LouBud Cebada Vineyard Brut Rosé Santa Ynez Valley 2021

Laura Roach is the singular Renaissance woman behind the impeccably delectable LouBud, Cebada Vineyard, Brut Rosé: our newest, favorite sparkling wine here at ACME.  Passionate yet soft-spoken, Laura is a polymath whose diverse interests include tinkering with baking recipes, playing the alto sax, practicing French, and studying chemistry.  While growing up in Davis, California, her beloved grandmother shared an article on the wine business's dynamic women shattering glass ceilings.  It inspired Laura and influenced her to attend the University of California, Davis, the Harvard of winemaking, conveniently located in her backyard.  There, her eyes were opened to the exciting world of wine by Hildegarde Heymann, a mentor and female professor of enology originally from South Africa.  Laura took a few months off her studies at Davis to work a harvest at Schramsberg, the preeminent producer of sparkling wine here in Napa.  It was their traditional, artisanal winemaking style and focus on single vineyards that most informed her bubbly philosophy.

Having grown up in Davis and then matriculated there, Laura longed to stamp her passport and broaden her horizons by working abroad.  Receiving the prestigious Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin Scholarship enabled her to spend a harvest at the iconic Domaine de la Vougeraie in Burgundy.  While there, she helped to craft some of their classic Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs- sourced from no fewer than nine different Grand Crus.  After graduating in 2010, she alternated between several harvests in South Africa and the legendary Dalla Valle Vineyards in Oakville.  Alas, a rolling stone grows no moss, and Laura eventually realized that it was time to plant roots somewhere in Wine Country.  And there were few places better suited to the varietal she was most passionate about, Pinot Noir, than Santa Barbara County.  A bonus: this is a stunningly beautiful part of California, considered by many to be the American Riviera.  In 2012, she was hired at Sanford Winery & Vineyards to produce estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and today, Laura is the associate winemaker.  She began her passion project Loubud (a childhood nickname bestowed by her father), with just 1 ton of fruit in 2015.

Cebada Vineyard's proximity to the Pacific Ocean in the westernmost part of Santa Barbara County means the cool marine layer blankets the vines, which influences not only the flavors and aromas but the overall structure of the wine. Laura crafted this Brut Rosé from the Cebada Vineyard in the traditional method, by hand, as she embraces with all her sparkling wines.  This wine is 100% Pinot Noir and is characteristic of the brut style with bright, clean aromas of citrus and ripe strawberries.  The secondary fermentation in the bottle developed the yeasted flavors and creamy texture, making each sip reminiscent of brioche French toast.  Tiny, refined bubbles spread through the palate, making this sparkling rosé a lovely apéritif to your holiday feast or celebratory bottle to ring in the New Year.