What Makes a Bubble?
Every year, the first week of July is dedicated to sparkling wine, and we can’t think of a better moment to pull back the curtain on the wines that take us the longest to make, demand the most from us, and reward us (and you) the most in return.
Not all bubbles are created equal. Here’s what sets our traditional method wine apart, and why we’re spotlighting two of them this week.
Two Fermentations, One Bottle
“Sparkling wine” is a broad term for any wine with bubbles, but there are several ways to get those bubbles into the glass. The simplest is forced carbonation, essentially injecting CO2 into the wine, the same principle behind soda. It’s how many popular, refreshing wines in the Finger Lakes region get their fizz, and makes for a bright, fun, and affordable wine.
Traditional method is something else entirely. The term refers to one specific, labor-intensive process: the wine is fermented twice. First, we make a completely dry base wine. Then we add a precise measure of yeast and sugar, bottle it, and let a second fermentation happen inside each individual bottle. As the yeast consume that sugar, they release carbon dioxide, and, because it’s sealed inside the bottle, the gas has nowhere to go but into the wine itself. Eureka: bubbles.
This is the same method used in Champagne. In fact, “traditional method” and the French méthode champenoise mean exactly the same thing. And there’s real local pride here: the Finger Lakes is the birthplace of traditional method sparkling wine in the Western Hemisphere. Pleasant Valley Wine Company, located in Hammondsport, NY and founded in 1860, is the first bonded winery in the United States. In 1867, a little-known Finger Lakes wine company won an honorable mention at the Exposition Universelle in Paris, the first award in Europe for an American sparkling wine, and six years later earned a first-place finish in Vienna. A connoisseur reportedly declared it “the Great Champagne of the Western World”, and so goes the story of how Great Western earned its name.
A Bit More History Behind The Bottle
Gold Seal grew out of the Urbana Wine Company, established in Hammondsport in 1865 as the region’s second bonded winery. After prohibition’s repeal, the company’s president traveled to Reims, France and brought back Charles Fournier, a man whose pedigree was about as blue-blooded as bubbles get, having served as production manager at the legendary French Champagne house Veuve Clicquot. Fournier, working with winemaker Alex Brailow, experimented with making sparkling wine from labrusca grape varieties, those indigenous varieties including Concord and Pink Catawba. Their Charles Fournier Brut Champagne, introduced in 1943, won a Gold Medal at the Sacramento State Fair; the first time a New York champagne had ever earned such an honor.
Why It Takes So Long. And Why It Matters
Making traditional method wine is an exercise in patience and precision. It starts in the vineyard, where we pick the fruit early to capture higher acidity and lower sugar, which creates the backbone of a lively, age-worthy sparkler. Everything is hand-harvested and whole-cluster pressed, a deliberate sacrifice of yield in exchange for cleaner, more elegant juice.
After the second fermentation finishes in the bottle, the spent yeast cells settle into a sediment we call the lees. The wine then rests on those lees during a stage called tirage, sometimes for years. Over time, a process called autolysis breaks down those dead yeast cells, lending the wine its signature creaminess, brioche, and nutty richness. The longer the wine rests, the more integrated and complex it becomes.
Finishing the wine is just as hands-on. Each bottle is riddled – slowly rotated and angled downward by hand until the sediment collects in the neck – and then disgorged, where the neck is frozen and the frozen plug of sediment shoots out under the bottle’s own pressure. A final touch called dosage brings the wine into perfect balance before it is corked. Every one of these steps happens bottle by bottle, by hand.
That’s why traditional method wines are priced as they are. You’re not just buying a bottle; you’re buying years of labor, care, and craft.
2021 Winemakers Reserve Blanc de Noirs
93pts, James Suckling.
91pts & Gold Medal, 2025 New York Wine Classic
Our first-ever Blanc de Noirs, which means “white wine from red grapes”, is crafted from 100% Zweigelt grown on Seneca Lake. Twenty-five months aging en tirage give it a fine, creamy mousse and remarkable depth. Expect bright red apple skin, strawberry, and brioche on the nose, with a dry, vibrant palate of red currant, raspberry, hazelnut, and a flinty minerality that lingers. This is the only traditional metho Zweigelt made in the Finger Lakes region, making it truly unique.
Only 95 cases produced.
Pair with: fresh oysters, seared duck with cherry reduction, or a strawberry pavlova.
2022 KSV Winemakers Reserve Cuvée
97pts, 2025 Los Angeles International Wine Competition.
93pts, James Suckling.
A pure, heritage-driven expression of Pink Catawba, which is an indigenous Northeast variety whose story runs through the earliest chapters of American wine. Fragrant and inviting, with fresh grape, strawberry blossom, and soft florals, it offers a gentle sweetness beautifully balanced by lively acidity and a clean, refreshing finish. Sourced exclusively from Joyful Vineyards.
Only 50 cases made.
Pair with: fresh berries, creamy cheeses, seafood, or charcuterie.
Ready to Taste the Difference?
Both of these wines exist in extremely limited quantities, and both will continue to evolve and deepen for years if you cellar them. There’s a lot of magic, and a lot of stories, packed into each bottle of traditional method sparkling wine.