GREAT CALIF BUBBLES - $20

[Jerry D Mead]

//Excerpted from the latest edition of my weekly newsletter, Mead On Wine.//

The newest winery in Lake County is called Ployez (pronounced ploy-yea), and it's French winemaker Gerald Ployez is a champagnemaster. He comes from the Champagne region and for many years was the winemaker at the now defunct California bubbly producer called Michel Tribaut.
When Tribaut was shut down. Ployez managed to acquire a small quantity of one of the best California sparklings he had made. In this year of Champagne shortages, he has 200 cases of standard size bottles and 100 cases of magnums...and absolutely no distribution because his enterprise is so small and so new. Contact the winery directly for details: Ployez, P.O. Box 1115, Lower Lake, CA 95457 (707) 994-2106.
Ployez NV "California" Brut ($20; $45 the magnum) There is no vintage date on the label, but this wine is actually entirely from the 1983 vintage! It is made 100 percent from Chardonnay grapes and by the handmade, "in this bottle," champagne method. Only recently disgorged (recorked after the dead yeast cells are removed) it combines the freshness of its sparkle and effervescence with the complexity of well-aged wine and the toasty-nutty complexity of yeast autolysis. The fruit is in the subtle, ripe apple vein. This is a wonderful example of California bubbly and at a true bargain price for what it is. Case purchases very highly recommended for your year 2000 celebration. Rating: 98/96