Article: Can California Sparkling Wine Taste Like Champagne? The Quest Goes On - New York Times

WHEN wine critics compare California sparkling wines with French Champagnes, they often find the California versions lacking. But this has not discouraged wine makers here, who remain convinced that they can make a sparkling wine as good as anybody's. Indeed, producing a sparkling wine to equal Champagne has become a sort of vinous holy grail, an elusive but endlessly fascinating goal. And despite a declining market for Champagne and sparkling wines -- consumption in the United States is down to an estimated 14 million cases in 1991 from 18 million in 1986 -- three major wineries have recently joined the quest, with a fourth coming soon. The Robert Mondavi Winery just released its first ...

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