(Wine-Searcher) - A new breed of California bubbly is emerging, James Lawrence discovers, and from some surprising places.

"Who makes the best sparkling wine outside of Champagne?"

It's a question I am often asked by friends, and my answer is always California – some of the closest approximations to Champagne come from offshoots established by the grandes marques, often at prices that undercut their French equivalents. Mumm, Deutz, Roederer, Moët & Chandon and Taittinger all headed to the coolest Californian terroirs they could find in the 1980s, motivated by both a desire to satisfy the growing domestic market, and to ensure that these new ventures wouldn't clash with the price points of their parent companies.

Today, California remains one of the most reliable sources of affordable premium bubbly. Even the superb wines of Domaine Carneros are a relative steal compared to Taittinger's Comtes de Champagne. Indeed, the latest edition of Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine describes Domaine Carneros' Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs as "one of the greatest sparkling wines produced anywhere outside Champagne". And while the industry does continue to be dominated by the money and expertise of the Champagne offshoots, domestic ventures such as Schramsberg, Scharffenberger, J Vineyards, and Iron Horse continue to win critical pundits, both for the quality and value on offer.

Yet, after all the excitement of the 1980s and '90s, the industry has stagnated somewhat over the past 15 years. New faces to the party have been noticeable by their absence, with the vast majority of investment continuing to center around Napa and Sonoma. Of course, the quality from the best producers is still laudable, but dynamic growth and new investment has not been very forthcoming.

However, a growing collection of (generally) smaller producers are doing their best to shake up California's sparkling wine scene. Eschewing the celebrity regions of Carneros and Sonoma's Russian River Valley, existing still-wine brands are taking the massive leap into sparkling-wine production, with investment flowing into California's Central Coast. At last count, more than 20 outfits are now making fizz in Santa Barbara County, competing with their neighbors in San Luis Obispo and Monterey further north. Anyone who has sampled these numerous craft sparklers at LA's annual Garagiste wine festival, can testify to that.