This family-run winery in the Santa Lucia Highlands, founded in 2006, has become known for its impressive and generous sparkling wines that stand up to plenty of Champagne greats. We popped a bottle just last week – hidden amongst a crop of stellar Champagnes from the Côte des Blancs – and this was so wildly impressive, we couldn’t believe it wasn’t Champagne! 

Gary Caraccioli grew up working his family farm in the Salinas Valley, watching his Swiss-Italian grandfather lovingly craft his own homemade wine to share at family dinners. This imparted the belief in him that wine is part beverage, but also part experience and memory to be shared with loved ones. He convinced his brother and uncle to expand the family’s farming roots and move into grape growing and winemaking in 2006, with his sights set on crafting wines unique to the Santa Lucia Highlands’ terroir. Partnering with Michel Salgues, a Frenchman who’d spent the majority of his career at Champagne’s Louis Roederer Estate, the winery was born, with a devoted focus on low-intervention, high-quality winemaking and sustainable viticultural practices. Sadly, Michel Salgues passed away in 2017, yet his legacy lives on in these seriously exceptional sparkling wines offered by the Caraccioli family – as well as the philosophies and practices carried on by Gary’s son, Scott, and winemakers Chris and Greg Vita. 

The 2021 Private Property Blanc de Blancs is hand-harvested into small totes to remove the potential of premature crushing and prevent oxidation. The grapes are crushed in an actual Coquard press (rarely seen outside of Champagne) that delicately separates the juice from the whole clusters of fruit, all without overly crushing the skins and seeds. Lower yields, but higher quality juice is the result, a happy sacrifice to the bubbly gods that ensures only the best juice makes these wines. From there, fermentation occurs in stainless steel tanks followed by aging in neutral French oak for about 5 months, and finally, bottle-aging for another 29 months. A rather low dosage of four grams per liter promotes a vibrant and textural sipping experience, with a freshness that can’t be beat! This is a limited-quantity release (only 178 cases total), making this a rare domestic treat!

Bright notes and complex textures arrive in spades with this shimmering beauty, offering up notes of lemon curd, Chinese white pear, yellow peach, croissant dough, white flowers, and some chalky and clay sensations that generate a crisp, mineral finish and exquisite layer of acidity. As it’s a blanc de blancs, it is 100% chardonnay that pours a pale yellow in the glass, with a lovely and creamy mousse that softens and spreads out the intensity of these brighter flavor expressions. This is a pure, clean style of sparkling wine that proves it unequivocally belongs on the same tier as top quality Champagne! As a California native – and one that has put Champagne on the highest of pedestals – that is indeed saying something! You simply must try it for yourself, darlings, and if you’ve already crossed that bridge – might I say, the time has come for you to try, try again!