American Sparkling Wine

Exploring the land of opportunity, the land of the brave, of the free, and the land that is producing some incredible award winning sparkling wines.

America is a New World wine producing country, producing around 162 million bottles of sparkling wine per year. with their sparkling wine production increasing by 4% each year since 2008.

The United States consumes around 300 million bottles of sparkling wine each year, with about half of those being produced domestically. So there isn’t a lot of American Sparkling Wine that makes it around the world currently, with their biggest markets being Canada, the European Union, Great Britain, and Japan.

The Wine Regions of America

When you mention American Sparkling Wine, the main image that comes to mind is normally California, being home to Napa Valley, America’s most famous wine region. If you’ve enjoyed American Sparkling Wine, it would have likely been produced in Napa Valley or Sonoma, which is California’s second most popular wine region. The wines of California are the most exported from all the states at the current moment.

Oregon – A state with a growing popularity, located just above California, it has two regions that stand out, Willamette Valley and the Emerging Regions.

New York and Washington – On the opposite side of the country, it’s regions like the Finger Lakes, Long Island and Walla Walla that are leading the charge in producing quality American Sparkling Wines.

Texas – A growing region and an interesting one to follow, Texas is expanding its reputation with new and innovative sparkling wines. The Texas Hill Country is the biggest wine region in Texas, and the 3rd largest in the US. The size of Texas Hill country spans 15,000 square miles, housing over 120 wineries, and welcoming over 1 million visitors per year.

The state of Texas, in regards to wine production, is split into three, with the North-Central Region, which includes Texas High Plains AVA. The South-Eastern Region includes the area southeast of Austin, San Antonio & Houston, and then the Trans-Pecos Region which produces about 40% of the state’s grapes. Other Texan wine regions include Fredericksburg, Texas Davis Mountains, Mesilla Valley, Texoma, Bell Mountain, and Escondido.

Texas is ultimately the 5th-largest wine-producing state in America, with approximately 500 different wineries.

The Production Method Of American Sparkling Wine

American Sparkling Wine is most commonly produced in the Traditional Method, although Charmat Method/Tank Method is certainly used and available to those who enjoy the style. Discover more about the production methods of Sparkling Wines with Irina Mihailenko in her article: Sparkling Wines Production Methods

The Wine Grapes of America

The most popular grapes used in the production of American Sparkling Wine are the main three used in the production of Champagne or English Sparkling Wine.

• Chardonnay
• Pinot Noir
• Pinot Meunier

Other grapes that you’ll find used in American bubbly are Semillon, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Crouchen, Trebbiano, and Muscat Gordo Blanco.

The Main US Sparkling Wine Drinkers

More than half of the sparkling wine drinkers in America are under the age of 40 years old – According to Wine Intelligence

With a figure of 54% of men aged between 35-54 consider themselves “wine explorers” who regularly try new or different sparkling wine styles

Washington, D.C. had the highest per capita consumption of sparkling wine in the US, at 3.08 litres per person in 2021.