2018 Cruse Wine Company Valdiguié Nouveau

Cruse Wine Company was founded by Michael Cruse, a Petaluma garagiste on a mission to improve California sparkling wines. A one-time university microbiology student whose earliest wine jobs were at Sutter Home and Merryvale Vineyards, Cruse is a self-taught maker of sparkling wines that rival Champagne. He’s also a proponent of a complicated “natural” style of winemaking known as pétillant natural, a French method in which the sparkling wine is bottled while still fermenting. In 2016 The San Francisco Chronicle named him Winemaker of the Year. Cruse makes still and sparkling wines. He also makes single vineyard, single vintage California sparkling wine under his Ultramarine label.

North Coast AVA includes California’s most prestigious sub-appellations and vineyards. The three million acre area includes vineyards in six counties north of San Francisco and nearly 50 sub-appellations. The Napa Valley and Sonoma County AVAs are just two of the renowned sub-appellations included in the North Coast designation, which also includes the AVAs Diamond Mountain District, Howell Mountain, Oakville, Stag’s Leap and Rutherford, which are all among the most acclaimed wine producing districts in California. The North Coast AVA designation is generally used for wines made by blending grapes grown in several counties or AVAs. The appellation includes part of the counties of Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Marin, Solano and Lake.