Paso Robles built its name on big reds, so when Chad and Lauren Rava set out to make estate-grown sparkling wine in the traditional method of Champagne, they were doing something nobody here had done before. They spent their honeymoon working on Rancho Fortunato, a former Arabian horse ranch, dreaming up a place built for celebration. Rava Wines opened in 2017 as the first Paso winery to specialize in bubbles, and it has been a party ever since.

A honeymoon and a horse ranch

Chad and Lauren Rava shared a specific dream: to be the first winery in Paso Robles to specialize in estate-grown sparkling wine, made in the time-honored methode champenoise of Champagne. The Ravas are a third-generation California farming family, with roots that trace back to Chad’s grandfather Gerolamo, who immigrated from Lake Como, Italy, in 1924. Farming is in the blood, and the family still tends more than 2,000 acres across San Luis Obispo and Monterey Counties.

The dream became real in 2017, when the couple opened Rava Wines and Events on Rancho Fortunato, their estate in Paso Robles. The property was originally an Arabian horse ranch, and the Ravas spent their honeymoon working on it and sketching plans for what they imagined as a place of celebrations. Today it is exactly that, a destination for sparkling wine, live entertainment, and events, with a sense of joy that sets it apart in a region of serious reds.

Rava Wines was the first winery in Paso Robles to specialize in estate-grown sparkling wine made in the traditional methode champenoise of Champagne.

Why El Pomar suits sparkling

Rava’s estate sits in the El Pomar District of Paso Robles, where the family farms 80 acres of its larger holdings, with vineyards first established here in 1996. El Pomar is the rolling, terraced center of the region, built on deep loams and clay loams between roughly 740 and 1,600 feet, with a Region II climate cooled by marine air on summer evenings.

That cooling is essential for sparkling wine. Traditional-method bubbles depend on grapes picked with high natural acidity, and the cool nights of El Pomar help the fruit hold that bright, crisp acidity even under the California sun. The Ravas grow an enormous range of varieties, 26 in all across their properties, which gives them the flexibility to craft both classic sparkling wines and a full lineup of still wines from the same family ground.

The wines: bubbles first

The headline at Rava is sparkling wine, made in the labor-intensive methode champenoise where the bubbles form through a second fermentation in the bottle, the same painstaking process used in Champagne. The result is crisp, elegant, celebratory wine, a genuine rarity in Paso Robles and the reason many people make the trip. From bright, fresh styles to richer, more complex bottlings, the sparkling program is the heart of the house.

The Ravas also make a broad range of still wines, drawing on the 26 varieties they farm, but the bubbles are what define them. Pair that with a property built for celebration, with event spaces and live music, and Rava becomes less a tasting stop than a destination, the place you go in Paso when there is something worth toasting, which, with a glass of estate sparkling in hand, there usually is.

What to pour it with

Sparkling wine is one of the most versatile pairing partners in the world, and the chemistry is pure physics. The high acidity and scrubbing bubbles cut through fat and salt and reset the palate, which is why traditional-method sparkling and fried food is a match made in heaven. Pour a brut alongside fried chicken, salty potato chips, fish and chips, or anything crisp and golden, and each sip wipes the richness clean and makes you want the next bite.

Beyond fried food, sparkling loves briny, salty things, oysters, charcuterie, hard cheese, since salt softens any edge in the wine and makes the fruit pop. A richer, more complex sparkling can even stand up to roast chicken or creamy pasta. For the still reds, follow the usual rules and reach for grilled and roasted meats. But the move at Rava is to start with bubbles and something salty, and let the celebration take it from there.

Rava Wines: common questions