Winemaking

Sparkling winemaking at Gloria Ferrer is defined by a house style, and people who appreciate wine with bubbles know that the best producers are revered for their consistency. Executive Winemaker Bob Iantosca and Winemaker Steven Urberg move seamlessly from vineyard to cellar, from sparkling wine to estate varietal wines, and from a rich history of winemaking to the individuality of each new vintage and each new wine. Rooted in a dynamic blend of innovation and tradition, Gloria Ferrer’s winemakers use creativity, ingenuity, and a gentle hand to reveal the distinctive Carneros terroir in sparkling and estate varietal wines made to pair perfectly with food.

Iantosca and VP Production Mike Crumly have been working together in Gloria Ferrer’s two estate vineyards since the winery’s inception in 1986, drawing out the subtleties of the Carneros terroir. Their collective vineyard memory is the foundation upon which winemaking at Gloria Ferrer is based. Working closely with Crumly in the vineyards, Iantosca and Urberg blend wines to cultivate specific flavors through variations in soil type, elevation, inclination, exposure, and 20 different heirloom vine selections (15 Pinot Noir, 5 Chardonnay).

The Base-ics of Sparkling Wine

It takes experience and imagination to record the subtle flavors and textures of an unfinished base wine (still wine before it undergoes fermentation) and project them into what a finished wine will taste like after secondary fermentation, aging, disgorging, and dosing. The most important and difficult qualities to achieve in sparkling wine, such as texture, mouthfeel, balance, and harmony, are created in the base wine. “Although the base wines are very different from the finished sparkling wines they will eventually become,” Urberg says, “I mentally construct how the nuances in the base wine will translate into the elegance of the finished wine long before they ever end up in the bottle.” This process ensures consistency from vintage to vintage.

The Carneros Wines of Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards

Sparkling

1999 Carneros Cuvée 2002 Royal Cuvée 2007 Brut Rosé 2006 Blanc de Blancs NV VA de VI NV Blanc de Noirs NV Sonoma Brut

Estate Varietal Wines

2008 Carneros Chardonnay 2007 José S. Ferrer Pinot Noir 2006 Gravel Knob Pinot Noir 2006 Rust Rock Terrace Pinot Noir 2007 Carneros Pinot Noir 2006 Merlot

“What’s advantageous about making sparkling and estate varietal wine is that we can take the best of what we have — all the different vineyard components — and blend them into sensational wines the sum of which is greater than the individual parts,”
- VP Director of Winemaking Bob Iantosca