Gloria Ferrer Champagne Caves Alphabetical Guide to California Sparkling Wine   Schramsberg Sets the Pace California's pioneering producer of sparkling wines has never followed the crowd     See also:     Champagne Tasting Report A run of good vintages yields high-quality wines in a wide range of styles and prices

The big winner in sparkling wine from California this year is Schramsberg. This historic winery made two of the greatest sparkling wines in California history, helping solidify its credentials as the state's pioneer with the Champagne-inspired style, méthode champenoise.

This winery in Napa Valley has been intent on upgrading its wines, and the use of grapes from Napa, Monterey and Mendocino counties gave the J. Schram 1997 (93, $80) and Reserve 1996 (92, $60) added measures of depth and complexity. The J. Schram shows great richness, elegance and finesse, with layers of citrus, pear, hazelnut and spice. The Reserve offers a yeasty scent of pear and ginger, along with the same elegance and vibrancy.

For about half the price of the Reserve, the Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs (89, $30) is another rich, yeasty sparkler with loads of spicy fruit flavors and complexity.

We tasted 59 sparkling wines released this fall. Besides Schramsberg, three other wineries produced outstanding offerings. Domaine Chandon, the first French Champagne house to set up business in California, produced a classy étoile Rosé (90, $40), a non-vintage bottling that exhibited distinct Pinot Noir character with its ripe cherry and blackberry scents and hints of roasted grain and bread dough. Another Champagne transplant, Roederer Estate, delivered an excellent 1998 Brut L'Ermitage (90, $39), showcasing the Anderson Valley's high acidity and turning it into a mouthwatering beam of spice, ginger, pear and hazelnut, finishing long. Iron Horse's Brut Sonoma County Green Valley LD 1996 (90, $50) showed the benefits of aging, with a rich array of complex flavors and the development of secondary flavors that come from spending extra time in the bottle before being late-disgorged.