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$26.98
Fans of Vouvray will need no introduction to Domaine Huet, as this biodynamically-farmed estate is probably the most famed and highly regarded producer in the region. While best known Read More...
for their still wines, Huet’s sparkling wines are also stellar. The bubbles for this all-Chenin Blanc fizz were created with a variation of the methode ancestrale-- where the wine is bottled before the first fermentation is finished. This technique results in a more gentle effervescence with a pressure of four atmospheres vs. six for Champagne. Winemaker Noel Pinquet (now retired) aged this 2007 for four years on the yeast prior to disgorgement. After the yeast was removed, Noel added a dosage of still Demi-Sec Vouvray to create a “medium” Brut with 10gr/l of residual sugar. The result is a straw yellow bubbly with the thinnest imaginable strands of bubbles that lift aromas of meadow flowers, biscuits and ripe pears. The pear notions carry over to the palate where they are complemented with flavors of dough, honey and nectarines while inflections of minerals and lemon curd linger in the finish. This is a flat-out charmer that surpasses many famous Champagnes we could name in terms of elegance, flavor interest and value.
$10.59
Stella Rosa is a low alcohol (5.5%), lightly carbonated red blend made primarily from the Brachetto grape made in a sweet style with 11.6% residual sugar. The juice is fermented Read More...
in the Charmant manner in pressurized tanks. As the the alcohol is created so is the carbonation. The wine has a high natural acidity which contributes a refresing balance to its considerable sweeteness.
$14.98
Love for the vine and the area has given this
winery its recognition amongst the producers
of the Penedes region of Spain, known for the
sparkling wine cava. Read More...
The vineyards have been
family run for three generations and with the
encouragement of his wife, Joan Juve Baques
made the family’s first winery and produced
the first sparkling wine under the “Juve” brand. Made from the free run juice of traditional varieties Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada and a touch of Chardonnay, this is the cava of choice of Spain’s royal family and is regularly served at all official banquets. This is not a typical cava. If you are a Champagne fan, you will appreciate the unique richness and notes of white peach and toasted bread; this is a perfect match for paté,
cured meats or paella.
family run for three generations and with the
encouragement of his wife, Joan Juve Baques
made the family’s first winery and produced
the first sparkling wine under the “Juve” brand. Made from the free run juice of traditional varieties Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada and a touch of Chardonnay, this is the cava of choice of Spain’s royal family and is regularly served at all official banquets. This is not a typical cava. If you are a Champagne fan, you will appreciate the unique richness and notes of white peach and toasted bread; this is a perfect match for paté,
cured meats or paella.
$14.98
Lamarca is a sparkling wine made in the Treviso area of northern Italy from the Prosecco grape. It shows delicate fruit and flora aromatics, a low level of alcohol and a friendly Read More...
mouth feel. Wine maker Fabrizio Gatto has truly created a top drawer Prosecco at a most agreeable price.
$12.98
100% Prosecco grapes sourced from a classic area of hillside vineyards planted at medium-high altitude. Second fermentation via cuvee close process which yields fine, presisentent bubble. Read More...
Quite dry but delivers a nice paly of tangy stone and citrus fruits mixed with a touch of cream.
$14.95
Located in the town of Sant Sidurni d’Anoia – known as the Cava capital of Spain – the estate of Pere Ventura is one of the Penedes region’s finest producers of sparkling wine. Pere Ventura, Read More...
the estate’s proprietor, comes from a noble family that has been deeply involved in the production of Cava since its origins in the 19th Century. Pere Ventura goes to great lengths that many other estates do not - such as aging every wine for at least 15 months on the lees - to make wines of the finest quality possible. The estate’s rosé, or Rosado as it’s called in Castilian, really wowed us. Made entirely from the rare, indigenous variety called Trepat, this boisterous sparkler is packed with a kind of refreshing flavor intensity and verve that makes it an idealparty wine or aperitif. The unmistakable flavor of wild strawberries – for which Trepat is known – nearly jumps out the glass, anticipating a crisp, clean, and satisfyingly long palate that finishes pristine and dry due to the wine’s mouth watering acidity. Despite its ebullient red fruit character this fizz possesses an overall poise and finesse that is quite astonishing.
$16.98
We’ve tasted a lot of good Moscato d’Asti (sparkling white wine) over the years but this one is definitely among the very best. This medium-bodied elixir is rich, creamy and slightly Read More...
sweet and backed by fresh, zippy acidity. It’s harmonious from start to finish and whether you’re having it as an apertif or dessert drink, it’s a stunner for sure.
$12.95
We recently held a comprehensive tasting of Proseccos for our staff in order to upgrade our selection of this increasingly popular genre. The winner, especially when price was considered, Read More...
was this delightful “Garbel” bottling by Adami. “Garbel” is a word from arcane Veneto dialect that means a dry, crisp, pleasantly tart wine. All the Prosecco grapes for this fizz were sourced exclusively from preferred hillside vineyards in the Colli Trevigiani district. Garbel’s 13 grams of residual sugar places it between the Brut and Extra Dry styles giving it the versatility to be enjoyed with a wide range of foods including antipasti and mildly spicy Pacific Rim fare.ROBERT PARKER 88 POINTS - The entry-level Non-vintage Prosecco 13 Garbel is pretty and focused in its floral fruit. This delicious Prosecco shows plenty of energy and focus in an easygoing style. Anticipated maturity: 201
2-2015
.
2-2015
.
$19.95
The high desert terrain of Mendoza that abuts the Andes Mountains seems a world apart from the gentle green hills of Champagne’s Montagne de Reims. Remarkably this stark, arid landscape Read More...
is capable of producing world class sparkling wines that rival, rather than mimic, those of Champagne. Here winegrowers can position themselves up and down the mountainsides in order to find the ideal microclimate for a broad range of grape varieties. The wide day-night temperature differential, the well-drained alluvial soils and the careful use of snowmelt irrigation provides an ideal environment for viticulture. For this sparkler, American winemaker Frank Baroudi sourced his fruit from mature vines (20-25 years old) situated at elevation of 5,000 feet near the eastern base of the imposing (21, 489 ft.) Mt. Tupungato. For his Grand Cuvée Baroudi blended hand-harvested Pinot Noir (75%) and Chardonnay (25%) grapes with a low average yield of 2.4 tons per acre. Full malolactic fermentation was achieved with indigenous bacteria. This sparkler was aged on its lees for three years prior to disgorgement this past February. The result is extroverted New World-styled bubbly that opens with ebullient aromas and flavors of pippin apples, biscuit dough, allspice and lemon curd. While very Brut with a low dosage (6.5g/l), this sparkler possesses a creamy mouthfeel buoyed with enough acidity to keep things interesting. The finish, which is nicely tapered and impeccably pure, reveals traces of crushed granite that bespeak its mountain origins.
$14.95
While Bordeaux is arguably the world’s most beloved wine region, its sparking wines remain virtually unknown in the US. In fact this beguiling bubbly from Château de Sours is the first (Read More...
to our knowledge) that we have ever featured. Château de Sours is situated high up on a limestone plateau just to the southwest of Pomerol facing the town of Saint-Émilion. The winemaking mission here is to blend traditional rigor and craftsmanship with a creative, modern approach. This bubbly was produced using the classic Methode Champenoise (secondary fermentation in the bottle) followed by 14-16 months of aging sur lattes in the château’s 18th Century limestone caves. A 50/50 blend of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, this pale strawberry-pink bubbly features a fine, steady bead that releases hints of wildflowers along with an assortment of red summer fruits on the nose. The palate features a delicate interplay of watermelon, cherry and Meyer lemon flavors underscored with notions of cream, pastry dough and limestone. This value-priced bubbly certainly impresses with its sense of balance, finesse, and flavor persistence. A very classy drink, especially at this modest tariff.
$19.95
Its great to find a handcrafted sparker like this that is both interesting (with a high geek coefficient) and easy on the wallet. Rocher des Violette is a stunningly distinctive bubbly Read More...
made from organically farmed, old-vine Chenin Blanc grapes growing in the Touraine AC. What sets this fizz apart from the pack is its vivid sense of place, which is a direct result of proprietor Xavier Weisskopf’s Pétillant Originel methodology. Pétillant Originel is similar to pétillant naturel and méthode ancestrale, where a sparkling wine is created in the bottle with its native yeast and without any dosage (most Champagnes and Crémants are given designer yeast for their secondary fermentation and are bottled with a sweet dosage). However Pétillant Originel is now a legal class of wine in France (pétillant naturel and méthode ancestrale are not codified). Xavier joined three other Montlouis (an underrated appellation across the river from Vouvary) growers and took the legal dictates one step further by drawing up a quality charter mandating low yields, greater ripeness than normally attained for sparkling wine, and a minimum aging of nine months on the lees before disgorgement. This sparkler, which was aged for 18 months on the lees, displays a youthful straw color a gentle tingle of effervescence (CO2 pressure is about half of that found in Champagnes). The nascent bouquet displays hints of sea air, sourdough, and green fruits, while its tightly coiled palate crackles with zingy citrus and Gaila melon fruits mingled with undercurrents of brine and tufa flavors in the finish. If our experience with Weisskopf’s prior edition is any indication, just a few months of cellaring will be needed for this ‘09 to truly hit its stride.
$12.55
Floral and fresh with crisp acidity that enliven this off-dry sparkler. Definitely a cut above the the Prosecco pack.
$9.98
FEBRUARY 2012 WINE OF THE MONTH
Limoux, the city in Languedoc in southern France, is believed to be the birthplace of sparkling wine, with Read More...
Limoux, the city in Languedoc in southern France, is believed to be the birthplace of sparkling wine, with Read More...
local historians asserting that monks from the abbey at Saint-Hilaire brought this
certain 'pop' to wine in 1531 AD. Closer to home in locale and
temporality, the last inventory of Thomas Jefferson's wine cellar listed 49 bottles of Blanquette de Limoux.
We haven't had a sparkling wine as our "wine of the month" in many years but this was an easy call once Bubblehead introduced it to us. As winter works its way toward spring, this will harmonize beautifully with or without food (brunches to sushi, white meats to fruits and cheeses). Our staff loves this one!
The nose reveled in hints of pastry dough, citrusy notes of tangerine and límon and a touch of peach melba and sea air. The palate is an enchanting mélanage of more citrus , touches of honeysuckle and vanilla bean with a cleansing layer of minerality coursing throughout, like a glacial stream galloping seaward.
We haven't had a sparkling wine as our "wine of the month" in many years but this was an easy call once Bubblehead introduced it to us. As winter works its way toward spring, this will harmonize beautifully with or without food (brunches to sushi, white meats to fruits and cheeses). Our staff loves this one!
The nose reveled in hints of pastry dough, citrusy notes of tangerine and límon and a touch of peach melba and sea air. The palate is an enchanting mélanage of more citrus , touches of honeysuckle and vanilla bean with a cleansing layer of minerality coursing throughout, like a glacial stream galloping seaward.
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