Schramsberg Vineyards sits on a forested hillside in Calistoga with two miles of hand-dug caves that store millions of bottles aging on their lees. Founded in 1862 by German immigrant Jacob Schram and revived in 1965 by Jack and Jamie Davies, it became the definitive California sparkling wine house.

History of Schramsberg Vineyards

Jacob Schram arrived in California from Germany in the 1840s, worked as a barber in San Francisco, and saved enough to purchase 200 hillside acres north of Calistoga in 1862. He built a winery, dug caves into the hillside, and planted vineyards. A young Robert Louis Stevenson visited in the 1880s and wrote about the property in his 1883 book Silverado Squatters, giving Schram an early literary legacy.

The winery closed during Prohibition and sat dormant for decades. Jack and Jamie Davies discovered the overgrown property in 1965 and recognized what others had missed: a historic sparkling wine site with aging caves already dug. They revived the estate, planted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and began producing methode traditionnelle sparkling wines. When President Nixon served Schramsberg at his 1972 state dinner in Beijing, the winery became internationally famous overnight.

In 1972 President Nixon served Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs at the historic dinner with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing. It has appeared at state dinners ever since.

The caves and the traditional method

Two miles of caves beneath the Schramsberg estate are hand-dug, some dating to the 1870s. They maintain a constant cool temperature and high humidity year-round, ideal conditions for aging sparkling wine on its lees. The winery stores between two and three million bottles in the caves at any time.

Schramsberg uses the methode traditionnelle exclusively. Grapes are harvested early for high acidity, fermented dry, blended across vintages and vineyard sources, bottled with a small addition of yeast and sugar to trigger a second fermentation in the bottle, and aged on the lees in the caves for a minimum of two years up to seven or more for the prestige cuvee. Yeast autolysis during this aging adds the characteristic biscuit, brioche, and toasty complexity that defines serious sparkling wine.

The wines of Schramsberg

Blanc de Blancs made from 100 percent Chardonnay is the flagship and the wine served in Beijing. It is crisp, citrus-driven, and elegant with fine, persistent bubbles. Blanc de Noirs uses Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier to produce a fuller sparkling wine with red-fruit inflection.

The J. Schram bottling is the prestige cuvee, made only in exceptional vintages and aged seven or more years on the lees before release. Reserve and single-vineyard tiers extend the range. Schramsberg also produces Cremant, a slightly sweeter style, and the Davies Vineyard label covers still wines from the estate.

Food pairings for Schramsberg sparkling wines

High acidity and fine bubbles make Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs one of the most food-versatile wines made in California. The acidity cuts through fat and the bubbles lift heavy textures off the palate. Oysters are the classic pairing: the salinity amplifies the wine’s citrus and mineral character while the wine’s acidity brightens the brine. Fried chicken is another celebrated pairing for the same reason.

Blanc de Noirs with its fuller body works with salmon, duck breast, and charcuterie. The J. Schram prestige cuvee deserves the most celebratory food: foie gras, lobster, or truffle pasta. Avoid very sweet desserts, which make even the finest sparkling wine taste thin and acidic by comparison.

Schramsberg Vineyards: common questions