Vintage Character Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2022 is a North Coast California vintage Brut sparkling wine made from 100% Chardonnay by traditional method, a style that helped define premium American sparkling wine. The 2022 growing season brought drought pressure and notable heat events, concentrating flavor while preserving freshness best in the North Coast’s cooler sites, making this a vintage of energy and value rather than sheer opulence. Its character is shaped by fruit drawn from cool-climate vineyards across Napa, Sonoma, Marin, and Mendocino, where marine influence and varied soils give the wine both bright citrus precision and layered complexity.
Tasting Profile & Food Pairing On the nose, expect green apple, Meyer lemon, white peach and orange blossom, backed by touches of pineapple, toasted brioche and roasted almond from extended lees aging. The palate is brisk and finely mousseux, with lively acidity, a light-to-medium body, and a clean, chalk-tinged finish that carries notes of lemon curd and hazelnut. It is a versatile table wine for oysters with mignonette, roast chicken with herbs, or tempura shrimp, where its acidity and texture cut beautifully through crisp, delicate flavors.
Winery Background Founded in 1862 by Jacob Schram and revived in 1965 by Jack and Jamie Davies, Schramsberg remains one of California’s benchmark sparkling wine houses, with the Davies family continuing that legacy. The estate is known for hand-harvested fruit, meticulous blending from numerous vineyard lots, and maturation in the winery’s historic hillside caves. Fermented and aged in the traditional method, with substantial time on the lees before disgorgement, Blanc de Blancs stands out for combining scale with remarkable consistency, and for its historic role in bringing American sparkling wine to international attention.