The Making of Rhys Sparkling Wines

Crafted at elevation. Guided by patience. Expressive of place.

Mt. Pajaro Blanc de Blancs comes from the North-West facing Block N2, planted at 3.5’x3′ spacing.

The Perpetual Reserve comes from Mt. Pajaro and Bearwallow Vineyards. These are the South facing C7 Pinot Noir and East facing C11 Chardonnay planted in 2010.

The progression of color while sampling Bearwallow Vineyard Pinot Noir, six days between the first and last sample.

Once the decision has been made to pick the grapes are harvested at night to keep them cool and brought to the winery early in the morning.

The grapes are pressed as soon they arrive at the winery.

After pressing the wine is settled overnight and put into a combination of neutral French oak and stainless steel barrels. They rest in barrels until May the following year.

The wines are blended and we prepare for secondary fermentation to occur in bottle; as the pressure in the bottle increases the volume increases.

After two to five years depending on the wine, we prepare the wines for disgorging by first riddling by hand to remove the sediment.

Disgorging begins by freezing the sediment in the neck, popping off the crown cap, and adding the dosage liqueur—a blend of wine and sugar. The cork and wire hood are then applied, the bottles are gently shaken to integrate the dosage, and finally washed and dried to remove the dust that has accumulated during their years of aging. The last step is labeling the wines.