Wine Chronicles: Paula Kornell Highlights Napa's Sparkling Wine Heritage
By Dan Berger
Carrying forward a California sparkling legacy, Paula Kornell revives a méthode champenoise tradition with roots in her family’s pioneering past.
NAPA VALLEY, Calif. — The steep decline in California wine sales over the last two years continues unabated, but one category of wine that seems to have weathered the storm during that period is sparkling wine, even though the economy is not in the best of shape for celebrations.
Americans bought more than 6 million cases of sparkling wine in 2024, roughly the same amount as in 2023, and the category seems to be growing because of an increase in first-class production facilities and a better understanding of grape-growing.
By acclamation, the best sparkling wine in the world is from Champagne, which uses a production technique invented there and which now is considered to be essential for the production of the highest-quality sparkling wines. That technique was pioneered in the United States by a German war refugee in 1958, Hanns Kornell.
Now, nearly seven decades later, Kornell’s daughter is making a significant impact in the production of California bubbly with a brand that uses her name and pays homage to her father’s innovative efforts. Long-time Napa resident Paula Kornell is making four excellent bubblies that bring to mind California’s sparkling wine history.
The first serious effort to make quality sparkling wine in the United States came 125 years ago from the hands of a French expatriate, Paul Masson. His “California Champagne” was awarded the top prize at the Paris Expo, after which he was widely recognized as “Champagne King of California.” It is believed that Masson’s bubbly was made using the bulk Charmat method.
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Masson’s sparkling wine also was awarded the grand prize diploma at the 1904 St. Louis International Exposition. That wine was made from grapes that Masson had planted in the Santa Clara Valley in the 1890s. His sparkling wines were such a success that by 1905 he was able to construct a large home and mountain winery that, unfortunately, were destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
Much later, in the late 1970s, the Masson sparkling wines regained a measure of their recognition primarily because the company hired famed actors Orson Welles and Sir John Gielgud to do a series of television commercials that featured the closing line “Paul Masson will sell no wine before its time.”
A decade earlier, Hanns Kornell had begun to make French-method sparkling wine at his old masonry winery on Larkmead Lane south of Calistoga. At first it was sold only locally.
I visited Hanns in June 1976. As we chatted, he recalled picking grapes at his grandfather’s vineyard in Germany when he was 4. After his German primary studies, he matriculated to the high-level winemaking university at Geisenheim, where he earned a degree in winemaking. He was working in the German wine industry in 1938 when, at age 27, he was imprisoned at the Dachau concentration camp. A year later, he was released on the condition that he leave the country within 48 hours.
Arriving here in 1939 with only two dollars, he hitchhiked to California and in 1951 began to make sparkling wine at a small facility in Sonoma County. In 1958 he had saved enough money to acquire the old Larkmead Winery built by Swiss immigrant Felix Salena in 1906.
Kornell had no vineyards. He relied on purchased grapes and wine from neighbors. His sparklings were quite good because he innovatively used the time-consuming méthod champenoise to produce the bubbles. He is credited with being the first here to use that arduous technique.
The méthod champenoise calls for specialized equipment to permit that technique to be used commercially. Alternatively, it could laboriously be done by hand. Lacking the funds for the pricey equipment, Kornell pursued the technique by hand. During my visit I was surprised at the number of wines he was producing (eight!), several of them exceptional.
One in particular was unique. It was made from riesling grapes, an homage to his German roots, and was called Sehr Trocken.
However, increased competition soon impacted Kornell’s sparkling wine business. Just seven years after moving into his Calistoga winery, in 1965 Hanns was confronted with a new and sophisticated competitor. Jack and Jamie Davies had acquired the old Schramsberg property just a few miles north of St. Helena, and soon that sparkling wine venture, Schramsberg, had gained recognition for the quality of its offerings.
Then in 1973, French-owned Domaine Chandon opened a spectacular new facility for Champagne-style products in Yountville. Using not only French expertise but also specialized French yeast strains and new equipment, Domaine Chandon also gained worldwide recognition for quality sparkling wines.
Largely because of the success of Schramsberg and Domaine Chandon, the valley was abuzz with interest in sparkling wines. The category was growing in popularity. So, to build on his early reputation of making quality sparkling wines, Kornell borrowed $4.5 million to expand his facility. But a nationwide downturn in wine sales proved devastating, and by 1991 the Kornells had filed for bankruptcy.
Robert Mondavi, a friend of the family since Hanns had arrived in the valley, bought the Kornell home from Hanns and his wife, Marielouise Rossini Kornell. (Her grandfather had planted the first Souverain Vineyard in the Napa Valley in 1886.) On Hanns’ death in 1994, a New York Times obituary said that Mondavi had allowed the family to remain in their home until both had passed.
Paula had worked at her father’s facility since the age of 4, starting with small projects. At age 10, she entrepreneurially sold prunes and walnuts in front of the Kornell Champagne Cellars tasting room, and by 15 she was working in the winery, eventually moving up to other positions. She became an integral part of her family winery and was widely known throughout the valley.
After the family lost the Kornell winery, Paula, then 35, continued to be active in the Napa Valley wine infrastructure and at one point worked in a fine wine store in New York City before returning to Napa. In 1992, a year after the collapse of the Kornell winery, she was named chairman of the Napa Valley wine auction and was co-chairman of the fund-raising event in 2005 and 2019.
I ran into Paula over the years and always saw her as a dynamo who took on projects that seemed daunting to others. She also worked for several wineries in various capacities, including at Joseph Phelps and as an executive with the Mondavi organization.
Always highly respected for her expertise as well as her knowledge of Napa Valley history, in 2009 she was appointed president of the board of directors of the Napa Valley Vintners — a position that her father had held 45 years earlier. She has been a charming, up-beat believer in the greatness of Napa Valley wines.
Several years ago she began thinking about whether her father’s passion for fine-quality Champagne-style sparkling wine – and his legacy – could be resurrected. One reason was that she knew dozens of people in the valley and beyond, and she had made wine and grape connections over the years. She counted among her friends literally dozens of growers – and not only here but in other areas of the state, as well. She knew a lot about winemaking and marketing, and she knew a lot about working with people.
In 2017, Paula contacted Ron McManis, a respected grape farmer, to discuss the possibility of acquiring some of his River Junction (San Joaquin Valley) fruit to test whether she could make a classic methode champenoise-style sparkling wine. River Junction is considered to be cooler than other areas of the valley.
McManis, who has some of his area’s top vineyards, agreed to work on her project. Their discussion occurred about the time that the McManis’ respected ranch was given the California Green Medal Award for Sustainable Winegrowing in Business.
The first wine bearing the Paula Kornell label and the family crest was produced in 2017. Production was tiny. Sold mainly in Northern California, the wine was produced using the méthod champenoise technique and hit the market about the time that sparkling wine sales began to increase significantly nationally.
In 2019, Paula made a small amount of a quality blanc de noir sparkling wine. It sold quietly, well under the radar. The following year, working with fruit coming out of Napa Carneros, she developed other bottlings that displayed even more unique characteristics.
Today, her 2020 Blanc de Blancs ($75) delivers gorgeously complex notes of baked croissants with Asian pear, almond, lemon zest and superb acidity to balance 7 grams/liter of dosage. The wine is 100% chardonnay from Napa Carneros.
A Paula Kornell 2020 Blanc de Noirs ($55) is a classically styled 70% pinot noir, 30% chardonnay from Carneros fruit. It is equally complex with hints of Rainier cherries, brioche and lemon. It is wonderful to consume now, but it will be best after two to four more years so it can expand.
California’s sparkling wine explosion now includes literally three dozen or more producers, thanks to the opening of four sparkling wine facilities owned by Rack and Riddle, based in Healdsburg.
Paula’s project delivers a series of fine and characterful products that recall her father’s ground-breaking efforts in the Napa Valley well before fine-quality bubbly was on the radar.
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Dan Berger has been writing about wine since 1975.
Wine Discovery:
NV Paula Kornell Brut Rosé, California ($25): A beautiful example of bright California fruit that delivers complexity, even though the wine is only 2 years old. The website basically says it all: “In the glass, the wine shows a salmon pink hue with delicate and persistent stream of bubbles forming a vibrant and creamy mousse. The bouquet is open and expressive, offering aromas of wild strawberries, raspberries and ripe watermelon. These fresh red fruit notes are complemented by hints of nettle, wet slate and a delicate touch of white peach.
“On the palate, this sparkling rosé is vibrant and refreshing, with a lively acidity… Juicy flavors of red currants, cranberries, and pomegranate are balanced by a hint of tart cherry. A creamy texture from its fine bead and lees aging adds sophistication. The mid-palate shows a gentle balance between its lively acidity and red fruit profile, finishing with a crisp, dry edge that highlights its elegance and sophistication.
“The finish is clean, lingering, and mouthwatering, with flavors of red berry compote, citrus zest, and a subtle touch of toasted hazelnuts…” - Dan Berger.
Today’s Polls:
This Week's Word Challenge Reveal:
The correct answer is B: "Initial yeast and sugar addition."
"Tirage" refers to the stage in sparkling wine production when a mixture of yeast and sugar is added to still wine before bottling, initiating the second fermentation that produces carbonation. This step is fundamental in traditional méthode champenoise wines such as those featured in Paula Kornell's portfolio. Mastery of tirage is key to quality, influencing the finesse of the bubbles and the complexity of the finished wine.
The term comes from the French word "tirer," meaning "to draw" or "to pull," first appearing in wine contexts in the 19th century. In Champagne, "prise de mousse" — the taking of the mousse (foam) — is synonymous with this stage. Its importance in sparkling wine’s transformation makes it a critical concept in both winemaking and wine appreciation.
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