Los Chuchaquis 'Super Bueno!' Sparkling Sangiovese

Jess and I [Chris] were a bit wary when we were first offered a taste of the Super Bueno, as the Los Chuchaquis wines have leaned a bit too natty for our tastes in the past, but wow were we pleasantly surprised. Strawberry hard candy (like the ones your Grandma kept in her den), red licorice, tarragon, and lip smacking acid. Yum!

We love it with… A float on Lake Washington, pizza, grilled vegetables with basically any herb sauce (zucchini with gremolata! carrots with carrot-top pesto! corn with chimichurri!)

Type: Sparkling
Vintage: 2025
Size: 750mL
ABV: 11.0%
Grape: 100% Sangiovese
Region: Cienega Valley, California, United States
Vinification: Picked on September 20th, 2023, the fruit was crushed and macerated for six hours before pressing to tank for settling. Fermented spontaneously in tank before getting racked. A tank of chilled Reserve Sangiovese juice was added at bottling to 16 g/L residual sugar for bottle fermentation. No added sulfites, unfined, unfiltered, and non-disgorged. Bottled December 5, 2023.

For the nerds: It may seem odd to find it grown in the Cienega Valley, which is just east of Monterey, California, but actually this part of the state has a rich history of winemaking back to Gold Rush days. There is a lot of old vine material from a myriad of varieties that were planted by European immigrants during that era that have withstood the test of time, and Los Chuchaquis is working to preserve them by making fun and approachable wines.