Eric Bauman

Eric, sparkling winemaker at Chateau Frank in the Finger Lakes region, gained his sparkling wine experience in his early twenties when he moved from his hometown in Upstate N.Y. and discovered Sonoma County, California. Visiting wineries and tasting wines there eventually grew into a cellar job at J Vineyards and Winery in Healdsburg, California where he worked for eight years. He produced sparkling wines not only for J Winery, but also by contract for Piper Sonoma sparkling wines.

In the summer of 2005, Eric moved back to Upstate New York looking for opportunities in the Finger Lakes. There, he met Fred Frank and his father, Willy Frank, who pioneered the winery’s sparkling wines. Today, Eric manages the sparkling wine cellar and oversees the sparkling wine vineyards producing six styles of award-winning vintage and non-vintage traditional method sparkling wines.

What sparkling wines are you loving right now?

I have a bottle of one of our Chateau Frank wines in my fridge and some J wines in my cellar. I tend to drink more domestic sparklers. The most interesting wine in my cellar is a Pierre Mignon Champagne, from a fifth generation family in the Marne valley, Côte des Blancs, Épernay region.

What does sparkling wine symbolize for you?

When I first started at J Vineyards and Winery as a young man, sparkling wine symbolized the chance to see the world. I met many interns who went to Australia or Chile or other places and I thought working in sparkling would be an opportunity to travel. I moved back home to New York so my parents could take care of my dog, still thinking I would get a chance to travel. Then I accepted a job at Chateau Frank, the largest producer of traditional method sparkling wines in the Finger Lakes. Traveling around the world hasn’t quite happened yet!