noir and became famous as a traditional Champagne-style sparkling wine. The Reserve, which was released next, established its position as a high-class sparkling wine aged for more than 48 months, and the Cremant Demi-Sec, released in 1973, is made from Flora grapes, a cross between Semillon and Gewürztraminer, and has been used many times at official dinners for American presidents. In 1972, President Nixon made a surprise visit to Beijing and met with Premier Zhou Enlai, where he was served a 1969 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs. Then, J. Schram, made from grapes harvested in 1987, was released in 1992, and released a wine that rivaled the Tête de Cuvée of the world's top champagne houses. As a result of Jack and Jamie's tireless efforts, Schramsberg became a world-famous sparkling house. American wine critic Nathan Chroman said: "You can talk about sparkling wine from an average producer in a line. A major French company starting to make sparkling wine in California could be talked about in a paragraph. But the impact that Jacques and Jamie have had on California could take up more than a chapter." All the grapes are harvested by hand, and the wine is also made by hand. All the wine is aged in caves on the winery's grounds, and most of the remiage is done by hand by employees. The labels of the flagship wine, Jay Schram, are applied by hand. Schramsberg stocks, ages, and releases 2.7 million bottles of wine.