The Wine Knows

Ever wonder why many sparkling wines are marked as "NV" or "nonvintage" instead of by vintage? It all starts in Champagne, France, where the world's most famous sparkling wines are made.

Reims, a major city and vineyard area in Champagne, is above the 49th parallel, about the same as Vancouver, British Columbia. While the Okanagan Valley certainly proves wine grape growing can be viable - even successful - above the 49th parallel, the Interior of B.C. is much warmer than Western Europe. For example, Reims receives about 1,750 degree days (a method of measuring heat accumulation), while Bordeaux gets 2,465 degree days. The southern Okanagan Valley receives about 2,500 degree days. By comparison, Washington's Red Mountain tops 3,300 degree days, and the Yakima Valley receives 2,600 degree days. The state's coolest appellation, Puget Sound, receives 1,650 degree days, making it cooler than Champagne.

This is one reason why Champagne traditionally is made with Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay - they grow well enough in cooler climates to ripen for sparkling wine. But because of Champagne's relative coolness, a Champagne house cannot maintain a "house style" without blending from multiple vintages, thus the "nonvintage" designation. A vintage-dated Champagne is somewhat rare - and more expensive as a result.

On the West Coast, sparkling winemakers have no such difficulty with vintage-to-vintage ripeness. But California sparkling wine producers took on the tradition of calling their wines "nonvintage" even though they often are not "back blended" from multiple vintages.

Many Northwest sparkling wine producers - most notably Domaine Ste. Michelle - follow this practice.

So which vintage of "nonvintage" sparkling wine are you drinking? That depends on the producer. I'll get into that tomorrow.