Category Sparkling Wines

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A French Bubbles Tasting Complete with Dressing Up, Friends and Food

May 22, 12 3:14 PM

A Private Tasting and Dinner with the Gang: Tasting French Bubbles

Most of the gang — from left: Fasil, Leah, Katy, Caleb, Fred, Hillary, me, Katherine, Steve, in front of Pizzicletta

Katy and Caleb did a great job making the inside of Pizzicletta even more lovely than usual–pic by Katy Connors

Getting Ready for Tasting and Dinner

Leah suggested we could all dress up for the event, an idea I readily go for

French Bubbles to Taste

A friend in our gang from last night is currently studying French wines, so when planning for our (usually about) monthly private tasting came up, and I offered several different possible themes for the occasion, French bubbles was the one jumped on. (Plus, we all just frickin’ like bubbles, cause we’re super smart like that, as my friend Kate would say.)

The idea for the night was to taste sparkling wines from France made in the Methode Traditionelle style all from outside of the Champagne region, and with unusual grape varieties establishing the cuvee’. Caleb offered to host the location with he and Katy selecting the food choices. Fred provided the pairing to go with the dessert Katy made. I selected the wines.

Here’s what we all came up with.

Opening Wine: Meyer-Fonne Brut Extra Cremant d’Alsace

We opened with a Brut-Extra Cremant d’Alsace by Meyer-Fonne. The wine showcases a blend of 60% Auxerrois, 20% Chardonnay, 15% Pinot Blanc, 5% Pinot Noir in a white cuvee’; 12% alcohol.

There is a wonderfully citrus, focused nose on this wine. The weight of Auxerrois shows here as round in the mouth, with an utterly dry presentation balancing the overall structure. The dryness of the wine is again balanced next to good fruit elements–pleasing notes of clementine and lemon zest, light evergreen hints, dried herbal notes, light grass and chalk. This has a medium acidity, and medium finish. The dryness of the wine worked well as an apertif, with just enough texture to push us forward to the second wine, and the food.

I tend to prefer a little more acidity on my methode traditionelle bubbles, but with Auxerrois serving as the primary grape, the acidity levels here were not surprising, and the wine still did well offering a generally clean and balanced presentation. It was a great opening wine, and held up well to the food as we tasted some alongside. Pairs well with herbal dishes.

Wine 2: Jean-Louis Ballarin Brut Cremant de Bordeaux

I felt lucky to locate a Cremant de Bordeaux because there are few imported to the United States. This one by Jean Louis Ballarin focuses on a Brut blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, in a white cuvee’ with 12% alcohol.

The bouquet and flavors of this wine are wonderfully mild, with a soft foam texture. The beads here are impressively small and persistent. This wine offers a lightly tropical floral and fruit presentation showing a floral front palate, fruity mid-palate, and musky finish. The combination of mango skin, light pineapple, meyer lemon and lime zest, show along side a slightly bitter bite and herbal qualities. The wine carries a pleasing medium-plus acidity matched by medium-plus finish.

While we enjoyed each of the wines, this was one of the groups favorites. It also did well alongside food as some of us saved enough to sip it with our meal.

The Food Interlude: Caleb Makes Eats

Involtini: Thinly Sliced Eggplant wrapped around Ricotta, Served in Tomato Sauce Yum (one of my favorite dishes)

Pork Shoulder Rubbed with Pesto, then rolled and tied like Pancetta and slow baked for 8 hours. Also, pleasantly called, “HOLY DEAR LORD GOD ALMIGHTY THANK YOU GOD.”

Caleb and Katy did a fantastic job providing food for the occasion. Katy put together a wonderful herbal green salad, charcuterie plate, and dessert (which I’ll show with its wine pairing towards the end here), and Caleb took the day to make us both Involtini, and slow baked pork shoulder. This is what I like to call, joy.

The gang enjoying the meal, with wine–pic by Caleb

Wine 3: Purete’ de Silex Brut Cremant de Loire

One of the group’s overall favorites, the Purete’ de Silex brings together a cuvee’ of 50% Chenin-Blanc, 30% Cabernet Franc, and 20% Chardonnay in a white sparkling presentation with 12.5% alcohol. (The website for this wine carries a different grape ratio; what I list here is what is printed on the bottle itself.)

The cabernet franc dominates the nose with wonderfully earthy and herbal elements, while the fruit sweetness of the chardonnay shows stronger in the mouth, and the chenin-blanc carries the body–the three together producing a nicely balanced wine. There is a bouquet of wet earth, dried herbs, apple sauce and green apple skin here, while the mouth carries honey dew, lemon peel, and even hints of seaweed. Medium acidity, with medium long finish. This wine is also a nice value.

Wine 4: Effervescence Brut Nicole Chanrion

The final sparkling wine of the night was, for me, the most surprising-this 100% sparkling Gamay with 11% alcohol.

For starters, Nicole Chanrion produces the Effervescence as a vintage cremant but labels it without vintage information. Looking further into her vinification techniques, the elements that surprised me make more sense. There is a woody, herbal quality to these bubbles that stands out, carrying with it a fuller texture than I expected from a Beaujolais–Chanrion, however, chooses full cluster fermentation here, immediately adding a heartier tone to the cuvee’ than might be expected from a just-berry press of the grape.

The Effervesence presents a mix of dried herbs and dried fruit–apricot, strawberry, raspberry and melon–touches of black pepper, with dusty, and even almost gritty flavors. (One of us actually used the word “newsprint” as the first descriptor that came to mind from the mouth. It’s appropriate and meant as more of a compliment than it sounds–it’s unusual, and a blend of dry, bitter, and dusty alongside the fruit characteristics.) The wine offers drying qualities in the mouth (again, this makes sense with full cluster fermentation), alongside medium acidity and a medium long finish.

Dessert: Katy Bakes and Scoops and Mixes: Praise God

Katy’s Dessert: Fresh just-under-ripe Peaches baked in brown sugar, then drizzled with a homemade raspberry sauce, served with homemade vanilla bean and cracked pepper gelato and fresh raspberries.

The dessert was a perfect close to the meal–simple, great texture (the advantage of using just underripe fruit here is that it absorbs the flavors well, while also staying a little firmer after baking, rather than becoming peach mush), fresh flavors, and lightness on a warm summer evening (we’re already having summer temperatures here in Flagstaff).

Dessert Pairing: Chateau de Montifaud Pineau des Charentes

To close and to pair with dessert, Fred selected what is traditionally treated as a French apertif, but with its dryness does very well alongside fruit-based desserts. Pineau des Charentes is a fortified wine, common to parts of Western France, produced from a combination of fermented grape must and Cognac eau-di-vie.

The offering from Chateau de Montifaud carries 18% alcohol with a mouth watering medium-long finish, offering flavors of concentrated apricot, date, apple juice, dried peach, and dried herbs with mixed cracked pepper. It’s great for sipping along side slightly sweet baked and fresh fruit, or on its own.

Our Charming Co-Hosts

Thanks to Katy and Caleb for co-hosting with me, and providing the great food and space! Pizzicletta on a closed night is my favorite place to be; even if I love the food there when it’s open too.

Thanks to Fred for selecting and bringing the dessert pairing.

Thanks to the gang for being there–such a good time! And thanks to our friend for taking pictures.

 

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Happy Birthday to Melanie. You are my sister.

Apr 23, 12 3:03 AM

The truth is most of my earliest formative wine drinking experiences showed themselves alongside my sister, Melanie, often with her instigating the wine selections.

from left to right–Melanie, Me, Paula

She introduced me to my first Burgundy. (It changed my life–I became a dedicated red wine drinker because of it.)

I don’t believe she introduced me to champagne. But I fell hard into a glass of bubbles and a long standing love affair with sparkling wine because of her (bubbles might honestly be my best romantic relationship (so far)). Together we’ve had more grower’s champagne, and more expensive champagne than with anyone else (and more champagne in one day together than with anyone else too, if I’m honest). She also promises to take me to Champagne for my 40th birthday, and I plan to hold her to it. (She has a few years to get us there.)

from left to right, me and Melanie HONEST TO GOD getting dressed up to walk into the living room and drink champagne–we’re enthusiastic like that (except we likely posed to take this blast picture only because we were already part way down a bottle while getting dressed up)

Today, April 23, is her birthday. Lots of Love to you, Melanie. You are my sister.

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Cheers too to our sister Paula! I’m lucky to have such damn good siblings in both Melanie and Paula, who while a willing wine drinker is a less dedicated one. Can’t hold that against her, she’s still from damn good stock.

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Two Willamette Valley Treasures: 2006 Cristom Sommers Reserve, 2006 Soter Brut Rose’

Mar 12, 12 8:50 PM

 

The Willamette Valley is a wine region full of treasures. It’s often spoken of primarily in relation to Pinot Noir, but also helped establish Pinot Gris in North America, and grows a mean-lovely Chardonnay, among other grape varieties. There are also pockets of Syrah, and some exciting developments with Viognier and Tempranillo. I could go on.

Two of the Pinot Noir jewels I’ve been lucky enough to taste recently include a nicely aged 2006 Sommer’s Reserve from Cristom, and the 2006 Soter Brut Rose’.

Cristom Pinot Noir 2006 Sommer’s Reserve

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Cristom is known for offering consistently good wine. They populate the Eola-Amity Appellation with not only Pinot Noir, but also highly regarded Syrah, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Viognier.

As they describe themselves, Cristom practices minimal handling of the fruit, with a focus on land-driven wine, and native yeast. Wine maker Steve Doerner carries an international reputation for his silky, nuanced, and rich flavored Pinot Noir.

The 2006 Sommer’s Reserve drank beautifully with a perfect balance of subtlety and richness. The body here is pleasingly on the lighter side of medium with a silken texture. The scents and flavors currently focus on dried red and rich fruits, alongside dried herbs, touches of forest floor, damp earth, and oiled leather. I loved this wine.

The flavors in the bottle here had deepened enough to show the umami richness of caribou soup. It’s a quality I’m always pleased to find in an older-enough Pinot Noir–a reference I don’t generally mention for its hard to find popularity. But, caribou soup is my favorite meal–a light weight broth showing the richness of reduced meat alongside the slightly sweetened balance of cooked down carrots and an earthy-herbalness of cooked down cabbage. Good caribou soup has rich, nuanced flavors in an accessible, lighter weight broth. No longer living in Alaska I rarely have caribou soup now, so to find it dancing in a glass of wine thrills me.

Soter 2006 Brut Rose’

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One of the finest examples of methode traditionelle sparkling wines made in the United States, Soter Brut Rose carries the combination of crispness and rich flavor wanted from a sparkling Pinot Noir-Chardonnay based Rose’. The wine has persistent, tight beads in a copper-salmon pink drink. The flavors here show a pleasing mix of dried red fruit with just enough orange zest and jasmine hints to both ground and lighten the palate. The acidity here keeps a bright long-finishing tang in the mouth. This wine would suit alongside seafood, but I appreciate drinking it on its own.

Soter Vineyards practices sustainable farming carrying both LIVE sustainability and organic farming certifications. Located in the Yamhill-Carlton district of Willamette Valley their site celebrates the combination of marine sediments and good drainage the valley shows at its best. Winemaker James Cahill alongside Tony and Michelle Soter bring together extensive knowledge of the Willamette region with a focus on synthesizing the established history of wine making from the region and the desire to continue to learn the potentials of the area.

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If you’re looking for a treat from the Willamette, I recommend both of these wines.

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

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Girl Scout Cookie Season Has Descended; Let Us Find Their Perfect Wine Pairings!, for Katherine

Feb 27, 12 10:50 PM

Girl Scout Cookies

Girl Scout Cookie season has hit the United States. Did you know there is even a free iphone app to help you locate where the cookies are available for sale?

I got a request to do tasting note comics for Girl Scout Cookies. On my other comics blog I’ve done that from time to time–draw up tasting notes for random foods. What was desired here was a comic representation of the sentimental favorites’ flavors and general qualities so as to be able to keep celebrating the phenomenon even in their off season.

The truth is, I don’t really eat Girl Scout Cookies. It isn’t that I WOULDN’T. It’s just that I don’t. But the idea of drawing tasting notes for them cracked me up, and the idea of drawing cookie notes alongside wine notes down right made me laugh. So, clearly the way to make the request work was to draw up tasting notes for the cookies alongside their perfect wine pairing.

The goal of any wine and food pairing is to bring together the right elements such that both the food and the wine are improved, so that they become something together they simply weren’t before the combination. It can be nice to have wine and food beside each other even when they don’t improve each other so thoroughly, but it’s a magical experience when the perfect pairing is found.

So, when I announced I was going to take the Girl Scout Cookie Wine Challenge, Katherine offered to bring over cookies in each of the flavors available in our area. Before she showed up I ran to the wine shop where I bumped into James, the head chef of Cuvee 928, and he offered input on my wine pairing ideas. Thank you for his suggestion of the Blanc Pescador and the Oloroso Sherry. And then along the way when a couple of surprise cookies I hadn’t anticipated appeared, @DecantChicago gave a push to go ahead and try a bottle of Demi-Sec Champagne I’d already been considering. Wonderfully by the end of the night we really had hit the perfect pairing for each cookie.

Enjoy!

Thank you to Katherine, James, and Cara Patricia–Decant Chicago–for your help!

Tasting notes appear in recommended tasting order as well.

Trefoils and Blanc Pescador

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Girl Scout’s most classic cookie is their Trefoil Shortbread. The cookie is crisp and buttery with very faint sweetness, and the crunch of a proper biscuit. Honestly one can also taste preservative notes along side the buttery flavor so any good wine pairing would hopefully moderate that lightly bitter element.

The Blanc Pescador is a wonderfully crisp, lightly effervescent Cataluyna table white wine perfect for Mediterranean style seafood dishes. I’ve had it along side fish soup with wonderful results. It even did well as the wine base for Risotto.

It’s made from the same grapes as those allowed for Spanish Cava–50-60% Macabeo, 20-25% Parellada, 20-25% Xarel-lo–but instead of making a full sparkling wine, the winemaker chose to make an effervescent (half-sparkling, basically) style instead.

It’s a perfect pairing for Girl Scout Trefoil Shortbread cookies. The wine increases the buttery flavor of the cookies, while also cutting the preservatives bite, and the cookie ups the mineral quality, and lemon flavor of the wine. Yum!

Savannah Smiles and 2005 Dr. Loosen Erdener Pralat Riesling Auslese

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The Savannah Smiles is a lemon flavored shortbread style cookie rolled in powdered sugar and new to the Girl Scouts this year.

This Riesling Auslese is a beautifully balanced sweet wine. It carries a nice mix of rich fruit and light floral qualities alongside pleasing minerals. This style is often thought of as a dessert wine and with its sweeter quality many people drink it only at the end of a meal. But, it’s worth tasting this with a range of other types of food though from spicy thai food, to blue cheese.

The Erdener Pralat vineyards are a mere 4 acres in the Mosel Valley, but are thought to generate some of the finest wines of the region. This is a wine that does well for decades in the bottle. If you have some it’s well worth holding onto but is also drinking nicely now. It’ll simply gain a deepened complexity over time.

Dr. Loosen’s Erdener Pralat Riesling Auslese is also a perfect pairing for Girl Scout’s new-this-year lemon shortbread style cookie rolled in powdered sugar, their Savannah Smiles. When put along side the sharp tang of the lemon cookie the heavier elements of the wine come into even better balance. The wine mellows the cookie tang, while the cookie lightens syrupy elements of the wine.

Do-Si-Dos and Demi-Sec A. Margaine Premier Cru Champagne

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The Do-Si-Dos were an unexpected addition to our tasting evening. I had thought we had five cookies to review, and didn’t know in advance of this one. The Do-Si-Do is a slightly salty, crisp oatmeal cookie with a thin layer of creamy peanut butter inside. With the combination the cookie carries toasted oatmeal, the creaminess of the peanut butter with a slightly salty, faintly sweet palate.

To balance the dryness and saltiness of the cookie it would need something soft in the mouth and slightly sweet. Not as heavy as the Auslese, nor as thick as the upcoming Banyuls.

We turned to the Demi-Sec A. Margaine Premier Cru Champagne, and the combination was perfect. The demi-sec style offers a softer body for the champagne while also giving just a touch of sweetness. The balance of herbal notes with a light brie funk on the nose and touches of yeast and toast bread beside minerals give a range of flavors avoiding the cloying problem. This is an elegant, delicate, and balanced champagne.

The Margaine is a special champagne in that Arnuad Margaine fully produces this champagne himself. Grower’s champagne is a less common version of the wonderful drink, and one that offers a difference in quality from the more mass produced types that dominate the wine type. A grower’s champagne is simply one in which the person that makes the champagne has also grown his own grapes. Margaine does just that making less than 5000 cases a year.

The wonderful thing about this wine really is found in how widely it could be paired. I’d love to drink it with dim-sum, as suggested by Michael Skurnik, or with spicy thai food. Oh… yum.

Alongside the Do-Si-Dos the yeast of the champagne is highlighted in a pleasing way, while the wine makes the peanut butter of the cookie both smoother and creamier tasting. The wine also eases the crunch of the cookie just slightly in a way that makes it work better.

Samoas and Lustau Almacenista Oloroso Sherry

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The Samoas cookie from the Girl Scout combines a crisp cookie center covered in caramel, toasted coconut and touched with chocolate. So it offers a combination of chew with crunch, and some sweetness.There are also lightly buttery elements to be tasted here.

To pair, a dry, full flavored companion is found in Oloroso Sherry, a dry style sherry showing lots of nut, hints of caramel, and touches of rich fruit. The high alcohol content work against the sweetness of the coconut making it more balanced, while the cookie brings out more fruit notes in the sherry uncovering flavors of dried cherry and more raisin. So, while the cookie became less sweet, the wine turned more complex. A pleasing complement.

The truth is a lot of people I know don’t like coconut, and so this cookie comes as the least favorite for them. I don’t mind the fruit-seed but also am not much into sweet cookies. It was a nice moment to see how this wine and the cookie worked together. As Katherine, one who does not like coconut, put it, “the cookie became worth eating” without hiding the coconut altogether.

At this point in the evening the wine and cookie match up was going so well Katherine extended me the following compliment. Thank you! “I salute your ability to pair Girl Scout Cookies with wine. It’s an important life skill.” Katherine, there is no one better to work on such a project with.

Tagalong Peanut Butter Pattie with 2003 Domaine La Tour Vieille Banyuls

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The Tagalong is a cookie topped in creamy peanut butter and covered in chocolate. The flavors here are rich, full, and very buttery and creamy.

The Banyuls is a full bodied, full flavored dessert wine that showcases nut, caramel, dried herbal, and spice notes. The acidity here is medium high helping to balance the sweetness of the wine and the alcohol level at 15.5% gives just enough heat to counter the richness.

When paired with the peanut butter pattie the cookie becomes more creamy and buttery, while the wine becomes less sweet, and a hint cooler. The buttery-ness of the peanut butter works well here against the alcohol heat. The salt of the peanut butter too fights the sweetness of the wine so as to lessen such effects when drinking it, making both the cookie and the wine smoother.

The classic pairing for Banyuls is chocolate, and with this cookie I agree while adding a couple more demands alongside.

Thin Mints and Rihaku Nigori Sake Dreamy Clouds

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The big challenge of the night came in trying to pair Thin Mints. Mint and chocolate are a hard set to make work with a wine. The classic pairing for Thin Mints is, after all, coffee. But I was determined that a wine could be found, and realized that the fumy quality of sake, rice wine, resembles slightly the fumy nature of mint flavor, while the very slight sweetness of Nigori style sake would likely work with the sweetness of a cookie. All my friends were skeptical.

Thin Mints are as they sound, a thin cookie with a thin layer of mint dipped in chocolate. They do well being frozen and then eaten after an overnight in the cold state.

Nigori Sake is left slightly cloudy in comparison to other types of sake, which are, by contrast, filtered. Nigori holds some rice sediment still, which keeps a slight haze in the cup, and works to help generate what is thought of as the sweetest of sakes, though still only slightly sweet. Due to the rice and yeast used, the Rihaku sake is also quite fragrant with dried plum, hints of banana, and a rice tang.This style is also meant to be finished once the bottle is open as oxidation will quickly change the flavors. Rihaku Dreamy Clouds is a super clean, pleasant sake.

I’ll admit the sake and cookie were a surprising flavor combination. I hadn’t had Nigori sake in a while and after a steady stream of grape wine tastings up till this point it was a significant contrast. Still, once the sake and cookie were tasted together the combination worked. The sake made the mint even more palatable, also cutting the waxiness of the chocolate, while the cookie erased the banana elements of the sake.

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Thanks again to Katherine, James, and Cara for your enthusiasm and suggestions! Thanks too to Katherine for providing the cookies. :)

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Have a wine focus you’d like to see explored here through comics and write up? Please feel free to email me at lilyelainehawkwakawaka (at) gmail (dot) com . I enjoy the challenge, and hearing from you too!

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

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A Night of Riches

Jan 25, 12 12:00 AM

One Way to Arrange a Birthday Celebration

A friend just had a birthday, and we went to celebrate the same weekend another friend was getting ready to leave town. We decided to focus on a selection of some of our favorite rich-flavored French wines to acknowledge both occasions.

Following are the three wines chosen by a small group of wine lovers to indulge in the cool weather fullness of Northern Hemisphere January weather, and celebrate a special occasion with ease.

Rene’ Geoffroy Rose’ de Saigne’e Brut Premier Cru Champagne

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I’ve reviewed this champagne before. It’s a wonderfully full bodied, pleasantly spiced, red berry driven sparkling wine with lovely rose scents. The Rene’ Geoffroy is made beautifully via the Saigne’e method–the first portion of the wine making process keeps the juice in contact with the skins adding color, body, and extra flavor to the juice. A lovely way to open the palate, and begin a celebration.

Chapoutier “La Bernardine” 2005 Chateauneuf de Pape

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Years ago I was friends with a woman that after a glass or two of wine would start talking about going home and putting on her 3/4-length mink coat inside out to wait for her husband to get back from work. It was her expression of feeling good, ready for a luscious sensory experience.

A glass into Chapoutier’s “La Bernardine” I found myself explaining to Katherine, the birthday girl, that if I owned fur I’d be heading home to put it on inside out myself, even without a husband to wait for. This Chateauneuf-du-Pape has that sort of luscious texture, and sensuous balance of flavors with structure.

This is a rich, red wine perfect for the January weather of the Northern Hemisphere. It carries the elusive umami quality offered by aged wine, described as a sort of completeness of flavor–a savory deliciousness when the structure and flavors of a wine come together in balance, feeling full in the mouth. This fullness is expressed through dried red fruits in concert with dried herbs, hints of coffee, and black truffle.

2006 Domaine Tempier Bandol “La Migoua”

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The Domaine Tempier is considered a wine geek dream. The wine suits such a mention both because of the incredible complexity of flavors dancing through the glass, and because of the unique location from which it originates.

The rich chalk and clay soils of this vineyard show themselves in the balanced dryness of this wine. The minerals are subtle but layer in a nice lightness and grounding to the red fruits and earth elements. I was impressed by the very many layers of this wine–the finish offering cedar, and cigar box notes after the richly polished tannins. The acidity in no way dominates here but brings a nice balance to the dry features of the wine.

Happy Birthday again, Katherine!

Cheers!

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

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Italian Treasures

Jan 23, 12 3:43 PM

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North Berkeley Imports Winter 2012 Italian Portfolio Tasting

Last week North Berkeley Imports hosted a series of Winter 2012 Portfolio tastings in Seattle, San Francisco, Scottsdale, and Los Angeles. The events showcased not only a unique selection of wines, but also the wine makers themselves there pouring. I was lucky enough to attend and taste through a selection of wines from family-owned Italian wineries.

North Berkeley Imports keeps their focus on small production, family owned wineries that offer a commitment to quality and uniqueness. As a result, I’ve long had an interest in their overall portfolio, and was grateful to be invited to attend their recent event. Following are some quick notes on the Italian wines that stood out in the event, both for their quality and story.

Ca’Vittoria Prosecco

Ca’Vittoria poured two of the nicest quality proseccos I have tasted in a long time. Their vineyard rests on steep cliff sides, and at some elevation. As a result, the vines are incredibly low yield offering crisper, more distinctive fruit flavors and firmer structure than prosecco often tends to carry.

Prosecco vines are more usually planted in the valley areas, thus producing more grapes per plant, with fuller fruit. The result tends to be a lower acidity, softer flavored juice.

The Ca’Vittoria proseccos are pleasantly dry, with good minerality, and distinctive flavors. The rose’ especially stood out as an interesting presentation of red berry plus dried herbal notes.

Dama del Rovere

From the same region of Italy as the Ca’Vittoria, Dama del Rovere also offers sparkling wines. However, what makes Dama del Rovere’s offerings unique is their commitment to a less common grape, Durello. They present it in both a dry prosecco-style, and a dry champenoise-style rendition. The quality on both is lovely, with their vines grown at some elevation, thus concentrating the flavors.

The durello gives a super floral, light fruit note on both the nose and palate. The quality on both was good, but I preferred the charmat (prosecco-style) version of the two to match the structure the durello offered. In the charmat bubbles the durello gave a fuller body and richer flavors. The champenoise-style bubbles gave a very light flavor, with a smooth easy mouth feel. It’s a lovely, light sparkling wine option.

Caravaglio

Just North of Sicily is a small island Salina on which Caravaglio keeps an entirely organic farm. Their wines carry the distinctive sea fresh, and clean flavors possible from volcanic soils coupled with hands on wine making practices. I was especially impressed by the 2010 Malvasia Secca Isola di Salina, an entirely organic white with decidedly rich, and, at the same time, crisp flavors. There are pleasing subtle, dried floral, and light herbal qualities to this uniquely fruit-driven wine, with the minerals offering even more grounding to this well-balanced offering.

Nicodemi

From the Abruzzo region of Italy, the Nicodemi siblings produce earthy, well-balanced Montepulciano-driven red wines. The 2010 Montepulciano d’Abruzzo carried an interesting blend of characteristics including a distinctive tobacco and red fruit nose following in the mouth with floral qualities added on the palate. The 2009 vintage of the same wine showed as more tart, with slightly higher tannins offering a drying mouth feel and light spice.

Most impressive was their 2008 Notari Rosso Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, and the 2006 Nicodemi Neromoro Riserva. The Notari Rosso is an approachable, well-balanced medium bodied red wine easily matching a range of food choices. The Neromoro shows wonderful richness with more earth, tobacco, and fruit all joining together for a fascinating wine.

I enjoyed meeting Elena Nicodemi as well. She is an impressive woman, with a strong clarity about her work.

Paneretta

Finally, I want to mention Enrico Albisetti, and Patricia Eckert, of Paneretta. I especially enjoyed meeting this couple, and tasting their selection of Chianti Classico. The couple typically blend in around 10% Caniaolo (rather than any Bordeaux varieties as is common with many other producers of the region) with the Sangiovese to create their uniquely Tuscan wine. One of only a few growers of Caniaolo in the world, Mr Albisetti is passionate about the grape. Though it fell out of favor in the region because of its unique growing challenges, Mr Albisetti is committed to growing only Tuscan-indigenous grape varieties on their property, and thus also offers a full varietal wine of the grape. The 2008 is only their second bottling of the 100% Caniaolo, and I feel fortunate to have tasted such an uncommon wine. Spending two years in new French barriques, the Caniaolo shows rich flavors of leather, light baking spices, well-aged red fruits, with medium-plus tannins. It’s a wine I was fascinated by and hope to be able to taste again in a more dedicated manner.

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Thank you to Aimee of North Berkeley Imports, and Kent of Quail Distributing for inviting me to attend.

Copyright 2012 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

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Metodo Italiano, aka. Charmat Process, and Three Prosecco Reviews, for Denise

Dec 30, 11 12:10 AM

Thank you to Denise for requesting a focus on Prosecco.To respond to her interest in the Italian sparkling wine we’ve got a comic that explains how this particular bubbly is made, and also three prosecco reviews.

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Prosecco is a regulated sparkling wine from Italy made with the Glera grape. While sparkling wines made in the methode traditionelle tend to have a focus on blending, prosecco instead expresses the qualities of a single grape. Originally, the grape used in prosecco hosted the same name as the drink itself, but in 2009 the makers of the Italian beverage lobbied their wine governing board to become a regulated DOC (a quality designation), and to have the grape name changed from Prosecco to Glera in order to avoid marketing confusion. That is, other areas of the world grow glera as well, and even make sparkling wine with it. Through the name change only glera-based sparkling wine made in the Prosecco DOC can be labelled with the name prosecco. It’s a move along the lines of the reservation of the term champagne only for wines made in the Champagne region of France.

Glera is a white grape with lower acidity levels, and generally grown in warmer climates than those varieties used for methode traditionelle. Acid is considered to be one of the structural elements of wine that the other flavors shape themselves around. It’s as if acid is one of the characteristics offering backbone to a wine, while the fruit give a wine its flesh. As such, grapes with these lower acid levels are sometimes said to be “softer” as a result of the lighter bodily feel that is sensed from the reduced grape skeleton. Since prosecco is made with only use of this one grape, the drink doesn’t gain any of the structural elements that can be brought in from blending. As a result, the final sparkling wine is also thought of as softer than those sparkling wines that depend upon the presence of higher acid levels. For many, this softer structure is precisely what is appreciated about prosecco. While it may taste softer, it also carries less acidic mouth tang, and less of a mouth watering quality to it too.

In fact, as a result of the softer structure, glera is a grape that does not do well with the treatment of the methode traditionelle. Instead, it needs a less demanding process to infuse it with those precious bubbles. When treated with a secondary fermentation in bottle, a grape with these softer structural elements ends up “smudgy” both in color and in flavor.

It turns out that metodo Italiano, also known as the charmat process, is also cheaper to produce with as a result of lower handling hours. There is no need to riddle individual bottles if the secondary fermentation is happening instead in a vat. So, prosecco is not only softer than sparkling wines made with twice fermentation, it’s also generally a lot cheaper.

Here’s how it’s done.

Metodo Italiano, aka., the Charmat Process

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And now on to the Prosecco wine reviews. I’ve been lucky enough to taste, and review several other proseccos as well, but for today we’ll focus on three affordable versions of the drink. The three appear here in order of preference.

Mionetto Gold Label NV Brut Prosecco

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The Mionetto Brut Gold Label was my favorite of the three. It offers well-balanced, and clean flavors that remain defined. The structure is good in this prosecco, allowing rich distinctive flavor with light mouth feel.

Thank you to Jennifer at Cuvee 928 in Flagstaff, Arizona for sharing this prosecco with me.

Tiamo Prosecco

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The tiamo is the softest of the three proseccos featured. But its flavors are also impressively clean. The fruits here are rich in the mouth, with only very light citrus, and a subtle, pleasant bite of ginger that livens up the softer texture.

Bisol Jeio Desiderio Brut Prosecco

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The Bisol Jeio Prosecco has woody elements mixed in with fruit, white flowers, and hints of grass. I appreciated the dry precision of this wine at first, but it gains a strong white grapefruit bite as it warms. If you like the warming intensity and bite of white citrus, then you’ll appreciate this prosecco. It was the most wood and grass driven of the three, unlike the tiamo which carried almost no such notes.

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Monday will consider an incredibly rare grape known as Charbono in the Northern Hemisphere, and Bonarda in the Southern. It’s a grape that is almost non-existant in the world, with very little growing acreage. Additionally, the flavor elements of charbono-bonarda are wonderfully unusual, and refreshing. So, for both reasons, it’s particularly exciting to have the opportunity to taste it.

Copyright 2011 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

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Me’thode Traditionelle, and Two Cava Brut Rose’ Reviews

Dec 28, 11 5:37 AM

Many of us are getting ready for even more sparkling wine celebration with the New Year. I’ve focused on plenty of various sparkling wines here but thought this week I’d present illustration of how it is made as well.

Champagne is often considered the pinnacle of sparkling wines. It’s production method allows wonderful complexity of flavors, and the highest quality as well. There are actually three regulated sparkling wines made with this same method, known as the methode traditionelle–champagne, franciacorta, and cava. In each case, the production method includes the same double fermentation process with the second fermentation occurring in the same bottle in which the wine will then be sold. The quality of the final sparkling wine importantly begins with the quality of the original cuve’e–the still wine produced from the first fermentation.

Following, is a comic on the primary steps of me’thode traditionelle, and a couple of cava reviews.

Friday we’ll take a look at how another sparkling wine–prosecco–is made, and do a review of four affordable examples of the style.

Here’s how it works…

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Getting ready for celebration? Here are two cava brut rose’s perfect for the occasion. Both rely heavily on pinot noir, a newer happy focus for cavas.

The Marques de Gelida Brut Reserva Rose’ is 100% Pinot Noir.

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The second cava is known as the favorite of Salvador Dali. As the story goes, he served it to his dearest friends. The Galatea Torre Perelada Brut Rosado is a blend of 50% Pinot Noir, 25% Garnacha (aka. Grenache), and 25% Monastrell (aka. Mourv’edre, or, Matar’o).

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To consider other sparkling wines click on the “Sparkling Wines” link on the right under “Regions, and Wine Types.”

Copyright 2011 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

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Wine Review: Pierre Gimonnet 2005 Gastronome Brut

Dec 23, 11 5:03 AM

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To prepare for the holiday, and get a rest after the close of a busy Fall-Winter semester, Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews will be taking it easy this coming week.

A wine review comic will be posted Monday through Friday, but without the written follow-up. Also, the wine review comics for this week will be reviews previously done for The Wine Loft, Flagstaff, AZ without having appeared here.

More new reviews will start December 26.

Beginning December 26 the format of Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews will change a little bit. At that time posts will appear here Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with a shift to more of a feature focus. The new format will allow me to take a more in-depth approach with, for example, a look at particular wineries, or side-by-side tastings of similar wines from different regions.

Have a wonderful holiday!

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Wine Review: Metternich Cuvee Riesling Sekt Trocken

Dec 16, 11 10:30 PM

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As the story goes, Riesling originated in Germany, and now serves as the country’s most produced, and well-known variety. As also discussed in regards to Chardonnay, Riesling is a grape considered to reflect the flavors of its terroir and climate growing conditions, and to adapt to various production styles as well. In Germany the grape is generally treated as a straight varietal, without blending alongside other grapes, and is produced without oak influence. German tradition also has it that Riesling is the preferred grape for the best quality German Sparkling wine, known as Sekt.

Furst von Metternich produces Riesling Sekt in three cuvees–trocken, or dry; extra trocken; and the brut vintage, which is bottle fermented in the methode traditionelle. The trocken, and extra trocken are made instead in methode charmat. As previously discussed, methode traditionelle includes a secondary fermentation in bottle. Methode charmat, on the other hand, places the secondary fermentation in large stainless steel vats with bottling occurring under high pressure after the bubble-making process is complete.

This particular Metternich cuvee offers a subtle nose of white flowers, and fruit, with scents of spiced apple compote, and hints of golden grass and wood. The flavors in the mouth are fuller with the fruit and floral bouquet continuing with layers of white grapefruit, and peach blended through. The acidity on this sparkling wine is low, leaving a soft fruit body, and only light yeast elements. This wine is certainly trocken (dry) but the reduced acids gives the sense of more fruit elements than in a wine with higher acidity, which in turn offer a sense of sweet flavors. In other words, I do agree with the dry rating, and acknowledge too that there are a number of elements here that give a sense of a sweeter flavor, without actually carrying more residual sugars.

This Metternich is an affordable alternative to more expensive sparkling wines. It’s softer body reflects a difference sometimes found in the charmat process–it demands less acidity in the original juice than fermentation in the bottle, allowing for a stronger sense of fruit to the glass. As mentioned in relation to the cava reviewed earlier this week, if you’re determined to drink bubbles regularly and want a slightly less expensive option, you can find one here.

I will enjoy this particular sparkling wine on occasion for just such reasons. I’ll admit the sense of wood (not oak, just wood) mixed in with the fruit, and it showing lighter structure (less acid) means I am not always in the mood for these particular bubbles. Still, this wine offers an interesting insight into the possibilities of German riesling.

Wines of the Rheingau are generally considered to have excellent structure, and power. This particular rendition shows less acidity than is typical for still wine examples of the region, and a softer body than might otherwise be expected.

Copyright 2011 all rights reserved. When sharing or forwarding, please attribute to WakawakaWineReviews.com

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