Spring’s Don’t Miss Drink
By now, eating and drinking local in Santa Barbara County is easy. With our plethora of local farmers and chefs who embrace local ingredients, along with the more than 200 wineries and over 21,349 acres planted to wine grapes, you can easily find locally grown food, wine and food products to enjoy every day of the year. Thankfully, you can also include sparkling wine!
Sparkling wine is a labor of love for many Santa Barbara County vintners, and the number of local producers has been growing slowly and steadily over the last 10 years. Today, with the popularity of an ancestral method resulting in a sparkling wine called Pét-nat, there are over 50 producers of sparkling wine in the county, making bubbly wine available here year-round.
Pét-nat is short for pétillant naturel, or natural bubbles, and is the oldest (and easiest) way to make sparkling wine. It differs from traditional Champagne production in that the wine is bottled before the fermentation is complete (so only one fermentation happens, partially in the bottle), no sugar or yeast is added for a second fermentation, and it’s usually unfiltered, and can be made from a multitude of grape varieties. It also takes a much shorter time than the traditional method, meaning more winemakers can get in on the bubbly action. Pét-nat’s bubbles typically don’t last as long as those in traditional sparkling wine and the flavors can be all over the map, instead of the classic style and flavor profile you get from the méthode traditionnelle.
Los Olivos has a high concentration of these fun, fresh bubbles, as well as traditional sparkling wine, so it’s a perfect place to go bubbly tasting this spring. Pét-nats include Carhartt’s sparkling rosé of Grenache, Dreamcôte’s three different Pét-nats (Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Verdejo) and Solminer, also with three different bubblies (all certified organic and biodynamic: Riesling, rosé of Syrah and Sparkling Syrah). Some of the traditional sparklers in town are Blair Fox (also rosé made from Grenache), Coquelicot’s Sparkling Riesling, Fess Parker’s Fesstivity label (three different sparkling wines from classic Blanc de Blancs to sparkling red Grenache plus a 30th Anniversary Magnum of sparkling Cuvée, all available at the Bubble Shack), Toretti Blanc de Noirs, and E11even Blanc de Blancs. Plus, you can also get small-lot Loubud Blanc de Noirs & Goat Bubbles from Flying Goat (some of the oldest bubbles in the county) at local wine shop Community Craft.
Find more Santa Barbara County bubbles at CaliCoastWineCountry.com, and celebrate spring in Los Olivos: Pop some local bottles!
