Toasting a sparkling future

On a bitter cold winter day – the kind made for pulling the covers tight and sleeping just a bit longer – Dr. Michael Manz has a jump on the dawn. A long jump.

By the time the sun arrives and an early visitor makes her way up the winding driveway to Mountain Dome winery, Manz is already more than halfway though his first distillation of wine made from Green Bluff apples. Before the day is out and long after the winter dark has settled back across the Mt. Spokane foothills, Manz will have put at least two more batches through the still, the first legal one in Washington since Prohibition.

If Manz smiles a lot when he talks about making brandy, it’s because clear liquid draining from the primitive-looking contraption in the next room holds so much more promise than a simple dinner drink – within it lies his future, his retirement and right now, his passion.

Brandy, though, is not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Michael and Pat Manz and their three children, Erik, David and Rachael. Since 1984, when they first fed chardonnay and pinot noir grapes through an apple press in the kitchen of their geodesic dome house, the Manz name has become synonymous with sparkling wine in this area.

In the 20-plus years since that first ton of grapes, much and very little has changed at Mountain Dome Winery.

A lot of what was done by hand in the early days is now handled by machine. The sparkling wines that launched the winery – including the familiar gnome label – now share attention with chardonnay and pinot noir “still” wines. (That’s what a sparkling winemaker gets to call wines without bubbles, Manz says.) Next year, Manz will release the first of his brandies: cherry, peach and an Italian-style spirit called grappa.

And although the Manz children grew up and left home to follow their own passions, the eldest, Erik, eventually returned to the winery. Erik Manz studied French and biology at Pacific Lutheran University, enology at the University of Reims and worked during the harvest in Champagne before coming back to Mountain Dome, where he is the assistant winemaker and the winery’s only full-time employee.

He handles the day-to-day operation while Michael and Pat Manz still work at their day jobs. “He’s our stability,” says Pat. Michael is the medical director of the psychiatric center for children and adolescents at Sacred Heart and Pat owns and runs Woodland Montessori. Michael’s brother John also helped in the winery’s early days and is still an important part of the operation.

And there is a new family member on the way. Erik Manz and his wife Kimberly are expecting a baby in April.

Mountain Dome has grown quite a bit since the winery’s first offering in 1992, when the family produced 324 cases of sparkling wine. Now, the winery makes about 3,500 cases of sparkling wines and 1,000 cases of other wines each year (half chardonnay, half pinot noir.) Michael Manz says he wants annual production to reach 6,000 cases a year. When he retires, he’ll turn the operation over to Erik and focus his full-time attention on brandy.

Mountain Dome wines can be found in 27 states. They have a warehouse in Sonoma to hasten distribution, yet loyal Washington state buyers still account for about half of all sales. Half of that, Manz says, is sold in the Spokane area. (Mountain Dome is the state’s second largest producer of sparkling wines. Only major winemaker Chateau Ste. Michelle – which produces 385,000 cases a year – sells more).

In the new year, the Manzes anticipate the release of their new splits – baby bottles of sparkling wine. The smaller bottles are expected to be available by Valentine’s Day. They are also releasing a 2003 chardonnay.

This is the time of year when many people will think of Mountain Dome, but the Manzes point out that sparkling wines are good anytime. “Sparkling wine is a food wine,” says Michael Manz. “Our wines go really well with almost any food.”

If beer might go with the menu, think about sparkling wine instead, adds Pat Manz.

They chose to make sparkling wines because it is one of their favorites to drink. When their children were young, the Manzes would set aside one evening each week to hurry the kids to bed and enjoy a nice dinner to themselves – often with sparkling wine.

Celebrate the small triumphs and blessings. Don’t wait for a special occasion to open a nice bottle of wine, Erik Manz says. “I think life is worth celebrating everyday.”

He says he especially enjoys sparkling wine with spicy dishes such as his dad’s chicken curry (recipe follows). Serve it with a Mountain Dome vintage sparkler or Brut Rosé. Michael Manz also shared a family recipe for Hot and Spicy Shrimp with Noodles. Serve it with the sparkling wine of your choice.

The recipe for Gougeres (Burgundian Cheese Puffs) makes an elegant and fun appetizer. Serve them warm with Mountain Dome’s chardonnay or pinot noir to enhance the flavor of the cheese. The Warm Scallop Salad (recipe follows) is the perfect starter on a cold night, or main dish salad if you’re looking for something on the lighter side. Try it with the Mountain Dome Brut Rosé.

Clip and save the recipe below for Sorbet Au Gnome when you can serve it with the first-of-the-season local strawberries.

The Manzes plan to ring in the New Year looking at slides of the family, dreaming about their first grandchild and, of course, tasting library wines to see just how far they’ve come since that late night in the kitchen with the apple press.