A couple of weekends ago, I conducted another Blind Tasting at our humble little abode here in Houston, to which I invited other wine writers from the area. As you may recall, I conducted a tasting of American True Rosés in the Spring, and the second was this Fall when I tasted American Pinot Noirs.

All of the blind tastings (now nineteen in total) have produced some surprises, which is, quite frankly, why tasting blind from time to time is healthy. It is often too easy to be influenced by price, producer, or PR firm when tasting non-blind, and it is also good to “re-center” one’s palate in a way—to focus only on what is in the glass.

Why do I limit my tasting to just American sparkling wine? Good question. As any casual reader of this space knows, I am a bit of a champagne hound. I dare to mention how many bottles from what I consider the world’s greatest wine region actually reside in this house currently. But. There is no doubt that American sparkling wine has made great strides and while I hesitate to assert that Yankee bubbles have “caught up” to their French counterparts, I do maintain that the top-end American sparklers give Champagne a run for the money.

Here is the rest of the 33 Brut wines and the first few of the 17 rosé sparklers that we tasted a fortnight ago. I will publish the remaining notes on Friday as well as my overall top wines and what I consider to be the “best value” wines from the tasting.

2018 King Estate Brut Cuvée, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $40. 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay. Another fantastic wine in a tasting with many solid sparklers. Holy cow. Yeasty and fruity on the nose, with baked fruit, great tartness, and a vibrant sparkle on the palate, holy cow, another great one here. Outstanding. 95 Points.

NV Gruet Winery Brut, New Mexico: Retail $15. Medium color with a fruity and funky nose. The palate is a bit disjointed and rather meh. Still, I would opt for this over (just about) any beer at a wedding reception! Very Good (barely). 87 Points.

2021 Sokol Blosser Bluebird Cuveé, OR: Retail $25. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Muscat. Pear and apple are dominant on the nose with good sparkle and mouthfeel. It has good balance; this is a lovely wine. Excellent. 90 Points.

NV Roederer Estate Brut, Anderson Valley, CA: Retail $28. 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir. Smokey and a bit dirty even on the nose, which is odd, at least for a sparkler. The palate is much better, however, with good tart tree fruit and just a hint of sugar. Excellent. 91 Points.

The reveal is always fun and often provides some surprises!

2019 Pellegrini Family Vineyards II. La Bionda Blanc des Blancs Olivet Lane Estate, Russian River Valley, CA: Retail $70. 100% Chardonnay. Golly, another fantastic nose. A bit ripe and sweet, sure, but there is a yeasty component. Yum. Tart and fruity on the palate, perhaps a bit sweet, but fantastic. Excellent. 91 Points.

2017 Corollary Cuvée One Vintage Brut Extended Tirage, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $70. 50% Pinot Noir, 32% Chardonnay, 18% Pinot Blanc. Close to golden in color but also fruity and quite ripe on the nose. Surprisingly tart on the palate, even really tart. Just a hint of sweetness to help round out that acid, and it works, extremely well. Excellent. 92 Points.

NV Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Blancs, Carneros, CA: Retail $25. 100% Chardonnay. Appley (is that a word?) and rather one-dimensional on the nose but rather complex on the palate with some yeastiness and depth. Nice. Excellent. 91 Points.

2016 Sanford Blanc de Noirs, Sta Rita Hills, CA: etail $55(?). 100%(?) Pinot Noir. while the info on this wine was scant online, the proof is always under the cork. Yeasty, even really yeasty on the nose of this near-golden colored wine. The palate is perhaps overly tart bruised apple. This is certainly good, but falls a bit short of the top wines in this tasting. Very Good. 88 Points.

NV Stoller Brut Sparkling Wine – Estate, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $40. 75% Chardonnay, 22% Pinot Noir, 3% Pinot Meunier. Fruity on both the nose and the palate with a nice sparkle but it is perhaps lacking a bit of acidity and therefore comes off as overly sweet. Very Good. 87 Points.

2017 Roederer Estate L’Ermitage Brut, Anderson Valley, CA: Retail $75. 52% Chardonnay, 46% Pinot Noir, 2% Pinot Meunier. Fruity and a bit yeasty on the nose with a fabulous mouthfeel and weight. Just a kiss of sweetness rounds it out nicely. Excellent. 92 Points.

Rosés always seem festive.

NV Piper Sonoma Brut Rosé, Sonoma County, CA: Retail $22. 53% Chardonnay, 39% Pinot Noir, 6% Pinot Blanc, 2% Aged Reserve Blend. Quite pale, with fresh strawberries, and a bit of an autolytic aspect. The palate is, well, fantastic with plenty of fruit, a bit of the croissant aspect, and just a kiss of sweetness. Nice. Excellent. 92 Points.

NV Scotto Family Cellars Brut Rosé, CA: Retail $20(?). Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris. Bright pink, almost bubblegum, with just a sliver of orange. Great red berry fruit both on the nose and the palate. This is really what one would want in a rosé sparkler. Whoa. Outstanding. 93 Points.

NV Domaine Chandon Brut Rosé, Carneros, CA: Retail $27. 57% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir, 3% Pinot Meunier. A bit dirty, even funky on the nose (a touch of sulfur). The palate is rather austere, almost on the verge of bitter with fruit a bit lacking. Still, Very Good. 89 Points.