Mumm
Cuvée
Napa
Mumm
Cuvée Napa has roots in the Champagne district of France. It owes
its locale, grape selection, and winemaking tradition largely
to Guy Devaux. He chose Napa Valley as a home for making premium
sparkling wines. Engaged by the famous Champagne house G. H. Mumm
and their new world partner Joseph E. Seagram & Company, he
scouted the U.S. for the proper place and directed the efforts
to establish vineyards and winery. From Champagne, he brought
the knowledge of generations of French winemakers. He structured
a modern American enterprise around the traditional "methode
champenoise". From 1979 until his death in 1995 he fostered
the tradition, modernization, and teamwork that yield great wine.
Now
the team at Mumm Cuvée Napa is decidedly American. Greg Fowler,
winemaker at Schramsberg for over eight years, joined Devaux at
Mumm in 1987. Since 1986, Vince Bonotto has managed the Napa Valley
vineyards for making Mumm Cuvée Napa’s various cuvées. Rob McNeill,
Director of Winemaking, arrived in 1997 having served at three
great California sparkling wine producers, Piper Sonoma, Sharffenberger,
and Schramsberg. Today’s "All American" crew projects
Devaux’s old world influence.
Mumm
Cuvée Napa is a specialist, a winery designed to make . Grapes
are picked early, from late July to late August. The sugars are
lower and the acid higher than in the grapes for ordinary table
wines. The fruit is picked by hand into boxes which stack without
crushing any grapes. These boxes are almost unique in today’s
vineyards (trailer sized gondolas are used in many still wine
operations). Intact fruit is pressed quickly to avoid oxidation,
retaining fruit flavor and minimizing "skin contact".
The fresh juice (without skins, stems, or seeds) is fermented
in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks (again to preserve
fruit and minimize introduced flavors). Virtually all the sugar
is converted to alcohol resulting in bone dry, very tart wine,
low in alcohol and high in acid (low in Ph). Grape types, vineyards,
and even sections of each vineyard are fermented and then stored
as individual wines. These make the raw material for the remaining
processes.
Blending
is crucial to sparkling wine production. A single batch of wine,
unblended, is seldom made. The blender’s art is in taking stocks
on hand in various combinations to make "Cuvées". The
job is to take these young, tart (almost lemony) wines and create
blends for high quality sparkling wine, true to the house style.
Blends usually include several grape types, from various vineyards
and often more than one vintage. Each "Cuvée" is then
bottled with a bit of sugar and live yeast and sent to the cellar
for a second fermentation. This is when the bubbles that distinguish
sparkling wines are trapped in the bottle. Second fermentation
takes place, bottle by bottle, in aging cellars. This time, carbon
dioxide is trapped in the bottle along with the yeast and other
sediment. This process is unhurried. The bottles lay on their
sides for one to four years, melding the flavors of the wine and
its sediment, and dispersing the carbon dioxide (the bubbles)
minutely and uniformly throughout the wine. Finally, the sediment
is removed, the bottles topped off with a bit of wine and sugar
(called the dosage), corked, labeled, and packaged for shipment.
At last, the vineyard managers, winemakers, blenders, and cellar-masters
have finished their elegant, crisp, effervescent bubbly.
The
standard Cuvée at Mumm Cuvée Napa is called "Brut Prestige".
It is a very high standard indeed! Crisp and dry, this excellent
product is adaptable, available and affordable. Brut Prestige
is about half Pinot Noir and half Chardonnay, from over 50 vineyards
sites. Great for a toast, an aperitif, or an accompaniment to
meals of fish or fowl, Brut Prestige retails for between $16 and
$20. "Blanc de Noirs" made largely form Pinot Noir,
is a bit more robust but just as versatile. "Blanc de Blancs"
is Chardonnay based, with Pinot Gris added for spice. This is
the ideal mealtime sparkler. These special editions usually retail
for $22 to $26.
Mumm
Cuvee Napa’s 1996 DVX is an ultra-premium Cuvée. Made from the
best batches from a single vintage, this is "Brut Prestige"
of the highest order, extra aged and perfect for special occasions
(or for making occasions special). Named for Guy Devaux. DVX usually
retails for $45 to $50.
Visit
the Mumm
Cuvée Napa website
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Originally published in "The Greenville Journal", August 31 -
September 6, 2001 in "From The Vine" column, author, Richard deBondt.