Schramsberg J. Schram 2003
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Winemaker Notes
A gorgeous depth of fruit greets the nose: lemon-lime, pineapple, baked pear and orange marmalade. Fresh sourdough, vanilla crème brûlée and toasted marshmallow notes follow. A crisp and zippy entry on the palate gives way to a viscous, caramelized apple and citrus profile. This rich sparkling wine finishes with a delicate minerality, a hint of warm roasted almonds and a lingering acidity.
Professional Ratings
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Connoisseurs' Guide
Once again, Schramsberg's flagship bubbly winds up at the right end of the leaderboard. Its bold, complex blending of toast, caramel, yeast and crème brûlée takes it far beyond the realm of primary fruit, and yet, for all that the wine possesses, it succeeds because it has energetic, briskly focused fruit at its heart. With its creamy mousse of small bubbles and its rich, developed flavors in the mouth, it is a wine to serve with a first course of a fois gras crème caramel or a finely crafted lobster mousse because nothing less decadent will bring out all that is on offer here.
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Wine Enthusiast
A beautiful, rich, elegant, fancy sparkling wine. Feels so fine in the mouth, all silk and satin, with deep, dry raspberry, strawberry, vanilla, toast, yeasty lees, brioche and honey flavors. Superb, but young. Needs time. Give it until 2011, if you can keep your hands off, and should develop until 2015, if not longer. Cellar Selection
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Wine Spectator
A beautiful bubbly, boldly styled but retaining elegance, with aromas of fresh brioche and apple and layered flavors of spicy hazelnut, yeast and baked pear.
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In 1965, Jack and Jamie Davies founded Schramsberg and set out to make world-class sparkling wine in the true méthode traditionelle style on the property originally established in 1862 by German immigrant Jacob Schram. There were only 22 bonded wineries in Napa Valley and fewer than 100 acres of California vineyards planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Schramsberg was the first California winery to provide a Blanc de Blancs in 1965 followed by a Blanc de Noirs in 1967. Now their son, Hugh Davies, leads the winery’s management and winemaking team.
The Schramsberg estate in Napa Valley’s famed Diamond Mountain District is a registered historic landmark with Napa’s first caves, hand-dug in the 1880s, and its first hillside vineyards. Quality focus drives all aspects of wine production starting with access to over 120 cool-climate sites in Carneros, Marin, Mendocino and Sonoma, which result in over 200 separate lots. Unique among California sparkling wine houses, Schramsberg ferments about 25 percent of its juice in oak barrels to produce rich, flavorful, complex wines.
Most of Schramsberg’s viticultural and winemaking practices are carried out by hand: grapes are hand harvested, the wines are handcrafted, and the bottles are stacked and riddled in underground caves. The family and the winery embody excellence and innovation in winemaking, as well as preservation of their land, their history and their community.
California enjoys a long history and proven reputation as an admirable source of sparkling wines. Agoston Haraszthy, who established Buena Vista Winery in the mid 1850s, first attempted to make traditional method sparkling wine in California in the 1870s. Shortly thereafter Korbel followed, and with great success. Today domestic producers such as Schramsberg, Iron Horse and J. Wine Co remain at the forefront of the market.
Since the 1970s the state has consistently attracted the attention and investment of large and respected European and French-based firms who are responsible for Domaine Chandon, Mumm-Napa Valley, Roederer Estate and Domaine Carneros (Taittinger), to name a few. Anderson Valley and Carneros remain standout regions for top quality Pinot noir and Chardonnay for these.