Is there a better way to enjoy the California sunshine, than with a glass of this lovely fizzy pink stuff? I have always loved Patrick Bottex’ “La Cueille” Bugey-Cerdon, but never knew it had a history in the US before the venerable Kermit Lynch portfolio picked it up. As it turns out, Southern California’s favorite charming Frenchman, Christophe Convert was the first to bring this wine to California.
Christophe had a vision that changed the world.
Well, in the very least, Christophe had a vision that wildly improved the quality of summer brunch wines…
Before working for Napacabs, a handsome, impressionable young Christophe was shocked to see so many Americans at brunch, swilling bad “champagne” mixed with orange juice. Perplexed by the cheap attempt to cover up the abominable wine with the addition of fruit juice, Christophe remembers wishing he could introduce these deprived Americans to the beautiful sparkling rose of his hometown, the Bugey-Cerdon.
Sweet, fruity, with a nice backbone of acidity; sparkling and ultimately refreshing. Wouldn’t that be a success with these dissatisfied, brunch-going Americans?
So he decided to import it himself. And the rest, as they say, is history. Today Christophe still proudly sells this Bugey-Cerdon by Patrick Bottex, the same artisanally-produced wine he first brought from France all those years ago.
Patrick Bottex’s Bugey-Cerdon blend is 90% Gamay, and 10% Poulsard (think Jura, people!) The winery bottles this low-alcohol wine using the méthode ancestrale, a rare tradition that predates the méthode champenoise. The wine first goes through a primary fermentation in tanks, and is then bottled before all of the residual sugar has converted to alcohol. This residual sugar then spontaneously creates a secondary fermentation in the bottle, which adds the delicious sparkle.
*Note: This wine is is even more delicious on a boat, in the California Sunshine.
Thanks Christophe. And thank you, too, Captain Mike!