Rollin Soles got the ball rolling on sparkling wine at Oregon’s Argyle back in 1987. Who knows if – more than three decades ago – he could have foreseen the growth and quality of the wine style’s production in the Willamette Valley.
There are now around 100 sparkling producers in the valley, based on self-reporting to the Willamette Valley Wineries Association, and that number seems to grow by the week.
A sparkling sweet spot
Oregon’s reputation for fantastic wines is built on the varieties of Burgundy, which, it turns out, are partly the same as Champagne. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay do so well in Oregon; so perhaps naturally, sparkling wine has sparked serious interest from Oregon’s winemakers.
‘I think that the Willamette Valley’s potential for high-quality sparkling is a pretty natural outcome for a region already producing spectacular Pinot Noir and Chardonnay,’ says WillaKenzie Estate winemaker Erik Kramer.
‘Oregon has an ideal climate for growing grapes for sparkling wines,’ says Rachel Healow, associate winemaker for the sparkling house, Argyle. ‘Because sparkling grapes are harvested at lower ripeness, making sparkling wine allows us to begin our harvest season earlier, in the late summer. The cool nights and mornings create ideal conditions for retaining acid – vital to our sparkling wines.’
Scroll down for scores and reviews for Oregon Sparkling wines for NYE
Talent bubbles over
In addition to the right conditions, the talent is here, a vital part of any fine wine region’s success.
‘I think Oregon is one of the most exciting places to make wine right now,’ says Bryn Mawr Vineyards winemaker Rachel Rose. ‘This has attracted a considerable amount of talent and winemakers with significant technical skill. The sparkling wine producers I know use high-quality parcels of land, farm their fruit with exceptional precision, and spare no expense in the pursuit of making the best wine possible.’
‘Having a degree of intentionality built into the vision for a high-quality sparkling programme is essential,’ says WillaKenzie’s Kramer. ‘In other words, working with appropriate vineyard locations, farming intentionally for sparkling, and having a clear stylistic vision can tee a wine up for success from inception.’
A radiant future
While he has no interest in taking credit for anyone’s wine, Radiant Sparkling Wine Company owner Andrew Davis is a big part of the sparkling renaissance in the Willamette Valley. Davis contracts with small and not-so-small producers and provides the niche and often prohibitively expensive equipment that has allowed several wineries to begin experimenting and perfecting their own sparkling production.
Davis started Radiant in the spring of 2014 and has grown up to 36 clients he works with from start to finish, along with another dozen or so he helps with parts of the process, like disgorgement.
After getting his sparkling-wine-focused oenology degree in New Zealand, Davis returned to Oregon, where he began his undergraduate studies and was soon making wine alongside Rollin Soles, Oregon’s bubbly pioneer at Argyle. Over the years, Davis received many requests for help making bubbles: ‘No one had the special machinery required because the production was so small, so I sort of risked everything on Radiant and hoped the valley would support it.’
Sure enough, the response has been overwhelming.
‘The potential here is tremendous,’ Davis says. ‘For every iconic Old World region, there is a New World region standing toe to toe with it. For Cabernet, you think of Bordeaux but also Napa Valley. For Burgundy, I think of the Willamette Valley; many people would say Central Otago. However, no one has really challenged Champagne, but I think the Willamette Valley can do that.’
‘Quite simply, we’re cooler in the Willamette Valley than Champagne is these days. Things have warmed up there, and the night-time temperatures aren’t getting down to where they really want them. They’re struggling to keep their acidities up. We don’t have that problem at all. I’m actually nudging people to pick a little bit later, in some cases when we’re seeing ripping acidities.’
The virtue of patience
The Willamette Valley’s sparkling wines are second to none from my broader tastings when it comes to US regions producing the style. The ripeness is there, and the freshness is undeniable, giving a balance between fruit, minerality and a bright, fresh finish. Demand is high, and winemakers can disgorge on demand and sell out of it almost immediately.
However, as winemakers seek to elevate the sparkling wines and the region, extended tirage (lees ageing) is coming to the fore.
‘When the vision for WillaKenzie Estate’s Éclatant Brut was first conceptualised, it was pretty clear that we were going for a minimum of four years en tirage [ageing on the lees] from the outset,’ explains Kramer.
‘The initial concept for our Éclatant Brut was to bottle non-vintage with 10-15% of the blend being made up of a reserve component.
‘The wines are more complex and interesting, [due to] a portion of the blend coming from the reserve. The Éclatant Brut that will be disgorged in the summer of 2025 has a reserve component of 11% and will have been en tirage for four years.’
‘To me, as these wines age en tirage, those autolytic ageing characteristics, which people associate with the finer Champagne, really show beautifully in the wines from the Willamette Valley. These wines will get serious critical attention,’ said Davis.
