Oregon is known for its Pinot Noir, but did you know that there’s some pretty incredible sparkling wine coming out of the state as well?
A couple of weeks ago, I tasted my way through Oregon sparkling wine at the second annual Method Oregon event, and I’m ready to say it plainly: this is a category worth paying attention to. Oregon has quietly been making traditional method sparkling wine for decades, and it’s finally getting the spotlight it deserves.
This post covers what makes Oregon sparkling wine distinct, what I learned about how it’s actually made, the producers I’d point you toward first, and how to plan your own trip to the Willamette Valley to try it yourself.
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What Makes Oregon Sparkling Wine Special
Oregon’s sparkling wine has often been compared to the champagne coming out of the Champagne region in France, and this isn’t marketing spin; it’s rooted in real geology and climate.
On a panel at Method Oregon’s Sparkling School, Eugenia Keegan, Senior VP of Winegrowing at Jackson Family Wines, explained why the Willamette Valley is so well-suited to sparkling wine production: cool September nights let grapes hold onto high acidity and lower sugar levels while still developing flavor complexity, exactly the chemistry sparkling wine needs. “It’s not that we’re magical winemakers,” she said, “but we’re working with what nature gives us.”
Champagne is traditionally made from three grapes: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier. Oregon’s producers are working with the same DNA, with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay leading the way, the same two varieties Willamette Valley is already famous for as still wines.
Mark Vlossak, founder and winemaker of St. Innocent, has been proving Oregon’s potential since 1988. He told a story during the panel that’s stuck with me: he moved to Salem, Oregon in 1980, back when the state barely had a wine industry to speak of. He read an article quoting André Tchelistcheff, nicknamed “the dean of American winemaking,” predicting that the greatest sparkling wine in America would come from Oregon, not California, because Oregon was the right place to grow the grapes Champagne is built on. “I read that and basically lost my mind,” Vlossak said. Five years of studying and apprenticing later, he made Oregon’s first sparkling wine in 1988. For years afterward, he and Argyle were essentially the only two producers in the state doing it.
Today, an estimated 70 to 80 producers are making traditional method sparkling wine in Oregon, totaling roughly 100,000 cases a year, about the size of a single SKU coming out of California. Global sparkling wine consumption runs around 360 million bottles annually, so Oregon’s slice is still small. But as more than one panelist pointed out during the weekend, that’s the opportunity: Oregon doesn’t need to compete on volume. It can compete on quality.
What Is Method Oregon?
Method Oregon is the nonprofit organization founded by and for Oregon’s traditional method sparkling winemakers. As Jeanne Feldkamp, co-founder and co-winemaker of Corollary Wines and a Method Oregon board member, put it, “The goal of Method Oregon really is to place Oregon traditional method sparkling on the world stage.”
The idea had circulated in the Oregon wine community for years before a small group of producers decided to test it. Last year’s event was, in Feldkamp’s words, “a trial balloon,” and the response exceeded expectations. That momentum led to this year’s expanded, three-day weekend: 55 founding member wineries, 600 ticketed attendees, and a sellout two weeks before the event even started (All-Access Passes sold out a full month in advance).
Method Oregon is also a certification. Wines that meet the organization’s formal standard will carry the Method Oregon mark on their labels, built around four requirements: the fruit must be 100% Oregon-grown with riddling and disgorgement happening in-state; the wine must be true traditional method, aged a minimum of 24 months on the lees; starting in 2029, fruit must be grown organically or under LIVE certification (per Feldkamp, the only sparkling classification she’s aware of with this requirement); and labels must disclose both harvest year and disgorgement date.
Traditional method, explained simply: two fermentations, with the second happening inside each individual bottle rather than in a tank. After the first fermentation, the wine is bottled with a small amount of added sugar and yeast, capped, and left to ferment a second time, which is what naturally creates the bubbles. Compare that to how a can of soda gets its carbonation, CO2 blasted directly into a tank. After that second fermentation, the wine rests on the lees, a stage called en tirage, for a minimum of 24 months under the Method Oregon standard.
My Weekend at Method Oregon
The most hands-on part of the weekend was Sparkling School, where I got a real education in how traditional method wine is finished. Thomas Houseman, General Manager of The Radiant Sparkling Wine Co., and wine writer Lyn M. Archer of Tête de Bulle led a dosage trial: five pours of the exact same base wine, each finished with a different dosage, the small addition of wine (and sometimes a bit of sugar, measured in grams per liter) added after disgorgement. Four pours were unlabeled, and one was marked as the control, and none of us knew the composition going in, so the tasting stayed genuinely unbiased.
Houseman’s explanation has stuck with me since: dosage trials are like tuning a car radio back in 1985, scanning through static until a station comes in clear. There’s no single correct answer, just the point where the wine “comes into focus” and becomes what the winemaker actually wants it to be. It taught me something I hadn’t fully grasped before: a bottle of sparkling wine isn’t really finished until it’s disgorged. The same base wine, dosed differently, can taste like a genuinely different wine, unlike a still wine, which is essentially locked in once it’s bottled.
Archer made a point during the session that I loved, too: with small-production sparkling wine like most of what’s made in Oregon, the individual producer’s identity matters more than any old-world-versus-new-world label. Big commercial sparkling brands are built for consistency at scale; small Oregon producers are making wine that reflects personal philosophy and a specific place.
Is Oregon Sparkling Wine as Good as Champagne?
I’ll let Ray Isle, Executive Wine Editor of Food & Wine and the panel’s moderator, answer that one, because he said it better than I could: “Method Oregon, both the organization and the event, is the result of an impressive grassroots effort to create a quality standard for traditional method Oregon sparkling wine. And it was a thrill to see the event sell out in its second year: proof both that people are excited about Oregon sparkling and that wineries here are working at the highest level of quality.”
That’s not a marketing quote. That’s a respected wine journalist, on the record, backing up what I tasted all weekend.
Best Oregon Sparkling Wine Producers to Know
Narrowing this list down was genuinely difficult, in the best way; there was that much good wine to taste. A few producers I’d recommend seeking out:
- Corollary Wines — a sparkling-only producer on Sartore Road in Amity, co-founded and helmed by Jeanne Feldkamp, who’s also on Method Oregon’s board. The wine is excellent, and the vineyard views from the tasting room might be even better.
- St. Innocent Winery — founded by Mark Vlossak in 1988, one of the two original producers who put Oregon sparkling wine on the map.
- Argyle Winery — the other half of that original two, often credited as the pioneer that popularized Oregon sparkling wine.
- Cho Wines — a favorite of mine since my last trip to the Willamette Valley. A small-production winery run by a husband-and-wife duo, with wine that’s just as good as the laid-back, no-pretension experience of visiting.
- Björnson Vineyard — a sustainable, award-winning producer with an impressive range of both still and sparkling wines.
- Granville Wine Co. — I tried their sparkling at the Grand Tasting and it stood out immediately. I’m already planning a visit to the winery itself.
- Banke Wines — one of the newer producers I tried at the Grand Tasting, and their Blanc de Blancs might be one of the best sparkling wines I’ve ever had. No tasting room yet, but their wines are available online and worth adding to your cart.
- Irvine & Roberts Vineyards — located in Southern Oregon, where the cooler climate and high elevation let their Pinot and Chardonnay really shine. Their sparkling wines were bright, precise, and worth seeking out.
Most of these wineries are in the Willamette Valley, but that’s not the whole story. Part of what made tasting everything side by side so valuable is that producers from other parts of Oregon were pouring too, a reminder that this movement isn’t confined to one appellation.
How to Experience Method Oregon Yourself
If this year’s sellout is any indication, don’t wait to plan next year’s trip. Method Oregon’s Grand Tasting Weekend returns July 23–25, 2027, with tickets releasing in rounds starting February 2027, and given that All-Access Passes sold out a full month early this year, I wouldn’t sit on it. Join the Method Oregon mailing list to get first access, and follow @methodoregon on Instagram.
Can’t make it to next year’s weekend? The new Method Oregon Trail Map is worth bookmarking. It highlights participating producers and tasting experiences across the state, so you can plan your own version of this trip any time of year.
FAQ
Is Oregon known for sparkling wine? Not as well-known as it should be, yet, but it has a real claim to it. Oregon has been producing traditional method sparkling wine since the late 1980s, and the Willamette Valley’s cool climate gives it the same acid-and-ripeness balance that makes Champagne’s grapes work so well for sparkling wine.
What grapes are used in Oregon sparkling wine? Mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the same two grapes Champagne is best known for (along with Pinot Meunier, the third traditional Champagne grape). These are already the varieties the Willamette Valley is famous for as still wines.
Where is Method Oregon located? Method Oregon’s Grand Tasting Weekend is centered in and around McMinnville and the greater Willamette Valley, with member wineries located throughout Oregon.
When is the Method Oregon Grand Tasting Weekend? The 2026 inaugural expanded weekend ran July 24–26. The 2027 weekend is set for July 23–25, with tickets releasing in rounds starting February 2027.
The Bottom Line
Method Oregon was, hands down, one of the best wine weekends I’ve had, and I’d recommend it to anyone who loves bubbles; you will genuinely be in heaven. This isn’t a niche wine-industry curiosity anymore. It’s a real, fast-growing category with a rigorous standard behind it, real producers behind that standard, and, as of this year, real proof that people want to come taste it for themselves.
Skip the Champagne next time. Drink Oregon.
Planning a wine country trip? Check out my Ten Best US Wine Vacations guide and my McMinnville, Oregon travel guide for more.
Photos by Tom McGovern
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