Great Expectations

I drank a lot of French champagne last year so I'm trying to drink a broader variety of geographies this year. I'm finding it difficult to acquire decent, non-French sparkling wines in the UK, though. Selfridges had a small selection of some of the better-rated (as per Jancis Robinson) British sparkling makers, so I bought a few bottles recently through their website.

Last night, we had BBQ sausages and mash for dinner, one of the ultimate British meals, so we opened a bottle of the British sparkling wine with it - Chapel Down Brut reserve. This wine is made from some unusual grapes, being a blend of Reichensteiner, Rivaner (a white wine grape that I really like), and Pinot Noir. I didn't really like this wine, though. It smelled strongly of yeast and tasted like apple-y beer. My husband was less bothered by it, saying that although it was slightly sweeter than the sparkling wines we tend to drink, it wasn't offensively sweet. Nor was it bitter or sour. While he didn't object to it, he didn't love it, either.

To be fair to Jancis Robinson, she recommended a 2007 vintage from this maker which Selfridges did not have. So I can't fault her recommendation for this wine being less than the one she tasted. But I have to say, based on my experience of this bottle, I wouldn't be keen to try more from Chapel Down.

I Should Have Listened...

There's an excellent wine expert at Selfridges - a young woman - who has helped me before and has a pretty good understanding of what I like. The last time I was there, I spotted a bottle of sparkling wine from Brazil, Miolo Millesime 2006, and had picked it up. When the lady at the shop saw me with it, she shook her head and told me she didn't think I would like it, as it would probably be two sweet and too floral for my taste. So I didn't buy it then.

But curiosity got the better of me, especially since I haven't had a Brazilian sparkling wine before. I was in Selfridges earlier this week, and since the bottle is only about £16, I couldn't help but buy it. And the wine expert (who wasn't there that day!) was right - while I didn't find the wine offensively sweet, it was mustily-floral, leaving a very heavy aftertaste in my mouth that I really didn't enjoy. I'm surprised that so many reviews of this wine on the internet think it's a fruity wine, because I wasn't getting any of that (part of me wonders, too, how many of the reviewers actually tasted it rather than just repeating the company schpiel about the flavours).

So, wonderful wine woman from Selfridges - hats off to you for being able to accurately describe the wine and for knowing that I wouldn't like it. Next time I won't be so driven by my curiosity and will only buy what you tell me to : )

An Explosive Bubbly

I was at Selfridges the other day, and had a quick look around their wine department. It's the sort of place that I like, as they always have something a little different. On this occasion, I received high praise when I took my selected bottle, a blanc de noirs champagne called Inflorescence to the register - apparently it's the most interesting bottle of bubbly they have at the moment, with Bouchard, the maker, having produced only 2000 bottles.

We opened it yesterday, as my husband was trying out the new smoker equipment he bought for the BBQ and had prepared some absolutely amazing and perfectly cooked smoked duck legs (the skin was crunchy, the meat was tender, moist, and well-flavored, I can't wait for him to make them again!). The wine didn't let the food down. It was very clean, with the complex flavours of honey but none of the sweetness. It had a creamy-smooth and very long finish with a mild toastiness to it. The only down-side was that it was so bubbly it literally exploded in my hands when I opened the bottle (and trust me, I've opened enough bottles that my technique is pretty good!) - I wound up drenched in champagne which was such a waste.

I'll be buying another bottle of this the next time I'm at Selfridges, hoping that they don't sell out before I get back!