4/24/2024 - galewskj wrote: 91 points

California wines but not from Napa: Amazingly racy, this sparkler has a lot of energy and acid. The acidic finish persists for a long time. This is a different animal than methode champenoise, happy to try it at $73 but not sure I'd be a buyer at full price.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

4/23/2024 - gharter Likes this wine: 90 points

Very light salmon color. Aromas of apple, tangerine, raspberry, apricot, and brioche. On the palate, citrus, strawberry, cherry, peach and brioche. Fine bubbles. good acidity. Smooth finish.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

4/22/2024 - TBaylog Likes this wine: 93 points

Excellent but the B de N much better value.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

4/20/2024 - IAmVintage wrote: 94 points

One of our faves for its rich tart bite of acidity, wild red fruit and a real pop to the palate. Pick your pairing wisely cuz this can & will overwhelm boring, too laid back food. ;-p

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

4/20/2024 - opaqui wrote: NR

Tasted on 4/20/24 and was delicious. Smooth and sweet. Clean finish

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

4/18/2024 - qtsam11 wrote: NR

Drank over two days. Excellent iteration of the reserve, after being disappointed by a few other vintages recently. A dark, golden color, with ample carbonation. Red apples, roasted nuts, and some faint autolytic notes. Drinking well now, and well stored bottles will hold well for many years in the cellar, it seems.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

4/14/2024 - GraffCellar Likes this wine: 92 points

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

4/11/2024 - AD_jutant wrote: 87 points

Nose is very different from Champagne (sorry, I haven’t had American sparkling wine before). There is a lot of sweet pastry (cinnamon, sugar icing as well), yellow apple, and pear. Surprisingly there are also honey and a little bit of umami/soy sauce, though the later wears off.
Nice and full mousse in the mouth with hard candy. There are lemon, elderflower, and some orange on the palate. It feels medium+ bodied and a little viscous.
Quite long finish.
8/18

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

4/9/2024 - SuperSomm wrote: 85 points

Pale salmon colour. Small and lazy bubbles. Medium (-) and developing nose with strawberry, white flowers, raspberry, toast, rubber and bread dough. Medium taste of strawberry, lemon, toast, rubber, wet stone, earth and bread dough. Medium (-) long and off-dry. High acidity. Medium body. a good Californian Sparkling Rosé. Drink now or over the next couple of years. Goes well as an aperitif.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

4/5/2024 - qtsam11 wrote: NR

Drank over two nights. Beautiful golden color with a nice bead, though the bubbles could have been finer. Red apples, pastry crust and autolytic notes carried both days. Near the end of day two, the dosage became noticeable, and this started to feel just a touch too sweet. Overall, a nice wine that will do OK with some cellar age, though I find J Scram Noirs/Reserve to do better closer to release rather than extended time in the cellar.

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

4/6/2024 - WhooskeyWine Likes this wine: 91 points

Light golden hue. Aromas of almond, apple, citrus, peach, pear, yeast. Medium body with high acidity. Lengthy finish. Balanced and beautiful expression of Champagne-style sparkler from California. 100% Chardonnay.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

4/2/2024 - lewisrise wrote: 90 points

Pale gold, with medium intensity, youthful, aromas of apple, pear, honeysuckle, and sourdough toast. This wine is medium dry and has high acidity and medium alcohol with medium plus body. This wine has medium plus intensity, flavors of pear, apple, sourdough, with a medium plus finish.

This is a good wine that should be drunk now and the next five years.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/29/2024 - qtsam11 wrote: NR

Drank over two nights, sealed between pours and overnight with a champagne stopper. Poured a pleasant golden hue, but with surprisingly large bubbles that dissipated relatively quickly. On night one, not showing much. Acidity and dosage seemed well balanced, but not a lot of depth or length. Hints of apples and nuts, perhaps some citrus, but generally fairly faint. One night two, the baked apple became more pronounced and pleasant, though oxidative notes really started to show. By the end of the bottle, it became quite oxidative and sherry-like. Hopefully this was just an off bottle.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/31/2024 - Cuellar's Cellar Likes this wine: 92 points

A really nice brut wine. This is an easy drinker. A great easter starter. Cheers

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

3/31/2024 - gharter Likes this wine: 94 points

Fine bubbles. Aromas of peach, apple, pear, smoke, nuts. Smooth, medium body. Rich and smooth, flavors of peach, apple, pear, nuts, light oak. Good acidity leading to a long smooth finish.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/31/2024 - vino-me Likes this wine: 99 points

Beautiful

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/29/2024 - vino-me Likes this wine: 98 points

Excellent Pinot noir based sparkling. Less than 5 grams per liter residual sugar

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/30/2024 - OldHick95 Likes this wine: 94 points

Strawberry Pop Tarts and pink lemonade flavors. Just tart enough to retain interest and hold up to salty chips and snacks.

1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

3/30/2024 - buymoreredsdrinkmorewhites wrote: NR

Ok sparkler BdB but rather non-disrcipt with little fruit present.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/29/2024 - sstein19 Likes this wine: 92 points

Yellow in color. Nose of yeast, apple, lemon curd, and honeysuckle. Light and tart. Flavor of lemon and green apple.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/29/2024 - mouton45 wrote: 90 points

IMHO, the 2020 lagged well behind the 2019, which I rated 93 on Feb. 28. Schramsberg is one of my top 5 favorite California sparkllng wine makers.. It always has and always will produce a very good sparkler, and this 2020 was definitely drinkable with our impromptu dinner of organic pork and chicken mousse pate from Whole Foods and Costco's Kirkland double cream brie imported from Normandy.

The 2020 exhiibited a volcanic eruption-like of bubbles in the glass from the first pour to the last sip. It offered a variety of floral notes and fruity flavors, and went well with the pate and cheese.

I respect WS and WE for the 93s they awards to the 202. But to me, it wasn't as good as the 1999, and I wondered why.

My guess why comes from Antonio Galloni's Viintage Chart for 2020 Sonoma PN (Schramsberg's grapes for its rose are sourced from North Coast vineyards from Mendocino to Marin counties, and in the case of the 2020. (which is 72% PN and 28% chard, according to the producer's website), 67% on the pinot came from Sonoma.

Here's what Galloni said about Sonoma PN for that vintage :

Year: 2020
Score: 78
Recommendation: Drink Now

Two-thousand twenty is an especially difficult vintage for Pinot Noir. Rampant wildfires and smoke presented huge challenges. Some wines were completely lost to smoke taint and were not bottled at all. In other cases, winemakers were able to accelerate harvest and salvage some of the crop. The dramatic conditions of the year resulted in highly variable wines. It is a vintage that requires extreme selection. I would not push my luck on aging. (08/23, AG).

FWIW: Vinous hasn't issued a rating on the 2020 Sonoma pinots as yet. It rated the 2019's as 93. Not wishing to get into any discussion on the validity of scores in general and professional reviewers in particular, I'm OK the two pro assessments of the 2020 Schramsberg But Rose posted so far. Everyone has a right to their opinion.

Right or wrong, I just saying that to ME it tasted distinctly different from the 2019, which is not uncommon with all the varietals.

WS rated the 2020 North Coast pinot vintage at 87 and said: "A year to forget for many Northern California producers, with a number of them not releasing wines because of challenging weather conditions, capped by wildfires during harvest leading to issues of smoke taint."

WA scored N.C. pinots 80 I - I for "irregular, even among the best wines."

Sounds pretty consistent to me, I guess.

Last word on this from me (thank God, right!): I bought 3 bottles of the 2020 rose a few months ago. Despite the caveat-emptor alerts from V, WS and WA, I plan to roll the dice and hold on to the other two bottles to drink other the next couple years. My score of 90 FW is not a terrible one, and other tasters already have or may see it differently, which is perfectly fine.

And considering the terrible wildfires that hit many vineyards and wineries, Schramsberg made, as usual, the best sparkler they could with what they had to work with. Bravo for their efforts. That's one reason they remain in my top 5.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/27/2024 - Bsothe1 wrote: 92 points

Enjoyed with sushi at Hinata SF. Nice medium body rose, not as much complexity as I had hoped

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/16/2024 - gharter Likes this wine: 92 points

PnP. Tiny bubbles. Lighter than many BdNs. Great aromatics with red pear, tart cherry, apricot, honey, orange, peach, ginger, brioche and vanilla. Layered flavors showing pear, cherry, apricot, tangerine, grapefruit , almond and brioche. Has a long smooth finish. very enjoyable.

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

3/16/2024 - Mattmck Likes this wine: 88 points

Had with Scott and Nicole around st Patty’s day

Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment