Corollary Wines – A Laser Focus On Méthode Champenoise Sparklers
When you see the phrase méthode champenoise on a sparkling wine it means that it was produced by the Champagne method. In plain terms, it was put through a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Of course there is a lot more to it, and I'm not going to drill down into the details here. But from a practical standpoint any wine that says it was done in this way is likely to be 1) expensive and 2) a cut above cheaper fizz made by simply carbonating a still wine, or (in the case of Pét-Nat wines) finishing the primary (not secondary) fermentation in the bottle.
In the past decade the number of méthode champenoise wines from Oregon has rocketed. The growth began when Andrew Davis opened his Radiant Sparkling Wine Company in McMinnville as a dedicated facility for fine bubbly. Rather than having to do the whole complex production process at their own winery, producers could simply make their base wines and have Radiant take them right on through to final disgorgement and bottling.
The Willamette Valley is especially well-positioned to make quality sparkling wines from the classic Champagne grapes – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – all of which are grown here. The still wines have proven over the decades which sites have the chops, the dirt and the climate to do a much better than average job with these demanding grapes. So it's not a big jump to imagine that more than a few wineries should be able to do something great with sparkling wines.
Not that these wines are the same as great Champagne, though some come close. The unique Kimmeridgian clay that makes the wines great in Champagne is not found in Oregon. But the best Oregon sparkling wines can emulate it, with notes of seashells and sea breeze aromatics. As the quality has become evident, more ambitious programs have sprung up, notably the sparkling wine program at Domaine Serene, which takes place at a new facility on site and now includes more than a half dozen different styles. Another new program has been launched at Corollary Wines, where co-founders Jeanne Feldkamp and Dan Diephouse have chosen to focus exclusively on top tier bubbly.
Only a couple of wineries in Oregon have debuted with a focus on Champagne-style sparkling wines. Argyle was the first. Roco was another. Soter came to Oregon with a strong background in sparkling wines. But none of them make sparkling wines exclusively. I reached out to Jeanne and Dan to get a better understanding of their purpose, progress and plans for Corollary.
Coming from a technology background, their interest in making sparkling wines seems to have developed more from a consumer p-o-v than from prior wine industry experience. They launched Corollary in 2017. The website currently lists a half dozen wines from purchased grapes that are now available. And last summer the couple purchased a previously-undeveloped plot of land in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, destined to be the home for a tasting room and estate vineyard.
PG: Why have you decided to embark upon making only méthode champenoise wines – probably the most difficult and time-consuming concept imaginable for a start-up?
Jeanne: "Dan and I met in San Francisco years ago, and we used to travel up to Oregon regularly to see my family in Beaverton. We often visited wineries in the Willamette Valley and after tasting mostly Pinots and Chardonnays we found ourselves asking why a region that grew such lovely classic Champagne grapes wasn’t producing more sparkling wine. There were Argyle, Soter, and a few others, but they were hard to find. And we still didn’t see how to scale a sparkling winery beyond a boutique project."
PG: A visit to Radiant changed all that?
JF: "We met Andrew Davis, who had just started Radiant Sparkling Wine Company, and at that point we saw how to make Corollary work from a business perspective. So we started to get serious about building out our plan to make it happen. Making exclusively traditional method sparkling is indeed difficult and time consuming, but that’s exactly what attracts us to it. We call Corollary our 50-year project because it’s the thing we felt was worthy of working on for the next 50 years of our lives."
PG: I was struck by your creative approach, already obvious in these first releases. Excellent vineyard sources, intriguing blends, a carbonic rosé and single vineyard/single grape offerings.
JF: "This spring we released our 2019 Cuvée One, 2019 Cuvée One Rosé, 2019 Momtazi Carbonic Rosé, the other 2018 single vineyards. Later this year we’ll release our 2017 Extended Tirage Cuvée One. Next spring it’ll be the same, but for the 2020, 2019, and 2018 vintages respectively.
"We have added a few new fruit sources over the years to grow our program. We began receiving Winter’s Hill Chardonnay in 2021. We purchased Pinot Meunier from Anne Amie’s Twelve Oaks property in 2021 and 2022. And we have three new sites for 2023 – Ninebark (Pinot Meunier), Ten Peaks (Pinot Noir), and Trovato (Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier). We enjoy developing long-term relationships with our growers and taking a collaborative approach to building our knowledge about farming for sparkling.”
PG: What's the progress with the vineyard land you purchased last year?
JF: "We have 11 acres going in this fall at our site in the Eola-Amity Hills. Cattrall Brothers, where we’ve been sourcing fruit since our first vintage in 2017, is just down the street. So we’ve got experience working in the area and have found it to be excellent for bubbles.
"Everything we’re doing at the property is designed from the ground up with sparkling in mind. All the things we’ve learned over these last six years in the valley are informing our choices about vineyard design, rootstock and clone selections, water management, regenerative practices, and even guest experience. Our first phase of plantings will include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and some Pinot Blanc."
PG: How will you design your vineyard specifically for sparkling wine?
JF: "Clonal selections are a good example of how we’re designing specifically for sparkling. For example, we’ve eschewed Dijon clone Pinot Noir as it generally ripens too quickly, leading to low acid and more cloying wines. Instead, we’re planting more 'heritage' clones such as Wädenswil, Upright, Mount Eden and Mariafeld. We’ve found that these reach a better balance of acid and fruit in our climate for bubbles.”
PG: I really enjoyed your 2018 Winter's Hill Vineyard Pinot Blanc Sparkling Wine.
JF: "Pinot Blanc is another great example. With the right clone and site, you get this beautiful floral freshness, minerality, and acidity. The Winter’s Hill Pinot Blanc has become not just an important single vineyard wine for us but also an important blending component because it adds a beautiful, ethereal touch to the blends.
”We also have a few blocks which will be field blends, inspired by the mixed-clone blocks we source at X-Omni and Momtazi. We’re experimenting with different clones we’re bringing up from Foundation Plant Services in California that were originally brought into the US by various Champagne houses. We’re excited to experiment with these and see how they do in Oregon."
PG: I look forward to tasting the results.
JF: "It’ll be 2030 or so before we start releasing any wines from the vineyard, so you’re going to have to be patient! :). It’s a slow roll with sparkling. Of the 7000-ish cases we’ve made so far, we’ve only released 1000 or so."
PG: It's obvious from Jeanne's thoughtful comments that the commitment is there to do whatever it takes to build a stellar brand. My tasting notes will provide further insight into the quality already achieved.
A word about pricing. I do not and will not ever criticize any wine or winery for its pricing. I will certainly point out what I consider to be value wines, which are those that over-deliver relative to their peers at a particular price point. That's what underlies the weekly "Outstanding Value" feature on this website. I'm not looking for cheap wines; I'm looking for wines that are underpriced for the quality and category they represent.
Oregon's méthode champenoise wines are expensive to produce and priced accordingly. In general they start around $40 and go up into the hundreds from there. I have no quibble about that, but it will be up to consumers to make the call as to whether they offer fair value. I will be posting many more reviews of current Oregon sparklers on my Substack pages over the course of the next couple of weeks. Here are my notes and scores on the Corollary wines.
Corollary
Photo credit: Lester Tsai Photography
Corollary 2019 Cuvée One Extra Brut – From a dedicated sparkling wine-only producer, this blend is two thirds Chardonnay, one quarter Pinot Noir and the rest Pinot Blanc. The contributing vineyards are an all-star crew including X-Omni, Cattrall Brothers and Winter's Hill. This wine does not shy away from showing its fruit, a mix of pear, peach and melon, nicely blended and supported with ample acidity. The separate base wines were left on the lees for nine months prior to blending for secondary fermentation. It's a bold, fruity wine with a long, clean, tart and immaculately fresh finish. 191 cases; 12.5%; $45 (Willamette Valley) 92/100
Corollary 2019 Cuvée One Rosé Extra Brut – This is a pretty copper-colored wine presented in a frosted glass bottle. The blend is 55% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Gris. It's fruit-driven, with a burst of cranberry sauce and cherry candy in the center. The crisp acids frame the fruit with citrus rind, adding a touch of mineral along the way. The finish extends gracefully with no off notes. 161 cases; 12.6%; $55 (Willamette Valley) 92/100
Corollary 2019 Momtazi Vineyard Extra Brut Carbonic Rosé – Calling this a "carbonic" rosé, the winery notes that the Pinot Noir clusters were left to ferment naturally for nine days prior to being foot-crushed. That plus the vineyard's biodynamic viticulture adds subtle grace notes to the flavors, hints of herb and earth and underbrush. The fruit brings a blend of orange, tangerine and pink grapefruit, highlighted with tart acids. 94 cases; 12.1%; $65 (McMinnville) 93/100
Corollary 2018 Winter's Hill Vineyard Pinot Blanc Sparkling Wine – This single vineyard, single grape expression puts forward a strong case for making méthode champenoise wines from this rarely used – though allowed in true Champagne – variety. Tart, bracing and bursting with citrus fruit, this is a lip-smacking style which clearly puts a new world shine on an old world wine. It's bubbly for acid-lovers (and I am one) with a lemony kick that begs for fresh oysters (and skip the mignonette please). 65 cases; 11.4%; $60 (Dundee Hills) 92/100
Corollary 2018 Namaste Vineyard Brut – Three quarters old vine Chardonnay, one quarter old vine Pinot Noir, this distinctive wine has a black pepper note that rings across the palate. It's precise, deep and racy, with touches of candied pineapple, ginger and Meyer lemon. The length and intensity are of particular note, and this very young wine is the one to cellar for a decade or more. 81 cases; 11.4%; $60 (Van Duzer Corridor) 93/100
Corollary 2018 X-Omni Vineyard Blanc de Blancs – From a top vineyard in this Chardonnay-centric AVA, this exceptional all-Chardonnay bubbly deserves the center ring in the Corollary portfolio. I love the purity, the power and the precision of this wine. Fermented in neutral oak, left on the lees for six months, then re-fermented en tirage for three and a half years, this expressive wine is as close the Champagne as you can find in Oregon. Pay attention to the finish, which lingers and keeps adding nuances and details all the way through. 96 cases; 11.4%; $60 (Eola-Amity Hills) 94/100
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The wines I review have been tasted over many hours and days in peer groups. Only reviews for recommended wines are published, with links to winery websites to facilitate DTC sales. Additional exposure comes via my frequent posts on Substack, Post Alley, Instagram and several Facebook wine chat groups. I encourage you to subscribe to my Substack which is free and has an abundance of material not found on this website.
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