A quick trip to London confirms Caraccioli Cellars as the finest of American sparkling wines.

Scott Caraccioli flew to London for dinner. A red-eye flight touched down, leaving only a few hours to get ready; four courses, with plenty of bubbly to go around – “luckily no speeches,” he says.

With him in London’s historic Merchants Taylors Hall were some of the elite Champagne and sparkling wine producers from across Europe, hence the pour-as-you-please magnums that seemed to be at every table. As the evening wore on, the tuxedo and gown formality receded into a haze of good nature and shared laughs. When Caraccioli wanted a picture to commemorate the event, he tossed his phone to a starred chef to do the honors. When it was all over, he boarded a plane back to California.

This is not the life of a jetsetter. Caraccioli is general manager for his Gonzales-area family vineyard, Caraccioli Cellars. And the occasion for his hasty trip to London and back at the beginning of November was to collect awards at the Champagne and Sparkling Wine World Championship – gold medals for his 2016 Brut Cuvée, Brut Rosé and Blanc de Blancs, along with Best U.S. Sparkling Wine honors for the Blanc de Blancs.

The 2022 ceremony marked the third consecutive year Caraccioli Cellars brought home a Best in the U.S. award. But the dinner and medals were not the most momentous event of the month for Caraccioli. Eleven days after his overseas jaunt, his wife Erica gave birth to their second child. “The last month has been a whirlwind – a great whirlwind,” Caraccioli says.

Caraccioli made the trip on short notice because Tom Stevenson gave him a “you’re coming, aren’t you?” nudge. And when Stevenson speaks, those in the world of sparkling wine pay heed. After all, he authored Champagne (1986), Christie’s World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine (1998) – and he put together the competition, drafting some of the finest palates to help him judge. Stevenson is why Caraccioli first entered the competition back in 2014.

“You do it because you’re happy to get his feedback,” Caraccioli explains. “It’s a great barometer of where you sit.”

The family winery began producing sparkling wine in 2006, with Caraccioli’s father Gary and uncle Phil, as well as renowned winemaker Michel Salgues, who died in 2017 (local legends Greg and Chris Vita help with winemaking now). Their winemaking follows a simple guideline: Make something that should be made.

While it sounds easy, the principle can also be frustrating – especially when you ditch a varietal after a disappointing growing season. But it also leads to some remarkable vintages.

Still, Caraccioli says that London and international recognition was not on anyone’s mind when the family began focusing on sparkling wine.

“It’s not like the family got together and said ‘we’re going to win this three years in a row,’” he says with a chuckle. “You grow what the best thing you can grow is, then you make the best wine you can make.”

Caraccioli is now back into the routine of winemaking. November, December, January – he calls this the season of sparkling wine. The 2022 vintage is beginning the tedious process of tirage and riddling, the constant touching and turning of bottles. Wines from earlier years are in the disgorgement stage, almost ready to appear on shelves. It’s also a time to exhale after a wild ride and glance back.

Caraccioli admits to a little awe at the experience. “It was cool to be in that room with people who’ve been doing it for generations,” he says.

Despite the formality in appearance, the room was an international sparkling wine family affair. At one point, when winemakers from an Italian house were called to the podium, only to be found outside on a smoking break, Stevenson used the delay to give them a good razzing.

And now it’s time to make more wine. “You come back and people are calling you,” he says. “It means you have things that keep you busy.”

CARACCIOLI CELLARS tasting room is at Dolores between Ocean and 7th, Carmel. 622-7722, caracciolicellars.com