December 10, 2021 – Winemaker Dan Person, who spent three years as assistant winemaker at Schramsberg, and his winemaker wife Jacqueline started their label Carboniste in 2017. They were looking to make a style of sparkling wine that was more reflective of the California sunshine that we have in abundance. Truth be told, Dan wasn’t crazy about the fruit he got from Carneros, a traditional source of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes for sparkling wine in Napa. Then he discovered Albariño from Isleton near the Sacramento Delta. And right after that, he started working with Corralitos fruit when Craig and Cathy Handley of Pleasant Valley Vineyards hired him to make sparkling from their vineyard.
“All of the commercially relevant domestic sparklings are basically an homage to Champagne,” says Person. “Everyone is trying to replicate France in California. It’s understandable, as most of these houses are owned by the French. But I thought, ‘Why are we doing this? Why is this our objective?’ This is why we invented Carboniste.”
His motto is: Champagne is from France. Carboniste is California.
Jacqueline was working with the Albariño from the Isleton vineyard and Dan found it very aromatic and juicy, with a ton of brightness. “California tastes like sunshine. I found it to be perfect expression of terroir. She made still wine from that vineyard in 2012 and I thought, ‘This is fantastic!’ Then I started thinking about it in the context of sparkling. Finally, I decided to just do it!”
When Person began working with Pleasant Valley Vineyard, he was pleasantly surprised at the persistence and character of the fruit. “Being from Napa, I had never heard of Corralitos before,” he confesses. “I was so impressed with the flavors and character. I picked it early and it’s better than Carneros.”
He met Lori Lester the day Craig and Cathy had a wine club event at Lester Vineyards. At that point he’d made two vintages of sparkling for them. Lori was definitely interested in having some sparkling made from Lester fruit. He made the first vintage of Brut for Lester in 2017.
In 2018, the Handleys sold the vineyard to Frances J. McIntyre and moved to Tahoe. Person continued to make sparkling for the new owners, who renamed the vineyard Frances J.
Person is really stoked about the Frances J Vineyard, which he now takes entirely for Carboniste. He decided to make a Corralitos Brut under his appellation series, with fruit he gets from Lester, Frances J and another vineyard in Pleasant Valley.
“It’s a classic Brut, 50/50 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. I think it’s a stunning area. I am so excited to be working with this fruit and am so happy with it,” he says.
He describes the Pinot Noir from Carneros as not having a lot of primary fruit. He gets squash and pumpkin, whereas the Pinot Noir from Corralitos is red fruited, showing strawberry, raspberry and vibrant acid. “I have never found Pinot Noir that is so expressive at sparkling levels of ripeness. The wind and sandy soil are factors, for sure,” says Person. “There is a mild Monterey Bay influence that delivers fresh, bright and energetic wine.”
The Chardonnay in the Brut comes primarily from Frances J. “It’s a site you wouldn’t even notice. It’s literally their backyard, yielding all of 2 tons. For most winemakers, it wouldn’t even be worth it, but it has an expressive, not overly fruity character. Sometimes Chardonnay is boring. But this is natural and savory, like roasted almonds. It’s not oxidized, but comes across as rich even when young. It gets blended with Lester Pinot Noir and it’s a wonderful blend, but I love Frances J on its own.”
This wine was fermented in barrel with native and commercial yeast at 60-70°F for 3 weeks, and no sulfur dioxide was added. The secondary fermentation occurred in bottle after the addition of fresh yeast and a small amount of sugar, and lasted nine months. After disgorging and a light dosage of wine and sugar, the bottles were capped with crown caps as their final closure. This is such a quick and easy way to enjoy your sparkling wine and is the closure of choice for Pet Nats, too.
Disgorging is very time consuming and he can only do 125 cases per day. It’s not for the faint of heart—just ask Ryan Beauregard how he feels about sparkling wine, but it’s a passion project. Check out the Carboniste website, where you can marvel at all the cool labels they’ve come up with for their special sparkling projects. We especially love all the wines that feature sea creatures.
Cheers to bubbles!
About the author
Laura Ness is a longtime wine journalist, columnist and judge who contributes regularly to Edible Monterey Bay, Spirited, WineOh.Tv, Los Gatos Magazine and Wine Industry Network, and a variety of consumer publications. Her passion is telling stories about the intriguing characters who inhabit the fascinating world of wine and food.
