Falconer Wine Cellars owner Charlie Falk made his first wine over 40 years ago, in his parent's cellar. After a detour to Harvard Law School, where he wrote wine articles for Boston newspapers instead of law review articles, Charlie's enthusiasm drew him into the wine business. After two decades of marketing other people's wines, Charlie started Falconer Wine Cellars specializing in sparkling wines.

But not just any sparkling wine.

Following the model of French Champagne makers like Bollinger, Falk gives the base wine extended aging on the yeast before disgorging it in small batches. This produces a unique sparkling wine that has both freshness and the complexity of age. The wines are finished “Ultra Brut,” (about half a percent of residual sugar), allowing the elegance of long maturation to show through.

The first Falconer release -- a 1984 Russian River Blanc de Blancs RD (Recently Disgorged) -- debuted in 1990 after 5 years aging sur lie. The 1984 RD was the first American sparkling wine to be labeled RD or LD (Late Disgorged). That release earned great critical acclaim and initiated a string of gold medal winning sparklers that continues to this day.

The Beverage Tasting Institute of America awarded the Falconer 1985 Blanc de Blancs RD a 94 , the highest rating given any champagne or sparkling wine in the 2000 competition. It surpassed all the wines from such French and California giants as Louis Roederer, Tattinger, Veuve Cliquot, Schramsberg, J, Iron Horse, and Domaine Mumm that were rated by BTI in the 3 prior years.

This was followed by Falconer's first Blanc de Noir, a 1997 LD (Late Disgorged) from Sonoma's Carneros district. The BTI gave this wine a “Highly Recommended.” With a score of 89, this was the highest ranked Blanc de Noir in the tasting, again besting many other well-known French and California sparkling wine houses, including Pol Roger, Pommery, Perrier-Jouet, Domaine Carneros - all averaging more than twice the Falconer price.