Earlier this year, I had the rare opportunity to taste through a retrospective of Ultramarine’s Heintz Vineyard traditional method sparkling wines, including the Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs and rosé. This report includes some of the earliest examples from 2010 and 2011, plus recent releases from 2018.
Heintz Vineyard is widely considered a California “grand cru” site and has produced top-quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for over four decades—purchasers of these precious grapes include big names like Littorai, Dumol, Ceritas and Williams Selyem. Since 1984 it has been farmed by Charles Heintz, whose grandparents purchased the property in 1912. Originally planted to apples and other crops, the first Chardonnay grapes were planted in the Goldridge sandy loam soils in the early 1980s, followed by plantings of Pinot Noir in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The vineyard is located two ridges in from the Pacific Ocean, on a plateau near the town of Occidental in western Sonoma. At around 800-1,000 feet in elevation, fog inundates the vines each morning and afternoon, allowing grapes to reach full maturity while maintaining crisp acidity and salty mineral character.
Winemaker Michael Cruse also poured a few examples of his experimental Cruse Wine Co. sparklings, made in a very different style from grapes such as Valdiguié. For a full profile on Michael Cruse and the wines of Ultramarine and Cruse Wine Co., visit my previous report called USA, California: Michael Cruse Pushes the Boundaries of Sparkling Wine in California. Cheers!
