2019 Grassi Wine Company Sparkling Ribolla Gialla Valentina's Block Napa Valley 750 ml

These words are some of the only evidence that one of Napa Valley’s great sparkling wines exists. 

Google doesn’t have a clue about the 2019 Grassi Sparkling Ribolla Gialla Valentina’s Block Napa Valley. There’s zilch on the winery page, and we couldn’t find it on the myriad wine sites we use in our job every day. The only reason we know about it is because of our close friendship with the man behind it: Wine Enthusiast top 40 under 40 winemaker Maayan Koschitzky, whose resume also happens to boast La Pelle, Screaming Eagle, and Atelier Melka.

We’ve never been so glad to be tight with Maayan, because we were the first ones he called, bearing one of the most mouth-watering and delicious passion projects we’ve ever had. A Champagne-style bubbly crafted from a rare grape planted on a tiny family-owned parcel, it’s the definition of insider Napa—and a sparkling wine we’d open alongside the best of Champagne any day. 

A lively pale gold in the glass, showing hints of green, the aroma is bursting with green apple, Buddha’s Hand citrus, honeysuckle, and crushed limestone. The mouthfeel is the perfect marriage of Napa Valley ripeness and lively acidity: It’s driven by a jolt of energy that awakens the palate and takes it on a Formula One racetrack, before finishing bone-dry with superb substance and finesse. 

We secured this incredibly rare allocation after our panel on the Ribolla Gialla grape, which featured the Napa Valley’s most iconic bottlings. You can watch the discussion, which included Maayan Koschitzky, right here.

This is a conversation piece bottle—one you’ll want to tell your friends and family all about until the first sip leaves them marveling at how undeniably delicious the wine is. It’s the kind of elegant bubbly that few know is produced outside of Champagne, in a bottle that a few know about, period.  

This wine is about personal connections, pure and simple. Maayan’s partner in La Pelle wines is Miguel Luna, who—in addition to being a partner in the widely respected farming company that tends vines for Dana Estates, Stags Leap Wine Cellars, and Accendo—happens to be married to Cassandra Grassi. Cassandra is the Marketing Director of the estate her parents Mark and Jami purchased in 1999.

In addition to the Cabernet Sauvignon that Grassi (and Wine Access) have had huge success with, the Italian-American Grassi family also works with Italian varieties, and none means more to them than Ribolla Gialla. After making a still (non-sparkling) Ribolla from the same legendary Vare Vineyard that Dan Petroski of Massican and Steve Matthiasson tap for their white wines, the Grassis decided to plant two acres on their own estate—where three generations of the family now live. They called it Valentina’s Block, after Cassandra’s daughter.

A grape native to Friuli in Northern Italy, Ribolla Gialla has proven its ability to challenge the expensive Sauvignon Blancs and lean Chardonnays for the title of focused, most refreshing white. It features a gorgeous floral bouquet, stony minerality, and sheer luminousness that make it a favorite among Napa Valley winemakers who know where to find it. 

Maayan and Miguel thought the grape’s aromatic profile and lively acidity would make a great sparkling wine. “It’s got beautiful aromatics and can maintain acidity quite well in the heat of California,” Maayan told us, about the decision to make a Champagne-style bubbly from Valentina’s Block, which is tended by Miguel. 

They follow a true-to-Champagne protocol for the wine, barrel fermenting in neutral oak, then bottling before the second fermentation. When it comes time for the dosage, Maayan uses a solera that they started back in 2017—adding a bit of that multi-vintage blend, which has been gaining depth for years now, contributes a ton of texture and complexity to the finished wine.

The result is a rare Napa Valley sparkler that is well worth the search. We’ve taken care of that you—all that’s left to do is enjoy the wine.