Browse Tag

sparkling

Leave the body, take the canelli

Bera 2007 Moscato d’Asti “Canelli” (Piedmont) – Not moscato d’Asti as it’s commonly understood, but an almost passito expression…and not gassed, but rather allowed to spontaneously referment. Plus – unlike the vast majority of similarly-labeled wines – meant to age. Its delicate bead is soft yet surprisingly persistent, and the palate is rich with melon and grape. None of the usual flower-truck-crashing-into-a-perfume-shop stuff here. The strength and, it must be said, seriousness of this wine are as surprising as they are profound. Absolutely terrific. (1/08)

Acute, Vertus

[vineyard]Larmandier-Bernier Champagne “1er Cru” Blanc de Blancs “Vertus” (Champagne) – Delicate and floral, with strobe-like metals and powdered lemon-apple crystals. Incisive but not sharp, long, feminine (with gentle but inexorable strength), and just beautiful throughout. (1/08)

Haircut

[label]Barboursville Brut (Virginia) – Goofily pleasant, but standing up to absolutely no scrutiny, with it’s simple-minded fruit fresh enough for mindless quaffing only. If attention is paid, it tastes overly sweet for its raw materials. With a little more effort, though, I think there could be something more serious here. (1/08)

Cava your bets

[bottle]Juvé y Camps 2002 Cava Brut Nature “Reserva de la Família” (Cataluña) – Soft yet persistent…eventually, attention-getting…featuring strawberry, white mushroom, lemon curd, and a foamy loam character. Crisp and fun, yet with some inklings of seriousness.

Feuillatte to empty

Feuillatte Champagne “1er Cru” Brut (Champagne) – From magnum. Spiky acidity like fresh-squeezed supermarket lemons comes rushing like a tidal wave, leaving very little opportunity for further examination in its headlong rush of tart destruction. Which is just as well, since there’s not all that much to this wine. There’s a hint of some complexing yeastiness, but mostly this is just tart, bubbly, and disappointingly simple. (12/07)

Commander Adami

[bottle]Adami Prosecco di Valdobbiadene “Sur Lie” (Veneto) – Tart and papery. Segmented, and the lack of cohesion renders the wine a little flat. Unserious Prosecco is fine, but it needs to taste alive. This tastes like it’s trying for some sort of profundity, but if so it’s a failure in that regard. It simply comes across as deadened. (5/07)

Truth in advertising

Corte Sconta Prosecco Amabile (Veneto) – This is the house wine (of which we drank two and a half bottles on our previous visit); just smelling it brings yet another flood of memories. Now, with more familiarity and…um…greater capacity, I could probably drink gallons of it, because if ever a wine style was aptly named, this is it. There’s a slight prickle, but certainly no obvious bead, and the wine is linear and utterly pure, with a little bite of rinds and skins at the end. It’s undiminished drinking pleasure. (10/07)

Sweater

[bottle]Argyle 1998 Brut (Willamette Valley) – Salt and paper (not a typo). The fizz is still fine, but the wine within is a little wan. One might charitably call it elegant, but that’d be a lot of charity. (11/07)

Bubbles in flight

[bottle]Wyndham Estate Sparkling Shiraz “Bin 555” (South Eastern Australia) – Blueberry and sweet plum with licorice candy. It’s too sweet for me (25g/l residual sugar), a berry dessert with a little tannin, but as dessert I suppose it’s OK. I just think dry versions are so much more interesting. (9/07)

H. Billiot & Fils 1998 Champagne Brut “Millésime” “Grand Cru” à Ambonnay (Champagne) – Valencia orange and Thai basil. The fruit’s on the sweeter side, and the wine is both big and slightly obvious (in this, it probably suffers from being served after a Larmandier-Bernier). But the finish is long and crisp, and I suspect this is a good deal better than I’m giving it credit for. (10/07)