Rhys Vineyards Perpetual Réserve California NV

The heart of this wine is its perpetual reserve foundation – a living library of vintages from 2016 to 2021, where each year's harvest blends with the wines from its neighboring vintages. It's the same flavor-building philosophy that gives many of the great non-vintage Champagnes their depth and continuity, letting young and mature wines round each other out over time. Having Rodolphe Péters in the cellar is no small thing, either, as few people on earth understand this method more intimately, and his influence is palpable in the wine’s poise.

Rhys draws from two high-elevation sites for this wine – Mt. Pajaro in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA and the estate Bearwallow Vineyard in Anderson Valley, with elevations climbing from 440 to 980 feet. Rhys planted specific clones and rootstocks specifically for sparkling wine, on parcels chosen to maximize acidity. The farming is organic and biodynamic, and the team deliberately uses aspect – the orientation of each hillside block to the sun – to ripen the grapes at lower sugars, chasing the elegance and delicacy that define fine Champagne while letting California's very different soils speak for themselves. 

The winemaking itself is exacting in the best way. This Chardonnay-dominant cuvée rests on its lees for 24 months, developing that toasty, creamy complexity that separates serious sparkling wine from the merely pleasant. The low 4.7 g/L dosage keeps everything taut and precise – there's just enough to smooth the edges, but nowhere near enough to hide behind. In the glass it's a pale gold, with a vivacious and steady mousse, and a gorgeous nose – richly honeyed almonds, an oyster-shell minerality, and a bright tang of aromatic orange oil. The palate follows through ripe and round, with Gala apple, d'Anjou pear, and wet slate, before a touch of bruléed pineapple carries you toward a clean, bright finish. It's beautifully balanced, closing on a lingering note of marzipan that makes you reach for the next sip.

This is California sparkling wine operating at the highest level, and it's a beautiful argument for what happens when new-world fruit meets old-world craft. At $80 retail, it's a fruitful buy – but for our $59 (with free shipping on 3), it's one I’d happily stock a case of, or at least a 6-pack.