Carboniste Sparkling Albarino Extra Brut 2024

Viticulture

The Gomes family has been farming on Andrus Island since the 1800’s when they immigrated from Portugal, where Albariño (Alvarinho) is grown extensively in Vinho Verde near the Atlantic Ocean. This site has deep, rich soil, well fed from the Sacramento River delta. It is dry farmed without cultivation and is transitioning to organic farming certification.

Vinification

Juice for this wine was fermented in stainless steel tanks with native yeast. After resting a few months in tank, the wine was bottled with fresh yeast and a small amount of sugar for fermentation (traditional method). The resulting sparkling wine was aged briefly prior to riddling and hand disgorging. The overall short aging of this wine ensures brightness and freshness that makes the wine really stand out.

After a light dosage, the bottles were capped again in order to preserve the
natural youth and freshness of the wine.
Bottled 1/13/2025 18 g/L sugar
Disgorged 07/08/2025 5 g/L dosage

Tasting notes

A light and fresh sparkling wine with notes of gooseberry, kumquat, and stonefruit blossom.

Winery Description

Symbolizing the diversity of the Central Coast

A former Wells Fargo stagecoach stop, the town of Ballard was founded in 1880 with lofty dreams of being a future metropolis. But sometimes history has a different plan. While Ballard is the oldest community within the famed Santa Ynez Valley on California’s Central Coast, it’s also the smallest, despite the dreams of its founders.

Ballard was named for William Ballard, who ran the Wells Fargo station from 1862 to 1870. Although Ballard served as the connection point between rural and seaside communities, it never grew in mass like its neighbor Santa Barbara and is now much as it was over 100 years ago.

Today, Ballard is a combination of a sleepy village and an upscale bedroom community. The surrounding area is noted for its thriving and well-respected wine industry and was featured in the Academy Award-nominated film “Sideways.” Vineyards, coastal bluffs and ranches merge seamlessly together through roads the locals call “lanes.” Ultimately, many of these paths end up in Ballard.

The Ballard Lane wines are a reflection of the Millers, a Central Coast family who has farmed the area for five generations. Their proprietary knowledge of the climate and terroirs of the Central Coast are reflected in each bottle of Ballard Lane wine.

John Crandall
John’s curiosity for grape growing & winemaking has led him to become an enologist, winemaker & college lecturer. John received a Bachelors of Fermentation Science from the University of California Davis and began his career at Cambria as an enologist. Over the next few years, John was promoted to Assistant Winemaker & Winemaker. John then moved on to help Meridian Santa Barbara Chardonnay become one of the top Chardonnays in the United States.