2020 Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine
Tasting Notes
Made in the classic, time-honored process of Méthode Traditionnelle, this Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine is classified as a brut cuvée. It displays a beautiful golden color with bright aromas of poached apples, crisp melon, and white peaches. The palate bursts with flavors of citrus fruits, pastry cream, and brioche bread. The bubbles marry the palate and highlight the bright natural acidity, creating a beautiful and harmonious balance. The entry and mid palate appear dry creating refined layers of marzipan, roasted hazelnut, and fresh pear that exit the palate with a crisp, refreshing finish.
Vineyard Designation
100% Estate Grown
Vintage Notes
The 2020 vintage will go down as a very memorable year. The growing season was exceptional with a mild winter, warm spring, and moderate summer. Bud break occurred 2 weeks earlier than normal and veraison was well ahead of schedule too. Just as we were preparing for an early start to harvest, wildfires in the Northwest created a thick cloud of smoke over Washington State. Concerns arose about exposure to smoke. Taking a cautious approach, we delayed harvest until the smoke cleared and conducted trials to determine the effect of smoke on our grapes. Fortunately, results showed no sign of smoke taint. Proximity to the source of smoke plays a big factor, and our vineyard was a long distance away. Overall, we have not seen any impact of smoke on the 2020 vintage. Another major event of this vintage was an early frost that occurred the second week of October. Our winemaking team worked tirelessly long hours leading up to the frost. By the time our vineyards had been impacted by the cold spell, our winery was stuffed with fermenting grapes and harvest was 95% complete. All remaining grapes were then hand-harvested and sorted with an optical sorter to remove any excessive M.O.G. or bad grapes. After our wines completed alcoholic fermentation, we were very pleased with the results. We at Airfield have another stunning vintage for you to enjoy. The 2020 wines showcase an abundance of ripe fruit aromatics, low tannin profiles, and exceptionally balanced finishes.
Winemaking Notes
Creating a sparkling wine requires many steps in the winemaking process, starting with Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, and Chardonnay grapes sourced from our estate vineyard located in the Yakima Valley AVA. Harvested on the 28th of August, this wine was predominantly made from hand-harvested Pinot Noir grapes. The grapes ranged from 19.4 to 20.2 °Brix and contained naturally high acidity. The grapes were combined and gently pressed as whole clusters. Pressing the proper amount is critical when dealing with red grapes. Our goal was to create a sparkling wine that has a golden like appearance, not a rose like appearance. After pressing, the juice was settled for 4 days before being racked off the solids and inoculated for alcoholic fermentation. Fermented in stainless steel at cooler temperatures ranging from 60-62 degrees, the cooler fermentation temperatures allow for a slower ferment, giving the wine more bountiful fruit aromatics and maintaining the wines high natural acidity. After alcoholic fermentation was complete, the wine was then stabilized and underwent a polish filtration. Aged for approximately 1 month in stainless steel, the wine was then filtered and placed into bottles where we add a secondary yeast and nutrients to the wine to allow for a secondary fermentation in the bottle. This begins the process of tirage. Every month for 12 months, the bottles were gently shaken to incorporate the yeast solids into the wine, a process called riddling. The riddling process creates more complex flavors in sparkling wines, such as the brioche bread, crushed hazelnuts, and pastry cream. After 12 months, we stopped riddling and the bottles remained upside down for 1 additional month to allow all the solids to remain in the neck of the bottle. When the wine was ready for it’s final treatment, it underwent a disgorgement that ejects the solids out of the bottle, then immediately afterwards, we added our dosage of 6 g/L (the dosage process is a sweetened mixture of wine and sugar) before being topped and having the sparkling wine cork and cage be placed on the bottle.
* Note: This wine is considered vegan made, meaning no animal by-products were used in the production of this wine.
Food Pairing
Sunday Brunch
Asparagus and Avocado Salad
Buttery Oysters or Poached Lobster Tail
Fried Chicken
Aged Gouda or Delice de Bourgogne
- Appellation: Yakima Valley
- Aging / Barrel Program: 13 month tirage
- Cases Produced: 455
- Alcohol: 12.5%
- pH: 3.16
- Acidity: 9.4 g/L
- RS: 0.6%
- Ageability: Enjoy now through 2028 (with 2024 being optimal maturity)