Let us be clear here — Mama deserves (and needs) a drink and she can drink whatever she wants. Mama wants a glass of Cab Franc? Great. Mama desires a can of cranberry hard seltzer on the patio? Done. Mama requires a rocks glass four fingers full of bourbon? Mama gets.
For the sake of the season and the upcoming holiday to celebrate Mama, we selected a handful of beautifully pink bubbles to pop in honor of Mother’s Day. These are available throughout the Pacific Northwest and showcase the range in which pink is much more than a color or feminine stereotype, and more of an exhibition of what red and white wine grapes can do.
Bonus: All of these wines are produced through the traditional Champagne method (méthode champenoise) of getting bubbles in the bottle through secondary fermentation. All pink and all class for Mother’s Day. Cheers to Mom!
Karma Vineyards 2016 Methode Champenoise Pink Bubbles, Columbia Valley
A classic Champagne-inspired blend of Pinot Noir (75%), Chardonnay (5%) and Pinot Meunier (20%), this wine from the Lake Chelan producer is aged for over three years before it is available to the public — and with only 475 cases, to boot. The result is floral with strawberry, orange rind, toasted bread and black cherry on the flamboyant nose. The palate is ripe and juicy, fruit-forward with gentle bubbles yet off-dry and easy drinking. Pair this with a strawberry, goat cheese and spinach salad. | $55
Lytle-Barnett 2013 Brut Rosé, Eola Amity Hills
Watch out, Veuve Clicquot, Lytle-Barnett is coming for you. A bubbles marriage between one of Oregon’s go-to sparkling winemakers, Andrew Davis, and South African sparkling wine guru Pieter Ferreira, Lytle-Barnett’s commitment to méthode champenoise is proven in its four singular vintage bottlings: Brut, Blanc de Blanc, Blanc de Noirs and this stunning Brut Rosé. An enticing bouquet of almond croissant, bread yeast, citrus and raspberry bloom into a bright-yet-rich palate of green strawberries and cream, Meyer lemon, thyme and elegant mousse. All is carefully cradled into layers of complexity of this 100% Pinot Noir sparkler. | $75
Wit Cellars 2018 Unleashed Rosé, Columbia Valley
The winemakers at Washington’s Wit Cellars were allegedly let loose to do as they wished with the production of this wine and the upshot was some pink bubbles! Exclusively built on Syrah from the 2018 vintage, the aromas in this wine are so expressive and deliciously unexpected: all tropical fruit of kiwi, guava and papaya, without any cloying pineapple. Full of all that fruit, apricot joins on the palate for a semisweet, full-bodied finish. Ready the baked brie for this wine’s pairing. | $28
Argyle Winery 2016 Brut Rose, Willamette Valley
The OG of Northwest sparkling wine, Argyle has rarely (if ever) faltered when it comes to its bubbles since its 1987 inception. Started by Rollin Soles — Oregon’s sparkling wine founding father — who knew there was something special about the cool-climate of the Willamette Valley for bubbles, this rosé set the bar for those that followed after it. A blend of 47% Pinot Noir, 37% Chardonnay and 16% Pinot Meunier create the salmon pink hue in the glass as well as the luscious cornucopia of aromas and flavors: strong baking spices, rose petals, tart strawberry, cranberry, citrus (juice and zest), and a bright and juicy palate that finishes dry and beckons you to come back for another sip. | $50
ROCO Winery 2018 RMS Brut Rosé, Willamette Valley
From Rollin Soles, the aforementioned grandmaster of Oregon sparkling wines, comes his most recent venture into sparkling wine — RMS (Rollin Michael Soles) sparkling wine from his ROCO Winery in the Dundee Hills. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are blended together, undergoing the méthode champenoise process over the next two-and-a-half years, culminating with a wine that is as juicy as it is bouncy and bright. Complex and textured, the mousse caresses the palate as the fruit keeps it full. | $65
Syncline 2017 Scintillation Brut Rosé, Columbia Gorge
Fruit from two vineyards on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge contribute to this pale pink sparkling wine from Syncline, one for its volcanic soil’s attributes in the Pinot Noir and the other for its dazzling acid levels for Chardonnay. With their powers combined — plus whole-cluster pressing of the fruit, native yeast in the initial fermentation and two-plus years of aging — this wine is a dynamic display of what the Columbia Gorge is capable of. Fresh with pear, brioche, red berries, apple blossoms, this is spring in a pink bubbly glass. | $50
Treveri Cellars NV Sec Rosé, Columbia Valley
The value buy of the bunch, this wine is low on price but high on flavor. Big bubbles bob around fruit-forward aromas and flavors like berry, citrus and gentle, sweet herbs. Treveri is devoted to sparkling wine and a sec (aka semisweet) pink wine adds some agility to the already-elaborate portfolio from the family winemaker. It sounds simple but match this wine with salted almonds or cantaloupe and prosciutto. | $18
Chemistry NV Pinot Noir Rosé Pink Bubbles, Willamette Valley
Suggested winery tasting note: Bubbalicious watermelon. Remember that flavor?! Count us in — this is that bubblegum with all the flavor and none of the gum. Peaches, buttered bread, strawberry and more watermelon on watermelon, the wine is succulent while remaining dry and relatively crisp. Quaffable and crowd-pleasing, this sparkling wine from lauded winemaker Melissa Burr and the team at Chemistry is perfection with fried chicken. | $20
