Palate
Toastiness comes first, with prominent fruit flavors of crisp red apple, lemon curd, and ginger come to meet up. Driven by its freshness and austerity, the creamy mouthfeel balances the dry, crisp, and bright green apple flavors.
Harvest
The grapes for our sparkling wines are located on separate plots on our Keuka Estate vineyards. These vineyards were planted by Willy Frank in 1980 with the sole purpose of producing sparkling wines.
Winemaking
The grapes were hand-picked into small 40kg crates with careful bunch selection in the vineyard. The whole cluster grapes were immediately pressed. From harvest to pressing, extreme care is used in handling the grapes to avoid any excessive crushing or bruising. Only the first most delicate pressing, called the Cuvée, is used. The base wine was bottled the following Spring after harvest.
Secondary fermentation took place in bottle as per the traditional Méthode Champenoise. The wine was left in bottle with the lees for a minimum of 24 months in the underground cellar at Chateau Frank. Each bottle is individually disgorged, corked, crowned, and labeled by hand. The month of disgorgement is listed on the back of each bottle.
Food Pairing
Perfect for celebrations and special occasions. Pair with oysters, lobster, smoked salmon, fried foods, egg dishes, sushi, popcorn, or seafood-based Chinese dishes.
