Sparkling Anniversary

In two previous posts, "Getting to Know Sparkling Wine" and "Leftover Sparkling Wine", about sparkling wine I shared what I have learned this year from a closer inspection of sparkling wine. In the first post, for the WineMaker Magazine blog actually, I teased readers with a list of bottles my wife and I had enjoyed around our wedding anniversary this year. All of those bottles are reasonably accessible to people who live near us and make use of the NH state system, and/or can direct ship to home. None of the wine are really bank breaking purchases for those who want to try them. It's not a snobby or specialty list, and I'm not advertising it as such. It covers a range of styles from both well known to smaller regional producers and gave me a lot of new information to consider about sparkling wine.

With "Getting to Know Sparkling Wine" I also shared my concerns that in my experience sparkling wine enjoyment was too often relegated to special occasions and not everyday drinking. There is no reason for this these days, sparkling wine pairs well with so many foods and there are values out there to suit all budgets. Steve Heimoff touched on this same thought last week in "Sparkling wines for the holidays: why not all year long?" After such a profession some of you might be thinking that ending that very article with my own plan to consume a variety of sparkling wines around my wedding anniversary was a conceit to my assertions. Maybe, and I can only say that we enjoyed these wines during what we called our "Sparkling Anniversary", where most were enjoyed with everyday dinners, or snacks; and even popcorn whilst watching TV. No special occasions there! We did indeed take some bubbly in the limo as we rode to our actual anniversary dinner, and I'll explain the significance and sentiment of those bottles a little bit later.

In "Leftover Sparkling Wine" I share my experiences with a grower Champagne tasting which constituted my first formal experience with Champagnes made by the grape grower. My thoughts and those of the host, Adam Japko of the WineZag, are interesting reading for anyone not familiar with the category.

As I alluded to above we didn't really do anything special with the wines for our Sparkling Anniversary and by the time we were through the best pairings we had experienced were with either buttered popcorn or French Fries. We also made cocktails with several of the bottles, both to experiment with different flavors and textures and put wines that didn't pop for us to good use.

Here's that Sparkling Anniversary list again (and in no particular order):

• Chateau Frank Célèbre Rose
• Chandon Blanc de Noirs
• Cuvée Aurora Rosé Alta Langa
• Mumm Napa Brut Prestige
• Gruet Blanc de Noirs
• Fox Run Blanc de Blancs
• Lafitte Brut
• Banfi Rosa Regale
• Raventós i Blanc Reserve Brut
• Mionetto Moscato Dolce
• Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Brut
• Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Heredad
• Cuvée y Camps Brut Nature
• Montsarra Cava

Best of the Best

It would be hard not to share which of these wines we liked best and why, but since tastes vary and I don't rate wines, take it for what it's worth.

Cuvée y Camps Brut Nature - For both Margot and I this was the most refined of all the sparklers we tried. The nose is tropical with tart citrus in the mouth and through the finish. This is one of the best dinner party or entertaining-worthy sparkling wines I have ever had.

Chateau Frank Célèbre Rose - This is a medium-dry rose colored sparkler that is just simply easy to drink. It is well balanced, delicious and should appeal to both dry and sweet sparkling wine drinkers. It was summer when we drank these wines and this one really pulled off the role of refreshment.

Mumm Napa Brut Prestige - I really liked the balance of fruity and tart character in this wine. The slight creamy texture brought the whole package together. This is another fantastic wine to use for entertaining and a slam dunk with appetizers, including fried ones!

Honorable Mentions

Gruet Blanc de Noirs - This wine was notable for me because of the pronounced strawberry and citrus that actually came off like berry lemonade. This is a fairly full bodied sparkling wine and was a departure from some of the others in the lineup.

Montsarra Cava - Cava performed well in the tastings, but wasn't entirely new to us as a style, and this wine was the first one we tried. Fruity with hints of almonds a slight creaminess, this wine piqued our interests for more.

Cocktail Experiments

Passion Fruit Cocktail - we used the Fox Run Blanc de Blancs for this drink, combining it with passion fruit puree, Cointreau and bitters. The dry sparkling wine lightens up the puree nicely and the blend of fruits in the puree and wine showed nicely in the nose. It's a sweet cocktail, but if that is your thing this one might give you a smile!

French 75 - I fall on the Cognac side of the French 75 debate and thus I make mine with it. These are a potent cocktail with a nice balance of tart and sweet. The texture is best with a good sparkling wine with lots of small bubbles.

Champagne Cocktail - This simple concoction using a bitters infused sugar cube and sparkling wine is both tasty and fun to drink. Watching the bubbles ribbon off the sugar cube and head to the top of the glass provides the entertainment. We tried these with both domestic sparkling wine and Cava.

Sentimental Bottles

I'll finish with a few of the bottles that have special meaning for us. Two of them are part of our "wine personality" and elicit great memories any time we drink them.

( We dined at Top of the Hub in Boston for our anniversary dinner. The subset was beautiful! )

First, and maybe the most comical to wine aficionados, is Banfi Rosa Regale. We just like this wine. It's sweet, sparkling and super fruity. I bought it for Margot as a gift a few years ago and she absolutely loved it. Margot calls it a panty remover, which from experience isn't a bad way to describe its merits beyond a beverage. We buy a few bottles of this several times a year. When paired with dark chocolate this wine makes an excellent dessert.

Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Brut - we received this wine as a gift from friends and chose to enjoy it on the night of our anniversary dinner to honor the joy we take in having such great friends. The wine is also very good.

Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Heredad - This is our anniversary wine. I was looking for a delicious bottle of bubbly to celebrate our tenth anniversary in 2007 and came across this one. The bottle is actually a collectible, hand blown and emblazoned with a pewter crest and base. I snapped one up and we enjoyed it the weekend of our anniversary party that year. This is a complex sparkling wine, projecting citrus, peaches, minerality and a touch of graphite or smoke. It has a full bodied feel, but is rather a light, refreshing wine. We opened this bottle in the limo on the way to Boston for dinner this year, and it didn't disappoint once again. I purchased several bottles this time and can't wait to try one with a bit of age at our next milestone anniversary!

Drink More Sparkling Wine!

I hope these three articles on sparkling wine have inspired somebody to crack open a bottle of bubbly and enjoy it with friends (or family or a significant other, all of which are friends to me) just because you can. The diversity in styles, textures and flavors offers a world of possibilities for us to explore.

Cheers!

Jason

Leftover Sparkling Wine

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After writing a recent WineMaker Magazine blog post entitled “Getting to Know Sparkling Wine” I had quite a bit of additional material to share. I’ve tasted more sparkling wine this year than any prior year in my wine-drinking life, and the range of styles and background I’ve come in contact with has been both educational and fun. So here's my leftovers, I hope you enjoy them!

More on Sparkling Wine Styles

Cremant was a term I came in contact with looking through different resources on sparkling wine. The word is used to identify non-Champagne sparkling wine produced using the traditional method in France and other EU countries. Ultimately I would be best to understand that the difference in these wines will be more like any other regional distinction, including the grapes used, soil composition and climate.

Albert Bichot Cremant de Bourgogne Rose

I picked this bottle up from the local state store because I was curious what if anything I might detect about a Cremant differently from other sparkling wines. I didn't discern anything specific, but since I am not that familiar with regional differences in traditional sparkling wine, what do I know?

This wine is made from 80% Pinot Noir with the remaining 20% made of up Gamay and Chardonnay. It pours a deep pink color and has red, and even dark red fruits, like raspberry and currant on the nose. In the mouth the wine is tart, dry with plenty of small bubbles that create a pleasant texture. From a performance perspective this wine does pretty well. The regular retail is $19.99 but it seems to be on sale for $16.99 pretty frequently. At either price I see pretty good value and in my final post (next week) on sparkling wine I will share tastings on a couple more rose sparklers for comparison.

Cava in particular performed well when compared to many of the other sparklers I tasted this year. Spanish wines overall offer plenty of value, lots of $15-20 high quality offerings,  where I saw difficulty in even finding Champagne or worthy domestic bottlings in the same price range.  

Cava showed up three times in a lineup of sparkling wines that I selected for a month long celebration of our 15th wedding anniversary, the subject of my third and next post on sparkling wine.  We finished that celebration with a sentimental one which I will share the story and thoughts on next week. What did I think of the other two?

Raventos i Blanc Reserva Brut Cava 2008

I nabbed this guy from Wine.com for 19.99. I found it dry and slightly minerally with restrained fruit in both the nose and mouth. It is very crisp and clean making it a great social wine or one that would pair with a wide range of foods. This wine has beautiful texture, the prickly carbonation is buffered with just a little creaminess. I was surprised at how simple, yet beautiful this wine was for the price.

Juve Y Camps Brut Nature Reserva de la Familia Cava 2007

Another Wine.com find at 18.99, and one I have had before. This one pours a deep gold color, darker than most sparkling wines I have experienced. The nose projected tropical fruits which were married with tart citrus in the mouth. 

Margot and I both found this Cava to be particularly refined and Margot liked it more than many of the others we ended up trying. There is some complexity here, something that might not make it as universal, non-aficionados might not appreciate it for what it is, which is only a lost opportunity and not the end of the world. I do like to pair wine with people so such scenarios concern me.

Grower Produced Champagne

Earlier this year I attended a tasting hosted by friend and fellow wine-blogger Adam Japko who writes the WineZag. Adam had assembled two flights of Champagnes that had been produced by the grape grower rather than a negociant, famous house or vanity label. Not knowing much about this category of wine it was hard to decide what to expect. In doing some research I came across plenty of vigorous debate about stylistic differences,  variation, performance and value, but nothing that could make sense of it in any concrete way. Read Adam's post "Grower Champagne Makes Sense" for more information on this class of wines, the flight list and his thoughts on some of those we tasted.

What I experienced was most instructive. First, there was plenty of variation amongst the different bottles, something atypical to big name Champagne, but what struck me was how exciting some of the nuances were.  Pear, quince, mushrooms, graphite, yeast, smoke, lemon, peach and guava were some of the specific aromas and flavors that I wrote on my tasting sheet. Some of the wines tasted wild, inferring that the producer wasn't trying to produce a house style, rather was letting the grapes and yeast do what they were inclined to do that year.  I like exciting wines and sometimes just being a little different is all the excitement I need!

On the value front my conclusions were mixed. Many of the bottle prices were in the range that while you get what you get with a big name house at the same price, I wouldn’t say either wins a hands down fan vote of everyday consumers. The favorites trended in the $45-50 range, and taking the nuances as a good thing they all performed well at those prices. Those with developed Champagne palates will definitely find lots to love in those wines, and potentially even more in a few beyond $50 amongst those we tasted.

I can't tell you what my favorite was because I can't find that page of my notes! What I can tell you is that is if, and more so when, I want to spend $40-$50 on a bottle of sparkling wine I would definitely look at grower produced Champagne before deciding what from my available options I will take home. Depending on the people and the setting a wine with more unique character might actually be a better fit!

The Show Goes On

I hope you enjoyed my sparkling wine leftovers. Next week I be posting on the sparkling wines that I enjoyed in June to celebrate my wedding anniversary. I know that I said in my WineMaker Magazine article (linked above) that sparkling wine wasn't just a celebratory drink and I can assure you that while I chose my anniversary as the backdrop to try a bunch of different sparkling wines, the specific tasting scenarios were very pedestrian. The list included those reviewed here, several domestic versions, and sparkling wines made in France, Spain and Italy.

Cheers!

Jason

The Gift of Sparking Cocktails

What gift can I give to the readers who have everything? Sparkling cocktails, of course!

There’s always room for new spins on sparkling cocktails, and this time of year bubbles are a fun addition to Christmas and New Year’s gatherings. Last year we had fun mixing them up with friends at our New Year’s Day brunch. I’m bringing some Champagne with me for a Christmas visit to family in CT, who knows how we might finish the bottle!. I even remember mixing up a New Year’s classic with sugar cubes, Korbel and Angostoura bitters over 10 years ago at Kori & Monica’s place. Even if you don’t like bubbly you it's hard resist a sparkling cocktail.

I picked a bottle of Gloria Ferrar Blanc de Noirs California sparkling wine for my cocktail mixology. White wines from Gloria Ferrar are always consistent, offering solid performance and value. My thanks go out to my friend Marie for sharing this bottle from samples she received.

The pictures I ended up with are pretty bad. I used whatever lighting I could throw together and it didn't work as well as I had hoped. Blame my cold, or the fact that I'm not known for my photos.. I did get shots of some of the effervescing in the glass, which is interesting in itself. I hope the drinks live on well beyond their photos here.

The first cocktail I’m calling Special Punch, and is a riff on the punch The Fatal Bowl from the open house over the weekend. It is very reminiscent of the punch and the added bubbles only take it to better places.

Special Punch

2 oz cognac

1oz spiced simple syrup

3 dashes citrus bitters

Sparkling wine

Lemon peel

Mix the cognac and spice syrup. Add the bitters and pour into a flute. Top with the sparkling wine and garnish with a lemon peel.

“I will call him Mini Me”. This drink is a lighter version of the punch from the weekend and exactly what it would taste like if the sparkles were added to the punch bowl. The spices come out in force and tartness from the lemon and the wine help keep the sweetness in balance. I would make this again, frequently.

The second cocktail is the Sparkling Fruit Salad using Pimms #1, ginger syrup and fruit to make a flavored spirit a day ahead.

Sparkling Fruit Salad

10 grapes

5 strawberries

1 apple

Peel of 1 lemon

1 cup Pimms #1

1/3 cup ginger simple syrup

Sparkling wine

Slice the grapes, berries and apple, adding them to a sealable jar. Pour over the Pimms and the syrup. Cover tightly. Gently shake to mix. Allow to macerate overnight in the refrigerator. Use 2 ounces of the base in a flute to make 1 drink. Top off with the sparkling wine. Slices of the fruit and lemon peel can be used as garnish.

This was the winner for me on complexity. The sweetened up Pimms is full of dehydrated fruits, nuts, roots, etc and it really did taste like a day old fruit salad that has begun to mix together. And it's bubbly!

I finish my gift with the Sour Apple Sparkler. I still need to work on this drink. The flavors were not quite right.

Sour Apple Sparkler

1.5 oz Calvados

1 oz sweet cider

½ tsp Meyer lemon tincture

½ oz honey

1 cinnamon stick

Sparkling wine

Mix the Calvados, cider, lemon tincture and honey well. Pour into a flute. Top off with sparkling wine. Add the cinnamon stick for garnish.

Very tart and sour apple, and something not quite in balance. I haven’t decided quite what I am going to do next with this drink, but with the other two around I’m not uniquely motivated to get right on it!

I hope you enjoy your gift. And even better is it one you can re-gift without any regret!

Cheers!

Jason

Sparkling Cocktails for New Year’s Celebrating

When I say champagne cocktails most non-cocktail nerds think mimosas. I like a good mimosa, but somehow I see them as a morning-time drink; a drink fitting for brunch on New Year’s Day. For your New Year’s Eve celebrations I offer three sparkling cocktails that are easy to make and sure to please.

I have experimented with many other champagne and sparkling cocktails in the past including what I called the “Off to the Islands” that I wrote about on Global Champagne Day. A simple blend of St. Germain, brut champagne or sparkling wine and grapefruit bitters, this drink WILL transport you somewhere warm and sunny. The full recipe is at the bottom.

When using bubbly specifically to make cocktails I use inexpensive sparkling wines from outside the Champagne region. The reasons are simple. Firstly, cocktails are blends of flavors and using premium champagne means you won’t be able to taste the premium flavors and are wasting your money. Secondly, using lesser expensive selections mean you can buy more and thus make more cocktails. Once you start making them your fans line up quickly and running out is not something you want to have happen!

I had seen some print ads for Barefoot Sparkling Wine and knew from experience with their other wines that Barefoot offers excellent quality everyday drinking wines for a great value. When you can get them on sale at your local store you will do even better. As luck would have it their sparkling wines have been on sale at my local grocery store in the last two weeks, selling for $8.99 per bottle. Three styles were available to me, a Brut Cuvee, a Moscato Spumante and a sparkling Pinot Grigio. So far we have only popped the Brut. They also make a Rosé Cuvee and an Extra Dry.

Last week I saw a tweet about a sparkling cocktail named the “Jolly Old Elf” at the Celebrations At Home blog. (click for the recipe) The drink contains amaretto, cranberry juice and brut sparkling wine. Not having had the combination of cranberry and amaretto before the drink intrigued me. I bookmarked the link and with a trip to the grocery store already planned after I got off the bus, the bubbly I needed would be in my hot little hands very soon!

The “Jolly Old Elf” is a tasty drink with a luscious combination of fruit and nut flavors. I found I liked a bit more sparkle so using a larger glass worked better for me. Margot was on board with these from the first sip.

In preparation for this post I worked through two other simple sparkling cocktails including a replay of the “Off to the Islands” from above. I can’t get enough of St. Germain and sparkling wine. I think they are some kind of weird non-identical twins seperated at birth. They don't look alike, they don't taste alike, but they make you smile when you see them together.

The third one is a Sparkling Chambord Cocktail jazzed up with some orange bitters. The flavors of berry and citrus blend perfectly with dry sparkling wine. The color of this cocktail is an attractor, a deep purple with columns of small bubbles drifting up from the bottom of the glass.

Any or all of these cocktails will jazz up your New Year’s celebrations. If you normally have a bottle of bubbly waiting for the final stroke of the clock and the debut of the new year, these cocktails will be a nice warm up. In my experience bubbles promote conversation so these types of drinks also work well in mixed groups where not everyone knows each other.

However you imbibe this New Year’s Eve I hope you have lots of fun saying good bye to another year. Whatever you do please be safe. Starting a new year with a calamity from bad drinking choices is definitely never a resolution of mine!

Cheers!

--Jason

p.s. Before I could even get this posted I got an e-mail from Food & Wine Magazine with a list of champagne cocktails. Most are a bit more elaborate than mine, but if you need more ideas…

{ Recipes }

Off To The Islands

1 oz St. Germain
4 dashes Scrappy’s Grapefruit bitters
Barefoot Brut Cuvee Sparkling Wine
Lemon twist

Mix and serve.

Chambord Cocktail

1 oz Chambord
4 dashes Regan's Orange bitters
Barefoot Brut Cuvee Sparkling Wine

Mix and serve.

St-Germain Liqueur