I've been a bit busy, so my husband agreed to guest blog an entry for me. I agree with his assessment, this was a yummy bottle!
At some point in the past few weeks, we opened the rose sibling of the Le Cantorie Franciacorta brut from the booming metropolis of Gussago (don't believe Diego - it is far larger than a village). Details on the rose are sadly lacking from Le Cantorie's website, but in the face of such adversity we soldiered on regardless. As with the normal brut, the bubbles were available in abundance and showed real longevity in the glass. While the wine lacked much in the way of a finish, on the palate it was a bit bolder than the brut with berry and currant notes and that characteristic Franciacorta dryness.
Showing posts with label franciacorte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label franciacorte. Show all posts
Saturday, 3 September 2011
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
A Weekend of Wonderful
We had a BBQ on Saturday and, of course, we served some bubbles. One of our guests very kindly brought two bottles (thank you!). The first was Billecart-Salmon Brut Blanc de Blancs grand cru. It's been a while since I've drunk this champagne, and I had forgotten what a perfect champagne this is - crisp, delicately yeasty, slightly nutty, and non-stop bubbles. To me it is the gold standard for what a blanc de blancs should be.
The second was an interesting comparison, Pascal Doquet Premiers Crus de la Cote des Blancs. I remarked to my friend that, while I liked this champagne, it was edgier than the Billecart-Salmon. While the Billecart-Salmon was full of refined flavours, the Pascal Doquet tasted of a rounded blend of fallen apples and raw yeast. It was a wine that I enjoyed trying, but while I could drink the Billecart-Salmon every day, the Doquet had a richness that would almost overwhelm if drunk too often. My friend commented that the maker of this wine was definitely an 'edgy'-type, from a traditional wine family, but who branched out on his own to become a small producer. I liked this story, and am glad that he's making such lovely wines. He's one to watch!
We ended the meal with a sparkler that I had bought for my friend to try - Camel Valley 2008 Pinot Noir Brut. This rose had won the 2010 International Wine Challenge, and I was curious to see how a group of wine lovers would rate it. Even the very particular French contingent begrudgingly admitted it was better than they had hoped it would be, with rich berry flavours and lots of fizz. Surprisingly, it held up well against the chocolate mousse cake that I was eating. This one is expensive for a British sparkler (almost £60/bottle), but a fun thing to introduce to people who like bubbles.
On Sunday, my husband and I had the garden to ourselves, so we opened the one bottle of bubbles in the fridge that hadn't been opened the previous day - Le Cantorie Franciacorta brut that my friends had brought back to me from a trip to Italy (again, thank you!). I couldn't believe the whoosh of bubbles that exploded from the bottom of glass on pouring - it was just so awesome and unexpected. For the bubbles alone, everyone should try this wine. But the flavour was lovely too, with most of it hitting the mid-tongue in a burst of silky fruit. The wine didn't have much finish, but that just didn't bother me because of all the bubbles.
What a wonderful weekend, full of great company and great wine!!
The second was an interesting comparison, Pascal Doquet Premiers Crus de la Cote des Blancs. I remarked to my friend that, while I liked this champagne, it was edgier than the Billecart-Salmon. While the Billecart-Salmon was full of refined flavours, the Pascal Doquet tasted of a rounded blend of fallen apples and raw yeast. It was a wine that I enjoyed trying, but while I could drink the Billecart-Salmon every day, the Doquet had a richness that would almost overwhelm if drunk too often. My friend commented that the maker of this wine was definitely an 'edgy'-type, from a traditional wine family, but who branched out on his own to become a small producer. I liked this story, and am glad that he's making such lovely wines. He's one to watch!
We ended the meal with a sparkler that I had bought for my friend to try - Camel Valley 2008 Pinot Noir Brut. This rose had won the 2010 International Wine Challenge, and I was curious to see how a group of wine lovers would rate it. Even the very particular French contingent begrudgingly admitted it was better than they had hoped it would be, with rich berry flavours and lots of fizz. Surprisingly, it held up well against the chocolate mousse cake that I was eating. This one is expensive for a British sparkler (almost £60/bottle), but a fun thing to introduce to people who like bubbles.
On Sunday, my husband and I had the garden to ourselves, so we opened the one bottle of bubbles in the fridge that hadn't been opened the previous day - Le Cantorie Franciacorta brut that my friends had brought back to me from a trip to Italy (again, thank you!). I couldn't believe the whoosh of bubbles that exploded from the bottom of glass on pouring - it was just so awesome and unexpected. For the bubbles alone, everyone should try this wine. But the flavour was lovely too, with most of it hitting the mid-tongue in a burst of silky fruit. The wine didn't have much finish, but that just didn't bother me because of all the bubbles.
What a wonderful weekend, full of great company and great wine!!
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Date Night - May '11
Last night was date night and my husband and I went to a recently opened Italian restaurant in Dulwich. The food and service were very good, but the wine list was only OK. So we returned home and opened a bottle of sparkling wine that he had brought back from a trip he took to Brescia earlier in the month - Cavalleri 2005 Collezione Grandi Cru Franciacorte.
I learned something new last night - that not all sparkling wines from Italy are called 'prosecco'. In the Brescia area, the sparkling wines are called 'franciacorte' and there are rules about how they're made and the grapes they contain that make them different from prosecco (i.e. they can't contain pinot grigio grapes). This wine was 100% chardonnay, a blanc de blancs.
Having never tried a franciacorte before, I didn't know what to expect. The wine surprised me right from the start, with a strong yeasty smell emanating from the bottle, followed by the scent of light olive oil. The olive theme carried through in the flavour, with the wine tasting slightly of fresh-off-the-tree green olives followed by a citrus-clean finish. On first pouring the bubbles were fantastic, too, although they did not persist through the end of the glass. Despite this, I would drink this wine again, it was very good.
I learned something new last night - that not all sparkling wines from Italy are called 'prosecco'. In the Brescia area, the sparkling wines are called 'franciacorte' and there are rules about how they're made and the grapes they contain that make them different from prosecco (i.e. they can't contain pinot grigio grapes). This wine was 100% chardonnay, a blanc de blancs.
Having never tried a franciacorte before, I didn't know what to expect. The wine surprised me right from the start, with a strong yeasty smell emanating from the bottle, followed by the scent of light olive oil. The olive theme carried through in the flavour, with the wine tasting slightly of fresh-off-the-tree green olives followed by a citrus-clean finish. On first pouring the bubbles were fantastic, too, although they did not persist through the end of the glass. Despite this, I would drink this wine again, it was very good.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)