Obsidian Ridge Estate Pezsgő
WHY WE LOVE IT
- The name Pezsgő is as curious and fun as the wine it describes. Hungarian for sparkling wine, this Pét-Nat Pinot Noir nods to the family heritage and the effervescent energy of the bubbles in the bottle.
- The grapes come from Poseidon Vineyard, located at the confluence of Carneros Creek and the Napa River. It was planted in 1973 by the Molnar Family to the Burgundian varietals: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
- The maritime environment of the Carneros grape-growing season delivers cool, foggy mornings followed by warm days that slowly nurture ripening.
Varietal Composition: 100% Pinot Noir
Elaboration: Destemmed Martini clone Pinot Noir and cold-soaked the berries in a tank for 24 hours. Juice is pressed and chilled to settle another 3 days, then let it warm slightly until native fermentation began. Just before the fermentation was finished, it is bottled, with no sulfur, fining nor filtering, allowing the fermentation to finish in bottle and create all those lovely bubbles. This is the Ancestral Method of making sparkling wine, what the French call Pétillant Naturel, or Farmer’s Champagne.
Tasting Notes: Light, fresh, clean and fermenty. In a world of grungy Pét-Nats, Pezsgő is like Pinot Noir’s elixir of youth. The amazing aroma of crushed cranberries and fresh fermentation bursts from this naturally sparkling wine. Pezsgő is made from the finest fruit, but it isn’t fussy or fancy. It is fresh and informal, simple and elegant, with clean, raw flavors of raspberries, pink grapefruit, and citrus pith. This natural wine contains sediment–let it settle before serving, or invert to serve slightly cloudy.
PRESS
NV – 91 Wine Enthusiast
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
In the beginning, there were just three: Michael Terrien, Peter Molnar, and Arpad Molnar. From the outset they have owned and farmed their own vineyards, coopered their own barrels, and vinified their own wines. In 2002, they made their first 98 cases of Cabernet Sauvignon. Encouraged by their heritage wine project, Poseidon Vineyard, they are individuals that have always been compelled to discover something new.
Winemaker, Alex Beloz has crafted wines here for more than a decade. More artist than his engineering degree suggests, Alex has intimate and longstanding knowledge of their vineyards and of their coopering. He raises to a high art the skill of matching oak to wine.
Obsidian Ridge has a long history of coopering. They exclusively use barrels made from Tokaj oak by Kádár Hungary, the cooperage that they have owned for nearly three decades. Located in Kádárok Völgye (Valley of the Coopers), this region of the Tokaj appellation has a written history of over 1,000 years of coopering. The remote forests of Tokaj are steep, rocky and cold; one of only a handful in the world to exclusively grow Quercus petraea: the densest and tightest grained oak in all of Europe. Highly sought after, for its enticing aromas and subtle influence, Quercus petraea enhances the aromatics of our wine and maintains the vibrancy of our mountain fruit. The result is a fresher, livelier Cabernet Sauvignon.
In their estate vineyards, they follow the Code of Sustainable Winegrowing Practices and are Fish Friendly Farming certified. The Tokaj forests where their barrels are coopered have been sustainably managed since 1769 by decree of the Empress Maria Teresa of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, requiring selective logging and systematic replanting. In their solar powered winery, they follow traditional and natural winemaking practices.
Above all else, they are family and employee owned—ensuring consistency, stability and long-term generational sustainability of their sources and practices