Pale straw color; citrus, green apple, lemon-lime, pear, ginger, brioche, minerality, almonds on the nose and palate.
Brut, crisp, bright, refreshing. Excellent acidity. Light, enticing body. Smooth, easy drinker. Touch of sweetness from ripe, delicious fruit; excellent mousse. Blend of 85% pinot noir, 15% chardonnay. The 2020 vintage experienced significant challenges, from the high point of Covid-19 to significant California wildfires. Fortunately, the Etude grapes were harvested before the fires. 12.5% ABV
Tony Soter established Etude 1982. The Carneros AVA was founded the next year. The Grace Benoist Ranch was developed in 2000 with nine Heirloom pinot noir clones, eight additional pinot noir clones, and seven chardonnay clones. The same year, Robert Parker awarded the 1999 Etude Eden Rock Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 98 points.
The first crush of Grace Benoist Ranch grapes occurred in 2003; the following year, the first pinot noir grapes came into the winery. In 2010, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate awarded Etude Heirloom Pinot Noir 93-plus points. Etude was firmly entrenched as a Carneros star.
Grace Benoit is in the northwest corner of Carneros. Soils primarily are volcanic rather than clay. Website notes: “Individual vineyards average only eight acres in size and spacing is dense to ensure low per vine yields of fully concentrated fruit. Grace Benoist Ranch is farmed to Etude’s exacting standards, using environmentally sound viticultural practices. The Ranch is sustainably farmed and certified by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance as well as Fish Friendly Farming. At the Ranch, there are four smaller vineyards (Laniger, Deer Camp, Temblor and Heirloom) with five principal unique soil types and 20 distinct Pinot Noir clones.”
Jon Priest is Etude’s winemaker. He succeeds because he believes wines are made in the vineyard, not in the winery. The Etude website notes: “Jon headed early to the Northwest, attending Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, but soon returned home as his architect father helped create memorable Central Coast wineries. He worked briefly in a tasting room, and at the legendary Wine Cask in Santa Barbara before joining Wild Horse, beginning a career that led to Adelaida Cellars, to Pinot Noir focused Taz, and on to Etude, where he has spent nearly a dozen years creating memorable wines that tell you where they came from in every sip.”
Etude Blanc de Noirs, Grace Benoist Ranch, Carneros 2020 consistently delivers quality. It punches above its weight compared to other méthode champenoise/traditional method sparkling wines. Compelling easy drinker with subtle, delicious fruit and sparkling effervesce. Sparkling is almost always a terrific food wine because of its palate-cleansing property, this is no exception. Pairing—broiled scallops, roasted chicken, duck prosciutto and finocchiona salami—or if you are not into that exotic fare, just about anything you put on a plate. Cheese—salty, hard cheese, aged gouda, comté; brie de meaux; chèvre, crottin de chavigol. Or go truly decadent and pair with caviar. $61
