2019 Los Pilares Sparkling Muscat 'La Dona' San Diego County

Region: Pauma Valley, San Diego County, California

Grape: Muscat

Vineyard/Cellar Stats: Grapes are hand harvested and fermented
whole-cluster in macro-bins and flex tanks for about 8 or 9 days
without temperature control. The skins and stems remain in contact
with the juice for 3 full days before foot stomping. They set aside
some frozen must at harvest time, which is used to finish the
fermentation in bottle. Bottled undisgorged with no additions;
zero-zero; 12% ABV

Winemaker: Coleman Cooney, Kyley Morgan, Jay McCarthy, and Michael Christian

Los Pilares is an exciting wine project in North San Diego County, anemerging but relatively unknown Cali wine region with a history of
grape growing and wine production that dates back to the Colonial
period. Before making wine for others, Coleman Cooney, Kyley Morgan,
Jay McCarthy, and Michael Christian were all either backyard
vignerons, garage winemakers, or wine industry professionals.   The
four friends collectively were not digging the evolution of California
wines, so they decided to do something about it, and make their own
wine that was fundamentally enjoyable. They agreed that if they
started with crisp, tart, healthy, balanced fruit that they wouldn’t
have to manipulate it. Since the first vintage in 2010, they have been
showcasing the terroir of San Diego’s backcountry and mountains by
making wine with nothing but grapes, and sometimes apples.

Their sparkling Muscat is a crazy experiment that turned out crazy
good. It’s an homage to the history of Muscat plantings in the area,
but made totally naturally in the exuberant pet'nat style.  The Muscat
grape itself is super aromatic and floral, characteristics that work
well in the slightly effervescent style, giving heady aromas of honey,
ginger, and flowers on the nose. It’s as dry as can be, with those
same pretty flavors of honey, ginger and white flowers, finishing with
a slight bitterness that makes it fantastic with food. As the folks at
Los Pilares say, it's "good for breakfast, lunch and dinner!", and we
couldn't agree more, having maybe tested the breakfast situation once
or twice...