French Creek Takes Gold For Bubbly In France

Wines & Vines, May, 2001

The small southeastern Pennsylvania winery went gold at Vinalies Internationales sponsored by the Oenologues de France for their Blanc de Blanc, a sparkling wine. With over 2,500 wines entered, only 119 gold medals were awarded and only six to American wineries. There were two gold medals and 17 silver medals in the Sparkling Wine/Champagne category. The other winning sparklers were all of French origin.

French Creek Blanc de Blanc is produced by the traditional methode chompenoise and is 100% estate Chardonnay. The competition was held in Paris. The owners of French Creek Ridge Vineyards are Fred and Janet Maki.

Winemaker Fred Maki has long believed that he could make fine sparkling wine, and explains "we started making champagne in 1991 and it was the first thing we made. We chose this as the first thing because of the potentially steep learning curve and therefore the years required to produce a quality product. We decided to make sparkling wine because of the challenge, history, passion and elegance of champagne. We also believed that great Chardonnay and Pinot noir for traditional sparkling wine and distinctive, great tasting Chardonnay for table wine could be grown in southeast Pennsylvania."

The Makis hand-carried their entry to France, after which they visited many small producers in the Champagne region. French Creek Ridge Vineyards is located at Grove Road in Elverson. The phone number is (610) 286-7754; the Web site is frenchcreekridge.com.