Bonus Edition: Great American Sparkle
Celebrate American progress with sparkling wines from across the U.S.
Robert Todd Lincoln, the only child of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln to live to adulthood, built a summer home called Hildene in Manchester, Vermont at the end of the twentieth century. Lincoln served as the president and then CEO of the Pullman Company from 1893 to 1924; a restored 1903 Pullman Palace Car, the Sunbeam, is on the pastoral estate, which also comprises a Georgian house overlooking the Green Mountains and Battenkill River, a goat dairy, bobolink flyways, a greenhouse, and hiking trails. The property’s name combines ‘hill’ with the Old English word ‘dene’, denoting a valley with a stream running through it. Peggy Beckwith, Robert and Mary Harlan Lincoln’s granddaughter, lived alone at Hildene during the 1950s, an intercom beside her bed so she could alert her staff in a split second if there was an intruder. She kept a daily log of the weather and her efforts to revive the farm, care for its animals and vehicles, and set up an extensive system of rubber tubes to tap maple trees for sap and make maple syrup.
Across the hall from her former bedroom, her grandfather’s presidency is recapped in images, language, and objects, including one of his stovepipe hats and his mirror from the White House. The images show a man growing haggard and weary as the Civil War progresses, much resembling the president of the Ukraine, today. The Gettysburg Address is parsed in quotes on the wall, along with other quotes from Lincoln, including, “I never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.” However, the very first text one sees upon entering the room is a redacted excerpt from the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson. The language condemned slavery, but was “eliminated by the Continental Congress of 1776 because of objections from South Carolina and Georgia.” It reads, “…he (the king of Britain) has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither…”
The story of America is complicated—painful, and yet a place where freedom to practice one’s beliefs without fear has meant new hope and possibility for many. And it’s ongoing. Milestones like the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence are an opportunity to take in where we’ve been and where we can go from here.
American wine is on a similar journey. The recent 50th anniversaries of the Judgment of Paris and New York’s Farm Winery Act foretell that America’s wine story isn’t ultimately about isolate, premier wine regions known for one or two grapes or wine styles. It’s about recognizing a multitude of histories, landscapes, and possibilities. It’s concurrent exploration of multiple grape varieties within many terroirs. It’s complex, and need not be simplified for us to promote and support it. For that reason, this list of celebratory sparkling wines visits regions and wineries that tend to be underestimated. It represents but a few of many lovely sparklings to be found throughout the U.S.
The Mid Atlantic
Veritas Vineyards and Winery in Virginia’s Monticello AVA also recently marked a significant milestone in surpassing 25 years in operation; the estate was a horse and cattle farm when the Hodson family purchased it in 1999, the first vintage released in 2001. Andrew and Patricia Hodson’s three children now inhabit leadership roles, with Emily Veritas’ winemaker. Three Veritas' wines recently earned gold medals at the Virginia Governor’s Cup, including Scintilla, a nonvintage brut blend of Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay that imparts bright apple, citrus, and pear alongside characteristic brioche notes.
New England
Nancy Parker Wilson established Greenvale Vineyards in 1982 with her parents and her husband Bill, having also served as a landmarks commissioner in Boston’s South End. Now, Nancy and Bill’s son, winemaker Billy Wilson, creates brilliant bottlings of Cabernet Franc, rosé of Merlot, and a lemony, bright pét-nat of Albariño and another of Vidal Blanc.
Like the Wilsons, the Russell family modulates grape growing to the parameters of a cool-climate region along the Atlantic, evoking the best from Chardonnay, Riesling, Geisenheimer, Grüner Veltliner (and so on) at Westport Rivers on Massachusetts’ South Coast. Both the Blanc de Blancs and RJR Cuvées are simply excellent examples of traditional method sparkling wine, beautifully counterbalancing apple, citrus, and toasty, bready notes.
New York
The Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery celebrated its 40th year of sparkling wine production in 2025. Meaghan Frank, the winery’s fourth generation lead as vice president, expresses a reverence for family history and responsible viticulture that permeates winery operations. The collaboration between oenologists Barbara Frank, Konstantin’s granddaughter, and sparkling winemaker Eric Bauman, consistently yields elegant wines that embody beauty and restraint.
The Midwest
Stone Hill Winery, also featured in this spring’s rosé roundup, crafts a non-vintage Blanc de Blancs from Traminette, a hybrid grape developed at Cornell in 1965, that’s refreshing and vital, earning numerous awards from the American Wine Society and the Missouri Wine Competition. Stone Hill was established in 1847 and weathered Prohibition by cultivating mushrooms in its winding cellars and caves; visit to learn more about Missouri’s profound influence on American wine.
As I’ve not made it to Michigan wine country yet, I reached out to Chicago-based writer Ari Bendersky, who publishes Something Glorious (are you subscribed?) for insight. He kindly suggested MAWBY Sparkling Wines on northwest Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula and advised that Modales and Brys Estate Vineyard & Winery “make some very good bubbly.”
Texas and the Southwest
I’m quite certain that Chris Brundrett bleeds red, white and blue, i.e., the colors of the Texas flag. Brundrett is a founding partner at William Chris Vineyards, and he and his team have reimagined and restored a historic post office in Hye, Texas as Rebecca Caroline Sparkling, “where Texas terroir meets bubbles.” A special one to taste right now is the Rebecca Caroline 2023 Dell Valley Cuvée, produced from 1987 Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc vines in the Chihuahuan Desert in Far West Texas, a stone’s throw from New Mexico and east of El Paso. The wine elegantly balances fruit and searing minerality.
Also in the Texas Hill Country, Elisa Christopher Wines’ 2025 Picpoul Blanc, a traditional method sparkling grown at Rowland Taylor Vineyards in the Texas High Plains, will be released July 11th. Picpoul is a bright, lemony variety (a perfect oyster wine, really), with roots in the Languedoc and southern Rhône. This vintage is complemented by floral, vanilla, and brioche notes.
Additionally, avail yourself of special sparklings from the Texas Fine Wine group, like Bending Branch Winery’s sparkling Picpoul Blanc and 2024 Tannat Frizzante Rosé. Both are force carbonated, so need no aging time to integrate. Spicewood Vineyards’ Sammie’s Sparkling, made from Muscat, is named for one of owner Ron Yates’ daughters and made in the traditional method. If in New Mexico, be sure to visit VARA and Gruet, as well.
California and the Pacific Northwest
Much can be written about brothers’ Jon and Kim McPherson’s influence upon the Texas and California wine industries. Both are iconic and gifted oenologists. At South Coast Winery in Temecula, in southern California, Jon McPherson’s dry traditional method wines offer acidity and freshness while upholding fruit expression.
In Paso Robles Estrella District, Robert Hall Winery’s Cavern Select is a round-bodied, vibrant sparking from Grenache Blanc, a keystone of southern Rhône white blends. In the Willow Creek district, Opolo Vineyards vinifies a delicious 100% French Colombard, redolent of pear and citrus.
In Oregon, “Argyle’s traditional method Blanc de Blancs and brut rosé are go-tos, based on incredible high-elevation vineyards in Dundee and Eola-Amity Hills,’ lees aging, and very low dosage,” explains Aileen Sevier, the marketing director for Upper Left, a collection of eight premium wineries distributed by Winebow. Adelsheim, a seminal Willamette Valley producer since 1971, crafts a beautiful single-vineyard traditional method wine from its Bryan Creek estate in the Chehalem Mountains.
In Washington, Tirriddis vinifies several excellent traditional method wines. Tirriddis refers to the three protocols for creating traditional method sparkling, tirage (resting on lees), riddling (rotating and tilting bottles during the secondary fermentation to gather yeast cells in the neck of the bottle) and disgorgement, where yeast is expelled.
Southeast
A native Californian, winemaker Erik Martella’s chemistry degree led him to the wine industry, then to operations at Constellation Brands. He moved to Tennessee to be closer to family in 2018. Martella teaches in the fermentation sciences program at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina and draws Muscadine to complex expressions by allowing it time to evolve in the bottle. Erik Martella Wines’ CVB Sparkling is a dry sparkling blend of 60% Carlos, a Muscadine cultivar developed at the North Carolina Agricultural Experimental Station in 1970, and Vidal Blanc. Secondary fermentation happens in a stainless-steel tank, aka, the Charmat Method. The wine is bright and refreshing and has a low ABV, at 9.9%.
Also in the Yadkin Valley, winemakers Kevin Elder and Elizabeth Higley vinify a juicy pet-nat under the Demaracation Wine Co. label at Windsor Run Cellars, Chambourcin co-fermented with blueberries.
In North Georgia, also visit Wolf Mountain Vineyards for award winning sparkling wines, many times over.
A great round up of wines and I love the history/story element!
Cheers to a list that looks at regions throughout the entire country and not just the West Coast, and (maybe) one FLX or Monticello producer!