December always presents excellent opportunities for drinking bubbles. We had a number of interesting bottles to try, particularly a few that I acquired in my travels this year. I'll start with those:
From my home state of New York in the USA, I purchased a bottle of Chateau Frank 2004 Brut. To be honest, this was not my preferred purchase from this vineyard, as the blanc de noir is supposed to be the best that this maker offers. But I couldn't find this in my local shop, just the brut, which is a blend of the traditional champagne grapes of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier. It was only OK, definitely not a classic champagne as it was overwhelmed with apple cider flavour and too much sweetness on the finish, very typical of an American sparkling wine. I'll keep trying this maker, though, both for the still wines they produce and for the elusive blanc de noir, which I'll have to order on-line.
Next were two from Canada - a mixed group. We really liked Gray Monk's Odyssey White Brut 2008, a riesling and chardonnay blend that had a wonderful citrus freshness to it and plenty of tiny bubbles (which was a surprise from all of the flatter Canadian sparkling wines that I'd tried in the past). It was incredibly refreshing, the sort of wine you just want to keep on drinking because it's somehow both so flavourful and so clean on your palate. Less successful was Blue Mountain Brut, a mix of pinot noir, chardonnay, and pinot gris grapes. This was just not very memorable, a bit of apple and citrus flavour with a touch of candied apple on the end, and nowhere near enough bubbles. Really not worth writing more about.
Some friends sent us a bottle of proper champagne for the holidays from Bedales - one we hadn't tried before called Jean Milan Blanc de Blancs. This family was originally a grower who first started making champagne for Krug and who now produce their own wines. This was a lovely bottle, with all of the things that make a blanc de blancs delicious - a light yeastiness on the nose, a crisp finish, loads of fruit flavours in the middle, and masses of delicate bubbles. What a fantastic gift - thank you!
I've saved my very favourite for last, though, as my husband bought me an English sparkler from The Wine Pantry. This was Coates & Seely Rose, which on the bottle says is made from pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay grapes (while their website doesn't include the chardonnay). At first, we weren't sure about this wine, as the bottle is done up in knock-off French, claiming to be from 'Britagne' and being made in 'methode britannique'. We weren't sure if they were taking the mickey or trying too hard to confuse the less au fait among us into thinking that they were actually champagne. But we forgive the exterior of the bottle for what was inside - smelling of the freshest summer berries, tasting of pink grapefruit, and leaving a lingering mouthful of tart candied peel. The bubbles matched the explosion of flavour, leaving me in no doubt that I will buy and drink this wine again!
Looking forward to trying some more in the run-up to New Year's...
Showing posts with label canadian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label canadian. Show all posts
Monday, 26 December 2011
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
BC Bubbles
My husband and I spent the weekend in Vancouver. I know, it's a long way from London, and yes, I am feeling it today. But it was a great trip, a really lovely, walkable city, and I was very excited about trying some Canadian sparkling wines. The best part was that both wine shops and restaurants showcased local British Columbian wines. I also really liked that two of the restaurants we visited offered 2-oz 'taster' glasses, making it easy to sample a few different wines with your meal.
Overall, I walked away with a very positive feeling about all of the wines we drank. The biggest surprise was a still, aromatic muscat from Joie Vineyards. Ordinarily, I would have avoided this wine because I find muscats to be a bit too much for me, but since I could order a 2-oz taster I thought, "Why not?". I was so pleased that I did, because this was, like the name of the vineyard, pure joy. It had an intensely floral aroma, so much so that I really thought I wouldn't like the wine. But the flavour was a wonderful balance of freesia and grapefuit, the perfect blend of floral and acidity. Next time, I would buy a whole glass of this, if not a whole bottle.
But on to the sparkling wines...
We first tried Sumac Ridge 2006 Stellar's Jay Brut. This wine is a blend of pinot blanc, pinot noir, and chardonnay. It was a very pretty colour, with a tinge of apricot along the rim. The apricot carried on in the flavour, hitting the mid-tongue with just a flash of sweetness. Interestingly, the wine smelled of sawdust, with a clean, dry wood scent. This sparkler was almost as much about what it wasn't - yeasty, toasty, biscuity - than what it was - fruity and tartly rich. It was hard to discern how good the bubbles were in the small quantities that we tried, although a fine stream of small bubbles was present on pouring.
The next wine we tried was Sperling 2009 Sper...itz. As the name indicates, this wine is more of an effervescent wine than a real sparkler - it less has bubbles and more has a texture on your tongue. Those of you who read my blog regularly will be completely dumbfounded when I write that the lack of bubbles totally didn't bother me with this wine, I really, really enjoyed it! The Sper...itz is made from riesling, bacchus, and perle of csaba grapes. On first smell, it was a rose garden in full bloom, but then this dissipated into a tropical island aroma. The flavour was a wonderful Hawaiian salad, with papaya, lime, and pineapple. This was so much fun to drink, and at only 7.5% alcohol, not at all a worry if you have one glass more than you intended!
The last wine we tried was a rose sparkler from 8th Generation Vineyard. This one was not on the wine list at one of the restaurants we visited, but on hearing my interest in BC sparklers, the nice lady who was serving us dug up a taster glass of this for me. Here's the thing, though - she told me it was a sparkling chardonnay, but a visit to 8th Generation's website doesn't show them making a rose sparkling chardonnay. I suspect what I had was actually the Confidence Frizzante, which is a chardonnay/pinot noir blend. The wine smelled like a Sharpie pen, (something that I really liked). It had a very dry, red berry flavour, not just the sweeter berries like strawberries and raspberries, but the richer ones, too, like currants and cranberries. The quantity wasn't enough for me to assess bubbles, but there were a few streaming up in the small glass.
I was encouraged enough by these experiences to find room in my suitcase to bring back to London a couple of bottles from other makers - very much looking forward to trying them!
Overall, I walked away with a very positive feeling about all of the wines we drank. The biggest surprise was a still, aromatic muscat from Joie Vineyards. Ordinarily, I would have avoided this wine because I find muscats to be a bit too much for me, but since I could order a 2-oz taster I thought, "Why not?". I was so pleased that I did, because this was, like the name of the vineyard, pure joy. It had an intensely floral aroma, so much so that I really thought I wouldn't like the wine. But the flavour was a wonderful balance of freesia and grapefuit, the perfect blend of floral and acidity. Next time, I would buy a whole glass of this, if not a whole bottle.
But on to the sparkling wines...
We first tried Sumac Ridge 2006 Stellar's Jay Brut. This wine is a blend of pinot blanc, pinot noir, and chardonnay. It was a very pretty colour, with a tinge of apricot along the rim. The apricot carried on in the flavour, hitting the mid-tongue with just a flash of sweetness. Interestingly, the wine smelled of sawdust, with a clean, dry wood scent. This sparkler was almost as much about what it wasn't - yeasty, toasty, biscuity - than what it was - fruity and tartly rich. It was hard to discern how good the bubbles were in the small quantities that we tried, although a fine stream of small bubbles was present on pouring.
The next wine we tried was Sperling 2009 Sper...itz. As the name indicates, this wine is more of an effervescent wine than a real sparkler - it less has bubbles and more has a texture on your tongue. Those of you who read my blog regularly will be completely dumbfounded when I write that the lack of bubbles totally didn't bother me with this wine, I really, really enjoyed it! The Sper...itz is made from riesling, bacchus, and perle of csaba grapes. On first smell, it was a rose garden in full bloom, but then this dissipated into a tropical island aroma. The flavour was a wonderful Hawaiian salad, with papaya, lime, and pineapple. This was so much fun to drink, and at only 7.5% alcohol, not at all a worry if you have one glass more than you intended!
The last wine we tried was a rose sparkler from 8th Generation Vineyard. This one was not on the wine list at one of the restaurants we visited, but on hearing my interest in BC sparklers, the nice lady who was serving us dug up a taster glass of this for me. Here's the thing, though - she told me it was a sparkling chardonnay, but a visit to 8th Generation's website doesn't show them making a rose sparkling chardonnay. I suspect what I had was actually the Confidence Frizzante, which is a chardonnay/pinot noir blend. The wine smelled like a Sharpie pen, (something that I really liked). It had a very dry, red berry flavour, not just the sweeter berries like strawberries and raspberries, but the richer ones, too, like currants and cranberries. The quantity wasn't enough for me to assess bubbles, but there were a few streaming up in the small glass.
I was encouraged enough by these experiences to find room in my suitcase to bring back to London a couple of bottles from other makers - very much looking forward to trying them!
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