Sparkling wine is a bright spot in today’s challenging wine market. It ranks third among wine categories in sales, behind Cabernet and Chardonnay, and is the fastest-growing varietal.[*] The lower alcohol and light, fizzy taste appeals to the healthy mindset of today’s consumers, and the lower price point appeals to their stretched budgets. Sparkling wine is also a natural entry point for younger generations to engage with wine, as it delivers the fruity flavor and familiar effervescence they favor.  Mark Garaventa, Chief Commercial Officer and General Manager of Healdsburg, California-based custom production and crush facility, Rack & Riddle, provides insight. “When I started here in 2009, drinking sparkling wine was a celebratory event, unlike the Europeans who drank it daily. Now that trend is developing here and driving the growth.”  Rack & Riddle has grown from its 2007 founding by Rebecca Faust and Bruce Lundquist to become America’

Strategic consolidation in Sonoma County positions the company for continued innovation and growth Rack & Riddle, the leading custom sparkling wine producer in the United States, has announced a strategic facility realignment to strengthen long-term growth, increase efficiency, and accelerate innovation. The plans include developing a new Sparkling Innovation Park (SIP) embedded within its Healdsburg site, consolidating key operations into a single, world-class location. The Lodi facility, which was added as part of the acquisition of Weibel Family Winery in 2023, will be permanently relocated to Healdsburg. The Rack & Riddle Geyserville and Alexander Valley operations will not be impacted by this consolidation. Sparkling wine continues to be the third largest wine type in the U.S., behind only Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, and sparkling wine is outperforming still wines in scanner data. Rack & Riddle has steadily innovated and grown along with market shifts and demand

Domestic Headquarters for Research and Development to be based in Sonoma County, California Rack & Riddle and Solos have announced an exclusive partnership that will revolutionize the production of no and low alcohol still and sparkling wines. The team will be the first in the United States to offer Solos’ patented Aroma Recovery System used in Europe to provide superior flavor and mouthfeel to low and no alcohol wines. Rack & Riddle’s facilities in Healdsburg, Alexander Valley, Geyserville and Lodi will serve as the national headquarters for service, research and development for both companies. Test and small lot production is expected to begin later this year with full commercial scale operations commencing in 2025. No alcohol, low alcohol and sparkling wine is exploding in popularity. One out of every seven bottles of wine sold now in the U.S. are sparkling wines. The sparkling category has grown two and one-half times over the past 15 years at a retail price pr

SafŒno™ PR 106 was especially selected and tested for the production of sparkling wines elaborated through the closed-tank or Charmat method. Releasing intense fruity and floral aromas, whilst also giving a pleasant roundness to the wine without hiding acidity, this yeast strain is ideal for premium sparkling base wines. SafŒno™ PR 106 also performs very well in many conditions and respects our Easy-To-Use (E2U™) standard which means it can be pitched straight into the must without prior rehydration. Intense, complex fruity & floral aromas SafŒno™ PR 106 was selected for its intense and complex fruity and floral flavours brought by a high production of higher alcohols and esters. Ethyl esters bring complexity whereas acetate esters help reduce potential green notes which could come from early harvested grapes, intended to keep some acidity for sparkling wines. Fresh & persistent mouthfeel SafŒno™ PR 106 is consuming some m

The market for yeasts selected to produce sparkling wines, as opposed to that to produce still white wines, is limited and consists of strains with strong fermentation abilities but producing low concentrations of aromatic compounds. Today the market increasingly demands sparkling wines characterized by greater freshness and fruitier sensations than in previous decades.    To produce a sparkling wine, a base wine must undergo a second fermentation called prise de mousse (PDM), refermentation or effervescence. This technique requires the preparation of a yeast starter culture (YSC) containing a high amount of yeast cells capable of consuming all the fermentable sugars added to the base wine and transforming them into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The quality of the YSC is crucial for the success of the PDM process, which can take place in a bottle using the traditional method, or in a closed tank, in an autoclave, according to the Charmat or Martinotti method. However, over the

Rack & Riddle Presents: Mastering the Art of Méthode Champenoise & Charmat Sparkling Wines WIN Expo Exhibit Hall Trial Tasting  Thursday, November 30 12:45 – 1:45 p.m. Sonoma County Fairgrounds Grace Pavilion 1350 Bennett Valley Rd., Santa Rosa, CA 95404 Join Rack & Riddle for a tasting journey, where you will be sampling sparkling wines produced in two distinct methods: Méthode Champenoise & Charmat. We will explore how each is expertly crafted by our award-winning winemaking team. Each sparkling wine will be finished 2-3 different ways; a neutral (no dose), a sugar dose, and a wine or spirit dose. Taste for yourself how the two winemaking methods produce diverse sparkling wines, and how each dose uniquely compliments and accentuates the final profile of the wines. Register with the Promo Code for your FREE Trial Tasting: RAC23 

Adding Vinfoil Mixers to your tanks can be a valuable tool in assisting with Bentonite additions during the winemaking process. Bentonite is a type of clay that is commonly used in winemaking as a fining agent to clarify and stabilize the wine by removing unwanted particles and proteins. When added to the wine, Bentonite particles can form a gel-like structure that traps these impurities and allows them to settle out. Vinfoil mixers unique blade design allows for gentle yet powerful blending, improving flow rate and increasing tank turnover, thus ensuring uniform mixing and product consistency.  Whether you are adding bentonite directly to the wine tank, or mixing it in a separate tank and then adding it to the wine, thorough mixing is necessary and there is a Vinfoil solution for you. Here’s how a Vinfoil tank mixer can help with Bentonite additions: Homogeneous Blending: Bentonite is typically added as a powder to the wine. Without proper blending, Bentonite particle

Bubbles for Everyone: Behind the Rack & Riddle Expansion

The company’s plan is to transform the supermarket private label bubbly business. By Jeff Siegel   Rack & Riddle, the California custom sparkling wine house, garnered lots of attention last […]

Company Now #1 Producer of High-Quality Sparkling Wine in the US, with Capacity of 3.5 Million Cases  Following a recent expansion adding a state-of-the-art sparkling production site in Geyserville, Rack & Riddle has now acquired the Weibel Family Winery in Lodi, making the company the largest premium, custom sparkling wine producer in America. Founded in 2007, Rack & Riddle began as a small company focused on producing superior sparkling wine in the traditional French Méthode Champenoise. Over the years, the company has steadily grown, and with the addition of the Weibel Family Winery (which is now Rack & Riddle Lodi) has four modern sparkling winery locations and 150 employees. From Méthode Champenoise, Charmat, in-line carbonation and canned premium sparkling wines, Rack & Riddle now crafts the full spectrum of sparkling wines that American consumers currently enjoy. “We have purchased the Weibel Family operation, marking a milestone f