NV VARA Silverhead Brut Albuquerque New Mexico 750 ml

Some Champagne purists might think Laurent Gruet has lost his mind. After all, the Champagne native left home to make sparkling wine in the mountains of New Mexico. And for the VARA Silverhead Brut, he blended grapes from Washington and Spain in a méthode champenoise bubbly. They might call it unorthodox. Or outlandish. Or heretical. 

We call it delicious. 

This is a visionary wine, made from grapes on either side of the Atlantic—Chardonnay (72%) and Syrah (3%) from the Ancient Lakes AVA, plus Xarel-lo and Macabeo from the Spanish Alt Penedès DO. Aromas of almonds, pears, and apricots are accented by chamomile and minerals, leading to a well-balanced palate poised between citrus, florals, and toasty notes. Refreshing and complex, it proves that sparkling wine excellence isn’t reserved for France’s chalky slopes or coastal California.

The Ancient Lakes AVA is home to some of Washington’s most dramatic glacier-carved geography, and over 65 different types of soil. A cooler, high-desert sub-region within the Columbia Valley, it’s a powerhouse for white grape varieties. Pair that with native varieties from the high-elevation Alt Penedès region—home of Spain’s best sparkling wines—and you’ve got a recipe for graceful, nuanced bubbly.

This wine could only come from the mind of someone like Laurent Gruet, who’s spent his life crafting elegant sparkling wine from high-altitude vineyards. After growing up among the vines in Champagne, he moved to New Mexico at 18 to join his father’s new winemaking venture. The Gruet family proceeded to put New Mexico on the wine-world map before selling the company in 2014. Laurent then joined VARA, who gave him carte blanche with their sparkling wine program. 

That freedom to explore has led to wines like this one, a one-of-a-kind bottle from fascinating terroir.