Decades in the making: The long rise of New York sparkling wine

The 1976 Judgement of Paris is credited with putting American wine on the map internationally, but a century earlier, a forgotten milestone put New York wine on the world’s stage.

In 1873, a Finger Lakes sparkling wine took home gold at a competition in Vienna – the first American bubbly to win an international medal.

The wine was crafted from Catawba grapes by Pleasant Valley Wine Company on Keuka Lake, U.S. Bonded Winery No. 1.

The victory caused quite a stir back home in the Empire State. In 1871, the winery’s founder, Charles Champlin, sent a case to the Boston wine connoisseur, Marshall P. Wilder, who declared it the ‘The Great Champagne of the Western World’.

Pleasant Valley quickly earned the nickname ‘Great Western’, and its shipping records from the late 19th century show it was a supplier to numerous prestigious east coast establishments such as S.S. Pierce, Macy’s, Park & Tilford, Palmer House of Chicago, and Parker House of Boston.

Origin story

‘[American hybrid] grapes like Delaware played such an important role in our region’s early sparkling wines,’ explains Erin McMurrough of Little Clover Wine Company, a micro-winery in the Finger Lakes offering traditional method style Riesling, Delaware, and Cayuga White.

‘These grapes are naturally suited to traditional-method sparkling wine: they hold bright acidity, develop beautiful aromatics at lower sugars, and create wines with freshness and energy,’ she continues.

‘I never questioned whether they could make serious sparkling wine; I only wondered whether people would be open to revisiting these varieties in a new, yet historically rooted, way.’

McMurrough’s wines have become cult favourites since launching in 2023.

She says: ‘I see Little Clover as both a nod to our roots and a reminder that New York doesn't need to imitate other regions to make world-class sparkling wine. We have our own story to tell.’

New York’s rich history of sparkling wine dates back more than 150 years. The fame of local sparkling wines from the Finger Lakes was such that from 1870 to 1945 it adopted the postmark ‘Rheims, N.Y.’.

The vinifera revolution

Though prohibition was crippling to the wine industry, the region’s strong associations with sparkling wines remained.

Renowned winegrowers and makers immigrated to Long Island and the Finger Lakes in the 20th and 21st centuries, including Guy Deveaux of Moët et Chandon and Mumm Napa, and Charles Fournier of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin.

‘Our sparkling programme began with the 1985 vintage under my grandfather, Willy Frank,’ says Meaghan Frank, fourth-generation General Manager at Dr. Konstantin Frank Winery on Keuka Lake.

The winery began in 1958 as an experiment between Charles Fournier and Frank’s great-grandfather, Konstantin.

Willy Frank’s deep commitment to traditional method wines, classically made with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, meant he was the first producer to successfully plant Vitis vinifera in Finger Lakes, proving it was possible and leading to a new wave of still and sparkling wines made with vinifera varieties.

‘At the time, he labelled the wines “Finger Lakes Champagne” because he was intent on legitimising both vinifera and sparkling wine production in the region,’ Frank continues.

Although EU-USA labelling agreements mean it is still allowed to use the term, the winery prefers to list 'traditional method' on its labels out of respect for the venerable Champagne region.

Diverse sparkling offerings

As interest in New York sparkling increases, so do the state’s offerings: with traditional and tank method wines, Pét Nat (pétillant naturel also known as ancestral method), and everything in between.

You’ll even find a sparkling Albariño in the Hudson Valley and sparkling rosé ice wine in the Lake Erie AVA.

‘I guess the reason is “why not?”. I'm a scientist. I like challenges,’ says Johnson Estate Winery winemaker Jeff Murphy.

Like his counterparts statewide, Murphy is a true New Yorker, unafraid to push the limits of cool-climate wines, sparkling especially, and not back down from something others might think is too difficult.

‘Long cool summers and crisp falls ripen aromatics and flavour components at lower sugar levels, providing an ideal sparkling base,’ he says of the state’s conditions.

After decades of testing and measuring itself against European benchmarks, New York’s persistence has arrived at something more valuable than validation: an identity of its own.

When you open a bottle of New York sparkling, you’re experiencing deep roots – and a very bright future.

Empire State of fizz

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