Cruse Wine Company Petillant Naturel St. Laurent Ricci Vineyard Carneros

Cruse Wine Company Petillant Naturel St. Laurent Ricci Vineyard Carneros is a zero-additive blanc de noirs made from the Austrian grape St. Laurent, hand-harvested from Dale Ricci's twenty-five-year-old vines on the Sonoma side of Carneros. St. Laurent behaves like a teenage Pinot Noir—lively, exuberant, acidic—especially when grown in the Haire clay loam soils and persistent coastal fog just miles from San Pablo Bay, which slow ripening and preserve the freshness Michael Cruse prizes in his sparkling wines. This is true pétillant naturel: the fruit is gently pressed using a slow sparkling press cycle, fermented spontaneously in stainless steel, and bottled mid-fermentation with no additions of sulfur, dosage, or secondary yeast. The result is a creamy, fruit-forward bottle with a soft, persistent mousse and a clean, slightly off-dry finish. Michael Cruse founded Cruse Wine Company in 2013 with a mission to produce wines that are unabashedly Californian and inherently delicious, with a particular passion for sparkling and pétillant naturel wines made from California's lesser-known varieties. St. Laurent is an Austrian red grape that has been grown by Dale Ricci, a longtime family friend of Cruse, for over twenty-five years on the Sonoma side of Carneros. The Ricci Vineyard sits in typical Carneros Haire clay loam, a heavy, dense soil that drains slowly and stresses the vines just enough to concentrate flavor without sacrificing acidity. The persistent coastal fog that rolls in from San Pablo Bay slows ripening considerably, preserving the freshness and vivacity that makes this variety behave, as Cruse puts it, like a teenage Pinot Noir—lively and exuberant. The fruit is hand-harvested, gently pressed using a slow sparkling press cycle to avoid extracting harsh tannins, and fermented spontaneously in stainless steel before being bottled mid-fermentation with no additions of any kind. No sulfur, no dosage, no secondary yeast—just grape juice finishing its fermentation in the bottle. The nose is inviting and expressive, opening with white flowers, peach candy, lavender, and ripe pear before giving way to notes of wild strawberry, raspberry, honeysuckle, and a delicate hint of brioche. On the palate it is bright and juicy with flavors of cherry, pomegranate, banana cream tart, and fresh citrus zest, with a gentle creaminess through the mid-palate and a clean, slightly off-dry finish that is lively, refreshing, and utterly thirst-quenching. This is a wine for summer aperitifs, oysters, charcuterie, or anything involving fried chicken. The soft mousse and fruit-forward profile make it approachable for guests who find bone-dry sparkling wines austere, while the spontaneous fermentation and zero-additive approach will satisfy natural wine purists. Serve well chilled and drink within a year of purchase—pétillant naturel is not a wine to age. Available for pickup at our Lincoln Park bottle shop at 1128 W Armitage Ave, local Chicago delivery, or nationwide shipping.