March round-up

We tried a few new things in March:

Two of them were British sparklers, both from The Wine Pantry. One wasn't so much totally new; rather, a new variety of something we like - the 2003 Blanc de Blancs from Nyetimber. This was very good, not surprising as we like this maker. It smelled very yeasty, with my husband saying it smelled heavily of the must of the grapes. It was very clean and fresh, though, with a lingering, lemony finish and lots of bubbles. As always with Nyetimber, it was a bit pricey for what it was (mid £30s), but worth drinking.

On the other end of the British taste spectrum, we also had the Herbert Hall 2010 Brut, predominantly chardonnay mixed with pinot noir and pinot meunier. I was not a fan, despite the plentiful bubbles, as this wine was very unpolished and very raw tasting, much like a light cider. It gets good reviews against other English wines, but don't let this fool you. It doesn't compare to a French champagne the way Nyetimber does.

The third wine was a bit of a surprise - wait for it - a 2008 vintage brut German sparkling red pinot noir from Vaux, which my husband picked up at The Winery. What was he thinking, this had the potential for absolute disaster!? German red wine? And German brut, which is never really brut? And German bubbles? Well, don't tell him I wrote this, but my husband is a genius, this wine was a lovely surprise. It was bruter than brut, not a speck of sugary-ness to it despite its strawberry start and ripe apple finish. The bubbles were fine, lasting through both the glass and the bottle. As for the redness...this wine held up to food, but was equally good being sipped on its own. At just shy of £30 a bottle, this is definitely one to try if you can find it.

More Aussie Red

We tried another sparkling red that I ordered from Drinks Direct the other night. This was the 2007 vintage Black Queen sparkling shiraz from Peter Lehmann. My husband liked this more than I did, as to me it smelled and tasted like raisins, which instantly ruins a wine for me. My husband thought it had 'port-like' flavours (yes, raisin-y port!). At any rate, it was nowhere near as good as the Turkey Flat we had just previously drunk, I would recommend that over this wine.

This Was No Turkey

I love it when a wine exceeds my expectations. I had ordered a mixed case of wine from Drinks Direct, which included several sparkling red wines. Good sparkling reds are fantastic, but bad ones are really horrible. They're kind of a niche drinking market, so there's not that much information out there about them and it can be a bit hit or miss. But I took a chance and ordered several that I hadn't seen before. We tried the first one last night - and it was wonderful!!

This was a sparkling shiraz from Turkey Flat Vineyards. It had loads of fizz when we poured it and smelled of plums, ripe cherries, and a touch of chocolate. My mouth was watering, hoping it would taste as good as it smelled. It tasted of cherries, with a bit of prune finish - and it was completely desert-dry, not a touch of sweetness to it. What a relief, and what a pleasure to drink.

Funnily enough, I had spotted the still shiraz from the same vineyard at a shop and bought it thinking it would be interesting to compare the still to the sparkling wine. I'm really looking forward to trying the still wine now...and to ordering more of the sparkling!! This is one I'll enjoy all summer with grilled steaks, the perfect accompaniment to a BBQ.

Opposites

I've recently drunk two new bottles of bubbles that couldn't be more different.

The first was Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Francois Billecart 2000, a chardonnay/pinot noir blend. It was stunning - much richer than their blanc de blancs, tasting like the toasted crust of a very eggy loaf of brioche. Fantastic bubbles, too. While I always argue that you don't need a special occasion to drink champagne, this is one that I would serve on a big day, because it is a very memorable wine.

The second was Brown Brothers Cienna Rosso, something that I picked up through Ocado because I spotted it and hadn't tried it. Cienna is the grape variety, a new hybrid grape stemming from cabernet sauvignon. It was not-obnoxiously-sweet, fizzy, and punchy - the sort of thing you would drink quickly at a summer BBQ. Different because it's a red sparkler, but not at all notable.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

This is so not like me, but another catch-up post. It's been a busy month since I last blogged, and while bubbles were imbibed, they were not written-up. I can't stand looking at the bottles anymore, but know I'll forget what I drank if I just put them in my blue bin. So a quick summary below:

The good:
Boisson Rouge from Earl d'Oc et d'Oil, a jammy, lush, sparkling red. This had lots of bubbles and wonderful fruity flavour, a complete surprise and definitely a 'buy again'.

Luis Pato Maria Gomes bruto vinho espumante. This Portugeses wine is made by the father of Filipa Pato who makes another unusual sparkler. I think the father's was better, lots of dry yeasty flavour, good bubbles, and a very more-ish finish.

The bad:
Breaky Bottom Cuvee John Inglis Hall. This didn't have enough bubbles for me, and a slightly sweet taste to it. My husband liked it more than I did, he finished my glass as I just wasn't interested.

The ugly:
Camillo Donati malvasia rosa 2009. This sparkling rose says it's frizzante, so I was very excited to see all of the bubbles whooshing up from the bottom of my glass. Had I only left it to the looking - this was bitter, nasty, undrinkable. I poured my glass down the sink, my husband tried his with food, and then I think poured the rest of the bottle down the sink. Never again.

Finally!

I have been looking for ages for a good sparkling red wine. Outside of the wine list at Ransome's Dock, no one seems to carry them. But I found one finally - from a shop I found on-line called The Sampler.

This bottle of wine was worth the time I've spent hunting one down. It was the 2009 sparkling pinot noir from Penley Estates, an Australian producer who predominantly makes traditional red wines. The sparkling wine was wonderful, big and juicy, with loads of raspberry and blackberry flavour, with just a touch of prune on the finish. It had a good amount of fizz that lasted and kept the wine from being too heavy. It was perfect for last night's warm weather with grilled steaks. I will definitely be buying a few more bottles of this, in hopes that we get some more warm days to BBQ.

I know that for proper red wine drinkers and champagne fanatics, this sort of thing is just not on. But I like sparkling reds, I like having a wine with a bit more heft that still has the frivolity of the bubbles. As a friend has always told me, "a good wine is one that you like, regardless of how much it cost or what name is on the bottle". This was a good wine.

South African Sparkling

I had lunch out with friends yesterday so wasn't much in the mood for dinner. My husband had a long day at work, and stopped at London Bridge to pick up a few ingredients for his favourite quick-cook dinner, meatsauce with pasta. I say it like this because while I would eat a big bowl of pasta with a small dollop of sauce (i.e. pasta with meatsauce) he eats a big bowl of sauce with the tiniest amount of pasta. In so many ways, we're totally different, but perfectly complementary.

On his way through the train station, he spotted some champagne-shaped bottles in the South African store, theSavanna. One of them was a red sparkling wine for less than £10, La Chanson made by J.C. LeRoux. We love red sparkling wines and haven't had one for ages, so he thought he would give it a try.

It was dreadful - tasting of Ribena - the Elysium of sparkling wines (and for those of you who have drunk Elysium before, you'll know this is not a compliment). It was also only slightly fizzy, not bubbly at all. I couldn't make it past a very small glass, and 3/4 of the bottle is still sitting on the kitchen counter - something that rarely happens in our house. To be honest, I'm not sure why we're saving this, as I don't think I would even cook with it.