2018 Ultramarine "Keefer Ranch Vineyard" Blanc de Blancs Sonoma Coast Sparkling Wine

2018 Ultramarine "Keefer Ranch Vineyard" Blanc de Blancs Sonoma Coast Sparkling Wine

Erin Brooks of Wine Advocate writes: "'How do we use sparkling wine to examine site?' Michael Cruse, winemaker for Ultramarine and Cruse Wine Co., asks. Ultramarine, founded in 2008, is reserved for single-vineyard, single-vintage sparkling wines made in the traditional method. Still wines, traditional method sparklings and pét-nats are crafted under the Cruse Wine Co. brand, founded in 2013. 'Ultramarine has a very different starting point than Cruse Wine Co.,' Cruse, who began his career in Napa, explains. 'Every Napa winemaker at some point wants to make Pinot Noir.' But the market was already saturated, and Cruse wanted to do something different. 'I had the idea of taking grower Champagne techniques and applying them to California. I started working with Charles Heintz, and as I learned more about the process, I became obsessive about that process and making the most terroir-driven, traditional sparkling wines in California from single vineyards and single vintages.' Sparkling wines have always been viewed as dependent on process, stylistically formed via methods in the cellar. Now, the concept of terroir in sparkling wine is gaining steam with the increasing popularity of grower Champagnes. 'For me, sparkling wine is another lens to examine terroir,' Cruse says."