These sparkling winemakers are shaking it up in SLO County

Down in the cellar at Niven Family Wine Estates in San Luis Obispo, wine bottles jut at an angle from old French riddling racks, gathering bubbles in the Champagne method.

But these bottles aren’t filled with the chardonnay or pinot traditionally used in sparkling wine. They contain sparkling albariño.

Now that breaking out the bubbly is no longer reserved just for special occasions, more local wineries are trying their hand at sparkling wines. Some are experimenting with varietals you’d never find in traditional sparklers.

Niven Family winemaker Christian Roguenant is no stranger to bubbles. He was an enologist with Champagne Deutz in France before coming here to launch Maison Deutz, now Laetitia Vineyard & Winery, in Arroyo Grande.

Roguenant has made a traditional blanc de blanc and brut rosé under the Baileyana label for about 15 years.

The sparkling albariño, which will be released in the spring under the Tangent label, is a small pet project that reflects the company’s passion for the peachy, aromatic varietal.

“It’s a fun, exotic wine,” said John H. Niven, Niven Family’s vice president of sales and marketing, adding that the winery is considering making a sparkling grüner veltliner as well. “Christian is applying what he knows to more obscure varietals.”

Producing sparkling wine is an expensive process requiring specialized equipment. So most local producers press and ferment still wine, then send it to a custom producer such as Rack & Riddle in Healdsburg for finishing, which can take two years or more.

Cass Vineyard and Winery in Paso Robles is getting ready to release its second sparkling marsanne, a full-bodied bubbly with a creamy texture that can hold up to rich foods. Offered largely to wine club members, it reflects the winery’s commitment to estate-grown Rhone varietals, said winemaker Sterling Kragten, who’s also playing with a sparkling grenache.

The sparkling grenache at Clavo Cellars in Templeton, featured at October’s Bubblyfest by the Sea festival, has been a pleasant surprise for tasting room visitors who don’t seem put off by the uncommon varietal.

“If anything, it perks their interest,” said vintner Neil Roberts, who’s considering an Argentinian torrontés for his next sparkling project.

Halter Ranch in Paso Robles has 2,000 cases of 2015 sparkling picpoul that will be ready by 2018. And two wineries offer sparkling viognier, Clautiere Vineyard in Paso Robles and Domaine Le Mieux in Avila Valley’s See Canyon.

Domaine Le Mieux winemaker Chris Le Mieux first made the bubbly at his mom’s request but now prefers it to chardonnay sparklers.

“This has more complexity to me, more minerality in the finish and hints of Asian pear,” said Le Mieux, who’s also cidermaker for See Canyon Hard Cider.

A few local producers are playing not with varietals but with process, reviving old techniques to create a rustic, usually unfiltered sparkling wine that can be made in a matter of weeks rather than years.

Pét-nats — short for “pétillant natural,” or, natural sparkling — are bottled before they finish the initial fermentation, leading to an earthy, wild quality.

“They’re more adventurous. You never know what’s going to happen with them,” said Robin Puricelli, wine director at Lido at Dolphin Bay Resort & Spa in Shell Beach, a big fan of the emerging style. “They’re still alive in the bottle.”

Mike Sinor, the winemaker behind Sinor-Lavallee Wines in Avila Beach and other labels, swore he’d never make sparkling wine. But the resurgence of “methode ancestrale,” as the ancient method is also called, caught his attention. He’ll release his first pét-nat in the spring.

Center of Effort in Arroyo Grande made a pét-nat for its wine club, and Santa Maria’s Scar of the Sea is releasing its second, following last year’s sold-out vintage.

The always on-trend Field Recordings in Paso Robles just released one, too, as well as another uncommon format — “methode aluminum,” a canned sparkling rosé sent out to members of their popular can club.

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 12:56 PM with the headline "These sparkling winemakers are shaking it up in SLO County."