Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 26 Sparkling Wine -- More Than Just Champagne

No secret here...I'm a fan of the bubbles. I love a good sparkler with food and definitely don't think it's only for special occasions. So this week, we tackle it. We don't get too much into the winemaking aspects, more about what to drink and from where.

Here are the show notes...

This week, we explain why bringing on the Bub is always a good idea.

We start with a few shoutouts to awesome reviews on iTunes and fun comments on Facebook.

And we answer another listener question! We want you to Call us!!! Do you have a wine-related question for Elizabeth? Anything goes! Call 800-599-8478 (in the U.S.) or 1-415-226-9105 and dial extension 5 to leave your question for the Wine For Normal People Podcast, and we will play it on the show!

• Listener Question - from Saul (NY, USA)
• Main Topic - Sparkling Wine
  1. Quick Hit on How Sparkling Wine is Made (very brief)
  2. The Big One: Champagne
  3. Cremant (from Loire, Limoux, Alsace)
  4. Cava (Spanish Sparkler)
  5. Prosecco, Franciacorta
  6. Sparkling Wine from USA
  7. Rosé Champagne and Sweetness Levels

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Drappier champagne Brut Nature

We had a really interesting bottle of champagne at the weekend - a magnum of Drappier's Brut Nature, a 100% Pinot Noir which is made without any dosage or sulphur additions. Actually I say interesting but it was curiously disappointing on the first couple of sips, tasting lean and slightly short. Then as air got to the wine it opened up magnificently becoming rich, toasty and almost fruity (quince mainly, I thought, though their tasting notes say pêche de vigne). It went really well with some mushroom crostini.

I remember visiting Drappier about 6 or 7 years ago in the village of Urville down in the Aube and being really impressed by how forward-thinking they were. At the time Michel Drappier had just designed a decanter for champagne which seemed very radical - I suspect the Brut Nature would have benefited from decanting, on reflection.

Now he's one of a handful of producers that are making their champagnes with zero dosage and very low doses of sulphur. We visited a couple of others a month ago en route to Alsace - Bérèche and Larmandier-Bernier who I must get round to writing up. Readmore »»

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 021 The Grape Mini-Series: Pinot Noir

And the grape mini-series continues! This time, it's the "heartbreak grape." The popular red du jour, Pinot Noir! If you love Pinot, this episode is for you! We talked about the different styles of Pinot Noir from all over the world, and helped point out the differences in Pinot styles.

Show Notes:

• Shout-outs - Fun comments on the Facebook page, Wine for Normal People Blog, and on Twitter
• How to pick the perfect Pinot Noir when shopping for wine
• Different flavor profiles/styles of Pinot Noir
• Popular regions that grow Pinot Noir:
  • Europe: Burgundy, Germany (where it's called Spätburgunder), Champagne (typically blush/rosé sparkling wine from this region)
  • California: Carneros (Napa & Sonoma), Russian River Valley (Sonoma), Central Coast
  • New Zealand
  • Oregon
    
  • Australia

Click here or download the 'cast below...

Wine For Normal People Radio : Episode 021 The Grape Miniseries: Pinot Noir

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Must-Have, Affordable Bubbles for Summer: Seguras Viudas Brut Reserva

Sparkling wine is a confusing subject for a number of reasons. The most puzzling thing to me: Why do we save it just for special occasions? With a bunch of normal priced options, we should be chugging the stuff the way we drink Chardonnay, yet the bubbles give us pause.

Well, even though I'm guilty of not drinking my fair share, I think not enjoying the bubbles on a regular basis is kind of dumb. Especially when there's Cava for $11.99 sitting there just waiting for you.

You may ask: What is Cava? It sounds like a cave. Is it cave wine? Like cave men? And isn't all wine aged in a cave? Kind of. It's good thinking, but in this case, I'm talking about sparkling wine from Spain that's made in the same way Champagne is made. You know: Cava.

Before I continue, I need to express a very important caveat about bubbles: Sparkling wine is only called Champagne if it is from the Champagne region of France. Otherwise it has a regional name (Cava, Sekt, Spumante) or it's just called sparkling wine. Had to get that off my chest because it's a common mistake and I don't want anyone making it and then having some jackass wine snob correct them.

Ok...back to Cava and it being made the same way as Champagne. How is that you may ask? Although I'm a nerd about winemaking, I know that it's kind of boring to read about, so I'll give a very brief description of how sparkling wine is made so you can just get a feel for it.

To make dry sparkling wine, you pick grapes that are high in acid and low in sugar, making a disgusting, bitter, mouth-puckering base wine that can withstand aging and handle a second fermentation. To get the bubbles, you need to trap carbon dioxide in a bottle and then make it mesh into the liquid. To do this, you put the gross base wine in a heavy Champagne bottle with a mixture of sugar and yeast to spur a second fermentation. The yeast eat the sugar, turning it into alcohol and carbon dioxide, which can't escape because the bottle is sealed, so with months of aging it becomes part of the wine.

There's a pesky problem left after this process, which is that the yeast die and they need to come out of the bottle before we drink the wine. So, to clarify the wine and rid if of those corpses, the bottle is slowly turned until it's on it's upside down and all the yeast collects in a cap which is popped off and replaced with a little of the original base wine and a proper Champagne cork.

There are other ways to get bubbles in wine, but this way is the most expensive, time consuming, and it leads to the smallest, longest lasting bead or bubble, which is better than having big Coke-like bubbles in your wine that die out quickly. Not every region or sparkling wine uses this method, if they do the bottle usually says it's made in the Traditional or Champagne Method and that's how you'll know.

You'll always see Método Tradicional on a bottle of Cava. By Spanish law Cava, meaning "cave" in Catalan (which is the language of the Catalonia region in the Northeast corner of Spain, where most Cava is made) and "cellar" in Spanish, is made in the Champagne Method. It's a government regulated Denominación de Origen (DO) that covers eight areas around Northern Spain that are permitted to make sparkling wine in the traditional method. The eight regions go as far west as Rioja and Castilla y Leon (Ribera del Duero), generally considered red wine country.

Cava is mainly white sparkling wine, although there is a rosé version that incorporates a little Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha (Grenache), and Monastrell. Some producers use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the traditional grapes of Champagne, but for the most part, the native Spanish varieties of Parallada, Xarel-lo, and Macabeo are the standard.

Before I get to the wine in question, a note on the history of sparkling wine in Spain. Apparently it's not correctly reported often, so I'm going to rely on one of my favorite wine reference books: The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia by Tom Stevenson to clear up the story.

The tale, spread by Codorníu, the biggest Cava house in Spain, is that its founder made the first bottle of Spanish sparkling wine in 1872. The truth: there was sparkling in Spain as early as 1851 and by 1872 the Lab Directory at the Agricultural Institute of Sant Isidre in Catalonia was experimenting with sparkling production. The experiment turned to reality when three of his former students entered their bubbles into a wine competition in Barcelona in 1872, winning gold medals for two of the versions. Codorníu didn't release their first wine until 1879, so their story doesn't really jibe with the facts. That said, their claim to fame is that they came up with the now traditional blend of Spanish grapes -- Macabeo, Parellada, and Xarel-lo. Not a bad innovation.

Interestingly, even though Codorníu came up with the blend, they are totally open to using Chardonnay and other grapes to give their wines more richness. Freixenet, the second biggest Cava house, is very traditional, refusing to use anything but the big three Spanish varieties for fear they would dilute the indigenous character of the wine. It's funny how that works -- the follower is more pious than the originator, but I digress.

Freixenet owns a number of brands distributed in the US and one is Seguras Viudas, which I had the other night. I've had this wine many a time, but never posted on it so I thought it high time...

The Wine: Seguras Viudas Brut Reserva
Where It's From: Cava/Penedes, Spain
The Grapes: 50% Macabeo, 35% Parellada, 15% Xarel-lo
Alcohol: 11.5%
Vintage: Non-vintage (most traditional method sparkling wine is a blend across several vintages to maintain a "house style" from year to year. That way a too hot or too cool year won't throw off the flavors in the wine)
Price: $11.99

Color: When you evaluate what Cava looks like, you need to look not just at color, but also at the bead or bubble. This wine was a nice pale straw color with a tinge of green -- a good hallmark that it would be pretty high in acid from the looks of it. A great thing for sparkling wine -- especially when it's Brut, or very dry. The bead was small and continuous, it went on and on. Good stuff!

Smell: For some reason whenever I smell Cava I always get a hint of what reminds me of a pencil. I've had Macabeo and Xarel-lo on their own and don't get an overwhelming sensation of #2 from either of those so it's either the mix of the three grapes together or Parellada. Who knows? The wine also smelled like lime, green, fresh cut herbs, and a little bit of outdoor-after-it-rains-in-a-meadow grassiness (but not like Sauvignon Blanc, where it's in your face). Very subtle and it smelled refreshing. Smelling it made my mouth water.

Taste: This is a very light Cava and very true to the smell. It had a citrusy, lime scent and tasted a little like chewing on a pencil, in a good way. It was super refreshing and bright. This is summer sipper for the hot weather if ever there was one but be careful, it goes down easy. Even with a little lower alcohol than you may be used to (most wines are around 12.5% - 14%), this can still do a number on you the next day if you chug it (not that I have personal experience or anything).

Pairing: A common misnomer is that sparkling wine is just for sipping. Although it's awesome for that, it's a damn good match for light food too. Flaky white fish, salads, and mild cheeses are fabulous with Cava. It was a great accompaniment to my tomato, mozzarella, and avocado salad (dressed with a little olive oil, salt, and balsamic vinegar).

Drink or Down the Sink?: For $12 this is a DRINK all day long. My only criticism of the wine is that it's a little light. That said, it's a great bottle of wine for the price, one you can easily bring to someone's house if you're going for dinner or drinks, and something I'll be swilling all summer long!

Before I sign off... I want to dedicate this post to my friend and client, Barbara Hughes. Hope this answers your questions on Cava and makes your trip there extra special!!! Readmore »»

5 Great Wine Suggestions For Thanksgiving (Wines NOT Brands)

Ok, for my American readers, I know it's time to do a post when the UPS guy asks me what he should be drinking for Thanksgiving (he delivers lots of wine to me, so it wasn't completely out of left field, FYI!).

I planned on a post but figured that I should wait until it actually became relevant -- I'm assuming that normal people are like me and leave a lot of Thanksgiving shopping until the last minute. With all the prep and cooking that needs to be done for TG (as Thanksgiving will be termed through the rest of this article), wine -- probably the only item that doesn't need prep -- will be what you pick up tomorrow, or send your non-cooking roommate/spouse/partner/family member out to get.

With so much other stuff to think about we need to make this quick and easy.

Before we get into specific recommendations, let's think about the diversity of the TG meal. You start with appetizers of some ilk, cheese plates, nuts, etc. Then you move on to more savory, creamy foods -- mashed potatoes, buttery stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, sweet potatoes, and moist turkey.

With each wine you've got a choice -- complement the food with flavors and textures that are similar or create a contrasting pairing that could lighten some of the weightier dishes. Each of the wines below will do the job in one way or the other. If you want to have fun with dinner, get more than one of the options, try them out and use them as a discussion point (sure beats politics or personal discussions about topics you'd rather avoid -- c'mon, you know what they are).

So using the above standard meal as benchmark, here are 5 wines (not brands, mind you) that nearly any store should have stocked and ready to go:

1. Sparkling wine or, for a splurge, Champagne.

Where to get it in the store: Sparkling wine comes in many forms. Usually the stores stock them together, but here are a few types to look for:

• California sparkling wine (look on the label for "Champagne Method" or "Traditional Method" to make sure it's the kind I'm talking about)
• Cava from Spain
• Cremant from France (made like Champagne but not from the Champagne region, try some from Alsace, Limoux, or the Loire Valley)
• Champagne (sparkling wine made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier in the eponymous region through a double fermentation, with strict harvest, production, and aging parameters).

Each of these wines are made in the Champagne method and are usually dry, but have a yeasty, almost bread-like character to them. They have small bubbles that last a long time and great, strong acidity.

Why It Works: With a lighter fruit component, these wines won't overpower any of the dishes with too much aroma or fruit flavor. The acidity and the bubbles will enliven the cheese and appetizer dishes and cut through all the buttery heaviness in the mashed potatoes and stuffing. The turkey will take on some of the fruitiness of the wine, giving it more dimension. Sparklers go well with the sweeter dishes too -- the sweet potatoes will taste a bit less sweet with sparkling wine, but there won't be a clash in flavors. It could even be ok with the impossible to match green beans -- at minimum, it won't ruin the flavor of the legumes. All in all, sparkling wine is a really festive and safe choice for the meal.

*Note: Notice that I did not mention Prosecco in this mix. To me, Prosecco has a grapey, abundant fruit flavor and low acidity. It would be innocuous with the dishes but not as good as a wine made from the traditional Champagne method, with more yeasty, complex flavors, and less punchy fruit.

2. Riesling.

This poor grape gets a bad rap, but it is unbelievably versatile and definitely my favorite match with TG fare because of its delicious aroma and its mouth-cleaning acid. Get a dry or only lightly sweet wine for the best results.

Where to get it in the store:

• In the German section: Look for a Riesling from Mosel, Rheingau, or Rheinhessen. If the label doesn't say Trocken (dry), classic, or selection ask your wine person if it's dry or sweet.
• In the French section: If it's from Alsace France, it will be dry and have a lovely "oily" texture that is sumptuous!
  
• In the Australian section: If it's from the Clare Valley or Eden Valley, it will be dry.
  

Why It Works: I love the high floral and peach aromatics in Riesling. The wine also often has a gasoline or petrol note, and lots of minerality to it. The acid, even though often disguised under sugar, is always searing and is delicious as a foil to rich buttery foods. I love TG food, but it's not the spiciest or most exciting cuisine. The peachy, floral, and mineral notes of the wine and it's acid combine with the starchy goodness of the potatoes, and stuffing and the buttery turkey to create a whole better than its parts. The acid cleans out your mouth after each bite and leaves you ready for more. The fruitiness of the wine can handle the sweeter dishes, although I wouldn't recommend trying the cranberry sauce or green beans with a bone dry Riesling -- the bitterness of both won't taste great with the acidity of the wine -- you win some, you lose some.

3. Lightly Oaked Chardonnay.

I am not a fan of big, oaky Chardonnays. But a lightly oaked, medium-bodied Chardonnay is an excellent, neutral choice for TG.

Where to get it in the store:

• In the France/Burgundy section: A Meursault from Burgundy, France or a basic white Burgundy (like Laforet from Louis Latour)
• In the South American section: Chilean Chardonnay
• In the California Section: A Chardonnay from the Central Coast

Why It Works: I'm no oak lover, but a savory meal sometimes calls for a complementary pairing. You don't want an oak bomb that will overpower the milder dishes, but you need a little oak to make sure the wine has enough flavor so it doesn't taste like alcoholic water when faced with butter, butter, and more butter. Chardonnay is an innocuous pairing. All guests are bound to think this is a palatable pairing and the buttery character of these wines (due to a secondary, or malo-lactic fermentation), will complement everything on the table. This may be one of the only things that won't clash with the green beans! This is your safest, easiest bet.

4. Pinot Noir.

They call Pinot "the chef's wine" since it is such a food-friendly libation. You do have to be cautious about style though. Big fruity Pinots may be too much for the food (look for alcohol over 13.5% as a tip off) and a really light style wine will be too wimpy to stand up to the savory spices.

Where to get it in the store:

• In the Oregon or Domestic Pinot Noir section: Oregon Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley is a perfect "goldilocks" solution -- not too fruity and not too earthy, this is a top pick
• In the New Zealand Section: New Zealand Pinot Noir -- copy that from Oregon, especially if you can get some from Central Otago.
  
• In the France/Burgundy section: If you have the money, spend it on a good Burgundy. For great values -- buy from the villages of Savigny-Les-Beaune or Marsannay, which are fuller styles for around $20.

Why It Works: Want to bring fruit to the table with some decent acid and low tannins? Look no further than Pinot Noir. The bright raspberry, strawberry, and cherry notes in the wine bring a new dimension to starchy foods and the earthy, barnyard flavor of the Pinot goes perfectly with the turkey -- it complements the meat and adds light fruit notes to the savory flavors of the rub on the bird. The spice and mushroom flavors in some Pinots will complement all your dishes heavy in herbal seasonings too. Caveat emptor with the yams -- Pinot may make them seem sour.

5. Beaujolais Nouveau.

Ok, I am not a big fan of this wine. I think most vintages it's poorly made, bubblegum crap that is marketed really, really, really well. That said, it's trendy, it's a crowd-pleaser, and its fruitiness (with very little texture -- either tannin or acid) will complement everything on the table.

Where to get it in the store:

• There will most likely be a giant display in the middle of the store. The 2010 release of this wine just happened last week (I haven't had it yet so I can't vouch for the vintage, I'm sorry to say) and the wine shops are pushing it. I don't want to push brand, but I do think you're better off going for the Georges Dubeouf than for Trader Joe's. The former is at least based in Beaujolais, who knows were TJ's gets its stash?

Why It Works: Plain and simple -- the wine is plain and simple. It will complement everything on the table, it's inexpensive, and you won't have to think too much when you're drinking it. Will you have a lot "oh, wow!" moments? No, but no one is going to be grossed out or offended either. A plus all around.

Regardless of what wine you choose, just enjoy the company your with, think about all the things for which you are so blessed, and have an awesome time! Happy TG!!! Readmore »»

A Non-Normal Wine Experience: A Rare Tasting of Some of the Best Champagnes in the World

On Tuesday I had a once in a lifetime experience. My lovely friend, Holly B, who works for Moët Hennessy here in Atlanta, invited me to come to a tasting of Bubbles and BBQ, an unorthodox pairing of luxury with more everyday cuisine. When I arrived, I had no idea that I would be tasting some of Moët Hennessy's best Champagnes and that I would have an experience that I could never have even imagined.

To be a little philosophical, life is made of experiences and memories not of material things for me, so Holly B gave me one of the best gifts I could receive -- a perfect memory of the day that I tried Krug, Dom Ruinart, and Dom Perignon for the first time. I'm so grateful to her!

Although the wine was the centerpiece, I’ve got to say it wasn't the bubbles alone that made the day outstanding. It was also the people with whom I shared it, as I find is always the case with food and wine! Being a normal person in the wine biz means that when you go these trade events, you've got to be careful about where you sit. There can be a lot of lame, snotty, and unsocial people at these events and when they go on for 3 hours, as this did, you can find yourself in a world of hurt. I lucked out by having the best table in the room.

Holly B did me the honor of sitting next to me, Michael O, the fine wine guru from Empire Distributors was there for me to rib (I love him to death but he's fun to tease), Dorine, a lovely native French woman who works at the esteemed BLT Steak here in Atlanta was a great person with whom to discuss the wines and pairing, and David and Sara from the awesome restaurant group, Here to Serve, were a load of fun and a source of great insight on the wines too. (As a total aside, Here to Serve's Restaurants include Shout, the famed place where I watched a Carolina basketball game with Isaiah Thomas, the former coach of the Knicks, and schooled him on what I thought about UNC basketball, having no idea who he was! Typical me.)

When we sat down, the table was excited and curious about the menu and the odd coupling of Champagne and BBQ. Then the Director of Wine Education for Moët Hennessy, Seth Box (left), told us that the idea was to push the envelope and show how Champagne could pair with cuisines outside the norm and not just be a holiday or celebratory sipper.

I get it. It was a cool idea. And although I think we all miss the boat when we don’t have Champagne with food, I have to admit that after this tasting, I’m not sure the food that we should be having it with is barbeque. I guess this builds off my last post and the pledge I made to be more explanatory about food and wine pairing and why certain dishes work with certain wines, in my opinion.

For this tasting, the food was spicy and rich and bold. Since the event was at the Atlanta institution, Rathbun’s, with Kevin Rathbun at the helm, I guarantee that the food was phenomenal. It was stunning on its own. But it was so flavorful that it muted the Champagne.

Champagne is delicate, it has subtle flavors and aromas, it's a bowl of minerals and citrus and, as it ages, very fine (almost non-existent) bubbles. Champagne is absolutely delightful with light grilled fish or chicken prepared simply because its gentle flavors and effervescence give the fish or poultry more flavor and more texture. The food tastes more citrusy and fresh. The wine feels fruitier and the smooth texture of the food allows the bubbles to take center stage as they roll across your tongue and mesh with proteins and starches. With pasta and creamy sauces or salads or quiche or egg custards, the Champagne's acid and bubbles make the food softer, lighter, and more refined in flavor. The wine breaks up the heft of the preparation and you're left with fresh flavors, a soft texture, and a clean palate. Rosé Champagne is a great match for salmon or turkey, because its richer fruit can handle these more flavorful dishes and temper their strength with bright berry flavor and delicacy.

So with that opinion in mind, you can imagine that barbeque vinaigrette, barbeque boiled peanuts, and smoke compressed melon (all on the menu) don't suit my palate for a Champagne pairing. I found myself wanting a Zinfandel or Shiraz to highlight the amazing food. To my taste, the food and wine fought and the food won. I don't take anything away from the team at Rathbun's or the folks at Moët Hennessy who did these bold pairings, but I'm going to use this post to concentrate on the wines. You may think me a traditionalist or a stick in the mud for not playing along, but most of us at the table agreed that wine of this level needs something to make it shine a bit more. ‘Nuff said.

Now to the wine...the tasting included eight wines and seven courses. It was a “Who's Who” of top Champagne houses -- Moët & Chandon, Dom Ruinart, Krug, Veuve Clicquot, and Dom Perignon.

I’ve detailed Champagne making and information on the region in my post on the Veuve Clicquot tasting (also courtesy of Holly B.), so I won’t reiterate that, but I do want to highlight how special these wines are with some quick information on vintage-dated Champagne.

The Champagne that I drink (and I think this goes for most of us) is generally not vintage dated. It's the entry tier bubbly (but still $45!) and that means it's the House Style (literally since in Champagne producers are called “Houses”), blended from wines across different vintages to achieve a consistent flavor in every bottle. Producers do this because the Champagne region is at a really marginal climate for grape growing and some years are better than others. To ensure consistency over time, the wines are blended...except in the case of very fine vintages where a small percentage is made into vintage dated Champagne. These years aren't common -- maybe 2 or 3 in 10 -- but they are extraordinary.

This tasting had five vintage dated Champagnes. It also had rare and phenomenal Rosés (three vintage dated, one non-vintage). This was no joke -- these are the big guns of this glorious French region.

Below is the round up. I am not going to write about the Veuve Clicquot wines -- the Vintage Rosé 2002 and La Grande Dame Rosé 1998 -- because I just reviewed them and the profiles haven't changed in the last few months (although if the tasting was in December, I would probably have to take another look since these wines change with time). Rather, I'm going to concentrate on wines from Moët & Chandon, Dom Ruinart, Krug, and Dom Perignon. [As an aside: You will notice that when I talk about bubbles, I’m not talking about really bubbly wines. Why? With time, the bottle loses fizz (they measure this in atmospheres of pressure, which reminds me of SCUBA diving always, but I digress. It’s about 1-2 atmospheres lost a decade, but you trade big bubble for more complexity, which definitely builds over time). Thought you should know...this is something I’ve learned kind of recently]


Moët & Chandon Vintage Blanc 2003
This is the 68th vintage declared by Moët & Chandon. As I mentioned above, vintages are only declared in exceptional years and have to be made with 100% fruit from that year. 2003 was a scorcher, so I was surprised that this wine didn't seem to show the ripe, juicy fruit that I would expect from a hotter year.
Color: It was a light platinum color with no visible bubbles (it was in a wine glass and that doesn’t maintain the bubble/bead as well as flutes). Again, really surprising that it wasn’t bolder in color, since the grapes were probably bursting with ripeness. I guess it’s all relative -- it was hot for Champagne, but that doesn’t mean the grapes were California style!
Smell: It smelled very clean -- not with a lot of fruit but yeasty, with a squirt of lemon, and the smell of a waterfall on rocks.
Taste: The bubbles, although not visible in the glass, certainly hit the palate and the wine tasted like tart pear, apricots, grapes, and minerals. As expected in a hot year where the grapes got very mature, the acidity wasn't super high. It stuck around in my mouth for a while and under my tongue wasn't watering much. This was a nice wine, albeit light and not that complex for me.
Price: $70

Dom Ruinart
Ruinart is the oldest running Champagne house (although bubbles have been made for longer, Champagne wasn’t designated to make it until 1728). In 1729 the nephew of Dom Ruinart, a monk in Champagne, started the business of making bubbly. About 50 years later, the house bought the largest system of chalk caves in Champagne from the city of Reims. These caves were deep and long and provide, to this day, a natural temperature and humidity-controlled environment where the wines age on their lees for three to 12 years. Champagne is normally a blend of up to three different grapes -- Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier -- but Dom Ruinart Blanc is 100% Chardonnay and to me, that's a good thing. Chardonnay is the least planted grape in Champagne and Seth told us that it took 40 vineyards to get this level of quality. The wine aged for 6 years too.

Dom Ruinart Blanc 1998
Color: This wine was so damn good and my favorite of the white sparkling wines we had. Much deeper in color -- like a gold or deep straw color -- with fine, fine bubbles, it just looked like it had more going on than the previous wine.
Smell: I could smell this wine for ages. It was so complex and unbelievably fragrant. Lemon, lime, honey, white flowers, and green herbs (like fresh basil or thyme) were prominent. There was a real croissant and mineral smell interwoven with all that fruit and herb too. Unreal.
Taste: The wine completely delivered on the taste -- it was very effervescent, it tasted just like it smelled, but with a touch of smokiness that went so well with the fruit and mineral flavors. This was a big daddy wine -- very creamy, full-bodied, and stuck around in your mouth.
Food (yes, this pairing is noteworthy!): To my absolute delight, the best pairing of the day went with this exquisite wine. It was a custard-like potato tart with baked and spiced cheddar cheese and a bit of scallion mayonnaise. Just think of it like a creamy quiche. The wine made the food more creamy and buttery. The spice in the cheese and the scallion in the mayo brought out a certain mineral saltiness/chalkiness in the wine that just worked. The acid in the wine lightened up the tart shell and it all tasted more airy yet soft. This was a mouth-watering pairing and was just perfect for the wine. I was thrilled with the combination.
Price: $155

Dom Ruinart Rosé N/V
Color: A lovely orangish, salmon color with just a little touch of pink on the rim. Just what I like to see in a Rosé. Not many visible bubbles, but I knew they'd appear on the palate given that was what happened with the Blanc.
Smell: A light and delicate wine to sniff. There was a vague raspberry, strawberry, lemon-lime smell with some white jasmine flower notes in the background. A second sniff and I got the yeast and mineral, but this was not a blockbuster jumping out of the glass, which I thought was a good sign.
Taste: A very delicate, pretty wine. There were those light berry flavors, some good but not overpowering acid, a creaminess as a counterbalance. I loved the metallic, mineral note as a foil to the fruit and the very light effervescence combined with the acid left my mouth clean and ready for the next sip. All in all a great Rosé and an example of subtlety and how to layer flavor.
Price: $70

Krug Grand Cuvee MV
Krug calls their wine MV -- multi-vintage -- rather than NV or non-vintage. I guess they should have a special name for what they do since this wine is absolutely outstanding and different from anything else we had. Krug is special. This wine is made of all three grapes from six to ten different vintages. The winemakers do a thousand tastings over the course of time to make it taste like Krug. Seth told us that in 2003, they chucked 80% of their vintage because they didn't think the raw material was good enough (we'll let them fight that out with Moët, who found the year worthy of making a vintage Champagne!).

Color: Krug is masculine. It’s powerful. It is a rich brassy gold. It looks full and rich.
Smell: With nary a sign of bright citrus scents, this wine smells like ripe green and yellow apples and a juicy, ripe pear. It was like green herbs sauteing in butter and had a toasty, nutty quality that had me going in for more and more sniffs.
Taste: Oh, the taste. Compared to the other Champagnes, this wine is like a dark, wood-paneled bar with a raging fire on a cold night. It was just manly and had low tones not bright fruitiness. The taste was insanely good to me. It was like over-ripe pears, almonds, and then a metallic, iron-ore essence that sounds weird but just went so well with everything else that was going on in the wine. It was yeasty, like bread, had mellow acidity, and the bubbles were very light. This wine is definitely not for everyone, but its complexity and velvety texture made perfect it for me. Not that I wouldn't have done this before, but any opportunity to have Krug in the future will be taken without a thought. That said, it’s not your typical Champagne -- it's something entirely different so if you taste it and don't like it, don't feel bad!
Price: $150

Dom Perignon Rosé 1998
Ok, now I can say I've had it. Before I tell you it really IS that good, I want to clear up a very common myth that seems to go around about Dom P: He did not create Champagne. In today's business dork speak, we could say that he optimized the winemaking process. There are records that show that in Limoux, in southern France, some sort of sparkling wine existed about 100 years before the merry monk took over cellar master duties in Champagne.

What did the Dom do? He showed how white wines could be made out of dark skinned grapes (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) so the color remained light but the flavor had more umph. He encouraged blending across different vineyards to get different profiles in the wine. And importantly, the dude introduced stronger glass and cork closures so the bottles didn't shatter under pressure during the second fermentation when the CO2 starts to build atmospheres of pressure. All genius. He gets a gold star, but let's not go overboard and say he created bubbly.

Before I do the final review, I should tell you that Dom Perignon is all vintage dated. They only make wines in good years in Champagne. In other years, they just don't. That's why it's rare, revered, and so damn good. This wine is made mostly of Chardonnay, with 20% Pinot Noir added for flavor, texture, and color. It was lights out...

Color: No bubbles at all but it was an orange salmon color that was beautiful. The dried apricot color showed its 12 years of age. All wines move to an amber color with age (whites, reds, and rosés) and this was almost there.
Smell: This was unlike any of the other wines in the tasting. There was a familiar red berry, mineral and yeast quality, but there was a distinct dried orange note and a very overwhelming aroma of a muskmelon. The wine was really spicy too -- like chai tea. like hiking in the woods after it rains. Similar to the Ruinart Rosé, it had an iron-ore or rust note to it too. Musky, forest scents were in balance with the orange and berry smells. This was completely different from anything I've ever smelled in wine -- complex, hard to pin down, and spectacular.
Taste: Holy sh*t! This wine was something else. It tasted like it smelled. A bit more strawberry and raspberry flavors but an overwhelming taste of orange rind -- bitterness and all -- was noticeable. Metal, red dirt, and musky, exotic spice were all hanging out in the background. The wine was more spritzy than effervescent -- the effects of time as I said before. Similar to the Krug, this is not a wine for everyone -- it's not big and fruity and bold -- but it's certainly something to contemplate and enjoy alone or with food. This is probably one of the best wines I’ve ever had.
Price: $400 (yup, that's right)

So what I got from the tasting is that Champagne is complex, different based on vintage and producer, and that when I'm looking for fine bottles to age or to drink, I need to consider vintage dated Champagne with the red and whites I’m looking at. These wines are NOT for New Year's when you're already hammered. This stuff is unbelievable and worthy of contemplation, a good meal, and, most importantly, sobriety.

That’s it. Would love to hear if you've had any of these gems and your thoughts or questions on them. This was a wonderful day and an extraordinary event for a normal wine person for sure!
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Paradise in 2 hours: A Rare Veuve Clicquot Champagne Tasting

We all drink wine on many different occasions, but most of us are unanimous that nothing marks a special time like a bottle of bubbly. As you might have seen on my Facebook page (shameless plug, I know), I had the honor and privilege of tagging along with my mentor and friend, Eric, to the Veuve Clicquot tasting at the Four Seasons in Atlanta last week (sorry for the lag in the write up -- I was busy getting my Certified Sommelier distinction!).

Veuve Clicquot has significance for me and a special place in my heart. It was the first bottle of bubbly that I ever enjoyed and it has marked nearly every major occasion in my life -- graduation from high school, undergrad, and business schools, first jobs, new jobs, and probably the best day of my life yet -- my wedding (yes, we splurged, but we only had 60 people so it was ok!). That yellow label on Veuve Clicquot's non-vintage brut screams joy and happiness to me, as I'm sure it does for many of you. But even without the significance. I have to objectively say that this is a luscious, complex, and perfectly crafted wine.

Although some criticize the House for being a big producer, I eschew that idea. It would be one thing if quality suffered at the hands of production, but I've been drinking this wine for a long while and I can attest that, regardless of volume, it has never wavered in quality or consistency. Wine snobs may say that the wine has become sweeter or that bigger equates to worse quality, but I've got to disagree. Veuve Clicquot doesn't mess around with their quality -- their brand is too significant and historical to do so.

With that said, if you think I'm full of crap I'll drop some history here.

The Clicquot family has been making wine since 1772 when Philippe Clicquot established a business under his surname. Three years later the House shipped the first rosé Champagne (G-d bless him -- as you'll see below I could drink this all day long!).

Their history really became interesting in 1805, when Philippe's son died and left his 27 year old widow (aka, veuve in French -- now you see where this is going), Barbe Nicole Ponsardin with the estate. She completely rocked and decided to run the business even though it was taboo at the time for women to take the reins. She built the brand, combined her name with that of her deceased husband, and the house became Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin (if you notice on the label, that's the official name of the brand, although we all usually just stick with the first two names).

We should all love La Grand Dame, as she is referred to. We should. She's the reason Champagne is clear and not cloudy, as it had been before she got her hands on the winemaking process in 1816.

You may know this, but here's a refresher on Champagne making. Like regular white wine, Champagne growers pick the grapes, press them, ferment them, and then age them. But most Champagne (except in exceptional years) is a non-vintage blend of up to 60 different lots from different vineyards and years. This ensures consistency in the "house style" and means that a rotten vintage doesn't ever spoil the wine. In assembling the blend (wine dorks -- this is called assemblage), a winemaker can draw on the reserve of good years to gain balance. Hence why my yellow label Veuve Clicquot tastes the same every time. The other way Champagne differs from white wine production -- the bubbles (shocking, I know).

How do they get those fine, little, and ever-effervescent bubbles in the stuff? Well in Champagne, it's from a secondary fermentation inside the bottle, which requires that a mixture of yeast and sugar gets plunked inside a heavy duty bottle with white wine. As the yeast eat the sugar and die, they produce CO2, which is trapped inside the bottle. With time and aging of 18 months for non-vintage wine, eventually the CO2 gas reaches a zen state and becomes one with the wine. Voila! The bubbles are in and you have Champagne (or sparkling wine/cava/cremant -- anything outside of Champagne cannot be called Champagne).

It all sounds great, but there's then the problem of the nasty dead yeast sitting at the bottom of the bottle. Before the lovely Veuve Clicquot, people drank the Champagne with yeast floating in it. The wine was cloudy and had a little graniness to it (ick, in my opinion). The Dame cleverly realized that if you slowly turn the bottles (over months) until they are on their necks, you could get all the yeast to fall into the neck and the closure. The slow movement over time prevents the cork from shooting out (remember, the CO2 puts the bottle under pressure), but accomplishes the goal.

So came her invention of riddling or remuage, where bottles are turned slowly to a vertical position until the yeast is contained in a small cup, which is then either popped out by hand or eased out after being frozen. Few Champagne houses still rotate the bottles manually, opting for machines instead, but it's a great idea, a romantic process and was all the esteemed Veuve Clicquot's idea. Just more ways women have contributed to wine in history!

So onto the tasting and to winemaker Pierre Casenove. Ah Pierre....I love MC Ice, but I'm not dead...he is a cutie! And very intelligent and earnest. You can tell he loves his craft. He is originally from the Basque Country between Spain and France and he told me that he loves Spanish wines. He shared information about each of the wines and tasted some of them with me. I felt so honored (and had to keep myself from swooning a little at this young cutie with the fabulous accent. Sorry to you dudes, but I just had to add this in for my ladies!).

The genius of his palate is reflected in the vintage styles which range in price from $58 - $250 per bottle. Each is unique and wonderful. The tasting was probably my most memorable ever, with each of the wines as beautiful as the last. This is one of my more difficult events to write about. I feel so frustrated that I can't begin to capture the essence of any of these insanely good bottles. I've tried.

2002 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Brut.
Price: $58
Color: A beautiful pale straw, this wine was not foamy at the top but had a continuous stream of bubbles -- all very small, which is a sign of quality.
Smell: The wine smelled yeasty, green apple-y, a tad grapey, and like a bag of almonds.
Taste: Fresh, clean and like a green apple skin, it was so refreshing! The balance of apple and an almond-milk type flavor made it just heavenly. It was a little less bubbly than their standard yellow label wine, but I think this allowed the complex, nutty flavors to shine through. Pierre told me that the wine was 60% Pinot Noir, 7% Pinot Meunier, and 33% Chardonnay (these are the traditional grapes of Champagne). You could cellar this for another 10 years and it would still be delicious!

1998 Veuve Clicuqot La Grande Dame (this is the good stuff, or the Prestige Cuvee -- their flagship wine)
Price: $125
Color: A very platinum blonde wine in appearance, but not in character (no offense, blonde friends!). After 12 years I think the foam had died from the bottle, but the bead continued -- just not as furiously as the younger wine. All mellows with time!
Smell: Almonds, red delicious apple, and a baked bread character were deliciously combined. The wine smelled streamy -- like a waterfall -- and a little chalky, which makes sense, since that's the soil on which it grew. There was also a grapefruit character that was oh-so-refreshing on the nose!
Taste: This wine is about 64% Pinot Noir and 36% Chardonnay. The word that comes to mind when drinking this wine is pure. It was crisp and it tasted just like it smelled. The almond and croissant-like flavors rounded out the wine and made it less sharp than it could have been given it's strong acidity. The contrast between this wine and the 2002 is the clarity of flavor and richness in the blend. The bready, almond characters were more developed and, not to be too weird, but this wine just caressed my mouth. It is simply delicious.

Before we launch into the reviews, a word on rosé Champagne. Normal rosé gets its color when the wine has a brief period of contact with the skins, imparting a touch of pink to the otherwise clear juice. In Champagne, however, a bit of Pinot Noir is put aside and made as a red wine. It's then added to the white wine to impart color (black grapes can be pressed gently so you get juice with no color. So the red is added to a blend that includes colorless Pinot Noir juice too).

2002 Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rosé.
Price: $65
Color: A pale salmon color that was dazzling. A little orange and pink with a lovely and consistent bubble stream. What a pretty wine!
Smell: Floral notes with raspberry and plums funneled into my nose. I couldn't wait to taste it.
Taste: Dried raspberry, black plum, and floral flavors were in great balance with mouthwatering acidity. The wine was a little bready, dry, spritzy, and just made me want to drink more of it. It was lusciously fruity struck a great balance between fruit and acidity. I will drink this everyday when I get a bigger pocketbook.

1998 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Rosé
Price: $250 (!)
Color: White at the bottom third of the glass with a orange/salmon color on the top 2/3, the wine was showing a bit of age on the color. There were small, subtle bubbles.
Smell: Incredible! Red berries, a slight orange character, some nuttiness, and barnyard and dried herb scents that you might find in a Pinot Noir from Burgundy. I love this kind of wine. You keep smelling and it keeps giving you new things to think about. Yum!
Taste: The blend is the same as the regular La Grande Dame (2/3 Pinot, 1/3 Chardonnay). Blackberry, dark cherry, and nuts dominated. A slight flavor of vanilla and clove -- I was in complete heaven. This is a wine that could be aged and would just keep getting better. In contrast to the 2002, this wine had stronger acidity, mature vanilla spice and a slight earthy/barnyard quality that made it rich, but still crisp and refreshing. I think it's worth the $250!

1985 Veuve Clicquot Rare Vintage Rosé.
The wine had enormous complexity and it was a joy to taste something that had been given so much time to mature. The blend is 49% Pinot Noir, 14.5% Pinot Meunier, and 36.5% Chardonnay.
Price: $88
Color: This rare wine was amber after 25 years of aging -- kind of onion skin color. The bubbles were few and small, but still provided a constant stream for just a touch of effervescence. Not as pretty as the other rose but really unique looking (not like an ugly girlfriend whom you are trying to compliment, but actually cool looking).
Smell: Have you smelled Sherry before? It has an aged smell to it that prickles your nose, but is really fresh too. This was similar. In this wine there is a combination of sweetness and yeastiness in the backdrop of dried berries and dried flowers. It smelled like an aged Pinot Noir too -- distinctive wet earth and barnyard smells were present. I love wines like this so I was really excited to taste!
Taste: OMG -- I was in heaven with this wine. It lacked the fresh fruit of La Grand Dame and the 2002 vintage wine, but it made up for that in complexity. It was like a combination of sherry, dried berries from Special K cereal with strawberries, and baked bread. I don't think I'll ever forget that experience. A stunning, stunning wine for those who like aged French Pinot (I do!).

Besides the charm of the winemaker, what struck me most about this wonderful tasting was the broad spectrum of flavors offered by each different wine and vintage. All were unbelievable in their own right and stood out from one another, and stretched far from the standard cuvee.

This tasting did nothing but reaffirm my love for Veuve Clicquot. I respect the wines, I revere the Veuve for her contribution to wine, and I will continue to enjoy these wines at many happy occasions in my life to come (especially to commemorate my trip to Champagne...hope Pierre doesn't forget that he invited me to come for a big tasting there : ) Readmore »»