Staycation 5

On Sunday, we went for a walk and for lunch in the neighborhood where we used to live in northwest London. While we were there, my husband, wise man that he is, suggested we stop into one of the wine stores, The Winery, that we used to frequent to see what their champagne selection was like. Smart move that paid off - it was fabulous!!

When we lived in the area, The Winery used to have a great selection of lots of kinds of wine - mostly from smaller producers. In recent years, they've started to specialise in German wines, but still have a good variety from small producers around the world. Their champagne and sparkling wine selection really reflected this - we walked out of the shop with three bottles - two German sparklers that we'd not encountered before and one vintage champagne from a small maker in France.

We opened one of the German wines last night - the sparkling brut from shelter winery. We had been told that this was a pinot noir-based wine made in a very French style, so we thought we would try it with our usual sparkling wine test-food, grilled steaks. The wine was a huge surprise, being very grapey, with good bubbles, and just a little bit of sweetness. It was wonderful with our steaks. That said, it was really, really horrible with the lime souffle I made for dessert - the sweet grapiness of the wine just didn't sit well with the sharp tartness of the souffle the way a blanc de blanc might have. Lesson learned, serve this one with some grilled meat rather than with a pudding.

My husband asked me today if I would buy this wine again. It was a good question - while I really enjoyed it, I don't know that this would be my house champagne, the kind of thing I could serve and drink day after day with almost any food or any occasion. But I would serve it to people who are interested in wine, particularly to test their ideas of what makes a great champagne/sparkling wine. Good bubbly is not something I particularly associate with Germany, but wines like this one quickly change that perception.