This past week, I conducted another Blind Tasting at our humble little abode here in Houston, to which I invited other wine writers from the area. Originally, there were going to be three other writers joining me, then there were two, then one, and finally, on the eve of the tasting, the last writer dropped out, all succumbing to a rather nasty bug going around Houston. Thus, I was alone for the Eighth Annual World’s Largest Blind Tasting of American Sparkling Wine, which featured 38 sparkling wines from California and Oregon.

As with years past, we (my wife luckily helped out) first chilled the wines, then removed all the corks and foil from the bottles and then inserted them into bags. Then, my wife randomly numbered the hidden bottles. This way, while I knew what wines were in the tasting, there was no way to identify the order in which we tasted the wines.

I tasted four wines at a time, taking notes on each wine, and focusing on general impressions and preferences and then briefly discussed each flight (with my wife and a neighbor who also helped out) before moving on to the next set of four wines.

Here, in the order that they were tasted, are the first 12 wines. I will publish the remaining tasting notes along with my list of top wines from the tasting, over the next couple of days.

NV Scharffenberger Brut Excellence, Mendocino County, CA: Retail $24. 60% Chardonnay, 40% Pinot Noir. Light straw in the glass with a fine, healthy sparkle. More of a pear than a citrus with a touch of minerality and a hint of yeast. Subtle. Good balance and surprisingly yeasty on the palate. Plenty of fruit and a good, tangy acidity, this is very nice. A touch metallic on the finish? Excellent. 91 Points.

NV Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Brut M.V. 6, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $85. 60% Chardonnay, 34% Pinot Noir, 6% Reserve wines.Light straw with medium bubbles and a nose that is more of an apricot and marzipan, and an aroma that I can’t quite place. A tad of yeast, perhaps? Interesting on the palate with a flavor that I struggle to place. Not in a bad way, just a bit different. Great acidity. Excellent. 91 Points.

NV Stoller Brut Sparkling Wine – Estate, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $40. 75% Pinot Noir, 22% Chardonnay, 3% Pinot Meunier. Disgorged Spring 2023. Pale straw with a fine sparkle, a particularly shy nose, and even a bit meaty? Which is a new thing for me in a sparkling. A bit different, really. That meaty/oddness continues onto the palate as well. Decent tartness saves this, along with a very nice finish. Very Good. 88 Points.

NV Stoller Brut Sparkling Wine – Estate, Dundee Hills, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $85. 100% Pinot Noir. Another rather muted nose with some red delicious apple eventually coming through. Medium straw color. Great fruit on the palate—the red delicious (slightly under ripe) comes through along with an intense tartness and a hint of yeast. Excellent. 92 Points.

NV Decoy Brut Cuvée, California: Retail $20. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier. Classic citrus nose in this pale straw wine with delicate bubbles. A touch of yeast. Quite nice on the palate as well with plenty of fruit, a touch of hazelnut, and a yeasty tartness that unifies. Very nice. Excellent. 92 Points.

NV Mumm Napa Brut Prestige, Napa Valley, CA: Retail $24. 45% Chardonnay, 45% Pinot Noir, 10% Pinot Gris & Pinot Meunier. Pale straw with a medium bubble and a shy nose. Not much here to smell other than a bit of a metallic aspect. The palate is another story, with good fruit, a touch of sweetness (but still definitely a brut), nice balance, and a lengthy finish. Really nice after the nose. Excellent. 91 Points.

2022 Argyle Vintage Brut, Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $30. 63% Chardonnay, 30% Pinot Noir, 7% Pinot Meunier. Pale straw with a fine sparkle, and a classic citrus nose with a hint of marzipan. Maybe come candied apricot? Fairly dry on the palate and even on the verge of austere with lemon, lime, and maybe some candied orange peel? Very Good. 89 Points.

NV Gruet Winery Cuvée 89 Rosé, New Mexico: Retail $15. I looked, but I could not find the varietal composition of this wine. Quite pale rosé. Fine sparkle. Rhubarb, cherry, and a touch of mandarin orange. So fruity that it comes off as sweet. Decent acidity, but it certainly could use more, as this comes off a tad flabby on the palate. Still? A pleasant quaff. Very Good. 88 Points.

2021 Domaine Carneros Brut Rosé, Carneros, CA: Retail $47. 57% Estate Grown Pinot Noir, 43% Estate Grown Chardonnay. Quite pale, just a hint of orange-ish pink. Wonderful nose of dried cherry, wild strawberry, and a decided yeasty component. Lovely. Whoa. Fantastic fruit, sure, but the balance here is impressive as the tartness marries rather seamlessly with the fruit. The finish is equally enticing as it lasts for minutes. Yowza. Outstanding. 96 Points.

NV Domaine Serene Evenstad Reserve Brut Rose M.V. 5, Dundee Hills , Willamette Valley, OR: Retail $105. 64% Pinot Noir, 24% Chardonnay, 12% Brut Reserve. More tropical fruit in this slightly orange/pink-hued wine, with a slight medicinal thing going on. Some red fruit on the back end of the nose. That slight medicinal aspect transfers onto the palate along with some tart cherry and a healthy tartness. This is really fantastic and would be rated much higher without that slight metallic aspect. Very Nice. Outstanding. 93 Points.

Isn’t it time to do away with all the foil? It serves no purpose….