A great sparkling wine from an unexpected place.

When you think of sparkling wine, you most likely think of places like Champagne or California. But would you have ever expected a quality sparkling wine, let alone a quality wine from New Mexico? I didn't think so, because this really surprised me, too. In fact, it's likely you've seen this wine at your local wine shop and didn't think twice about where it came from; you might have even thought it was from France. I'm talking about Gruet Sparkling Wine from the Gruet Winery just outside Albequerque, NM.

First, let's tackle why this delicious wine comes from such an unexpected place. It's been determined that fine wine is best produced between 30 and 50 degrees North and South latitude. New Mexico is at 31 to 34 degrees north of the equator so it just squeaks by. By comparison, North Africa is at 38 degrees and Southern Italy is at 40 degrees latitude. Still this seems like it could be too warm to grow Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, both traditionally cool climate grapes that are used in these sparklers.  The secret is the altitude. They grow at 4300 feet so while it may get hot during the day, it can very cool at night, dropping 30 degrees. This is significant because this night time cooling allows the ripening process to slow down, exactly what these grape varieties need -- a long growing season.

I was lucky enough on Saturday night to attend a surprise birthday party for a friend and one of the guests brought the Gruet non-vintage Rose. It was delicious and like most sparklers, pairs with most everything very nicely. Here are the tasting notes from the website:

This nearly garnet Rose, like all our non-vintage sparkling wines, is aged 24 months en tirage. It has a lovely, bright floral bouquet with hints of strawberry, raspberry, and cherry. On the palate, it is rich and fruity in a dry, Brut style. The flavor of berries continues on the palate, revealing more strawberry, raspberry, cherry. 

Gruet is widely distributed, so seek some out and enjoy!

Cheers!
Sandy

When good wine goes bad.

I don't think I've ever read a blog post about a bad wine. Or in my case a wine I let go bad due to neglect. So I thought I would serve myself up as a cautionary tale for others.

Drink your Rose. Don't sit on it.'Cause soon it will look like this:

Yes, believe it or not this used to be one of those beautiful pink wines that I've been gushing over recently.

Honestly, I don't know what I was thinking on this one. Okay, that's not entirely true. I'll confess that I received 2 bottles of 2006 St. Supery Rose in a wine club shipment in probably 2007 or 2008. I opened one bottle right away but wasn't blown away and wasn't inspired to open the second. So I let it sit until now; now when I know it's past it's prime and I need to make room for other wines. I should have known better. And while it pains me to send anything down the drain, this just had to go. (Just for the record, almost everything I've received from St. Supery has been fantastic. I'm still sitting on a bunch of reds I can't wait to open and I adore their Sauvignon Blanc.)

You can see that it's starting to turn brown. It tastes oxidized, too. It's like drinking prune juice, only not as good. It's sad to see this happen; I should have shared it or given it away to some one who would have appreciated it.

Okay, lesson learned. I'll never let a wine go past it's prime again.

Cheers,
Sandy

Three years of wine club.

Three years ago I came back from a class at the Culinary Institute of America's Professional Wine Studies Program. The week long class inspired me to learn more about wine, but in Minneapolis, and with a full time job, there were limitations to the extent I could learn at a more professional level.

So I gathered a group of wine loving friends and made them a deal: If you pick a theme, I'll research it, pick wines and create a tasting for the group. Over the next three years, we studied grape varietals, regions, sparkling and even beer. We've all gotten smarter about wine and we've kept a great group of friends together that would have long lost touch with one another without it. 

Lately it's getting more difficult to to get us together as we're going through a stage of weddings and pregnancies. So for our last club meeting we chose to meet at a local restaurant, Corner Table. It's a great venue for a wine club because every Thursday night is Vinyl + Vino. Bring in your own wine and pay only  $1 corkage. Bring in you favorite vinyl record and they'll spin it. But these are the not main reasons you should check out Corner Table. Chef Scott Pampuch is absolutely passionate about working with local farmers to bring in sustainable, high quality local products. And the results are phenomenal.

For this wine club we didn't have much of a theme; just bring something you like. We started our evening off with a bottle of Chateau D'Esclans Whispering Angel Rose, which I've written about before. It was a perfect match for the nosh plate we ordered.

This plate was as good as it looks with housemade potato chips, goat cheese, pickled mushrooms, housemade chorizo and rhubarb moutarde.

Our next wine was a 2009 Trinchero Sauvignon Blanc. This white is from the Calistoga area of Napa and is full of grapefruit, lemon and grass flavors. We did find the wine to be fairly alcoholic for a sauvignon blanc, at 14.2%.

 However, it was a good match for a number of our dishes:

This asparagus and mushroom pasta with a light butter sauce was fantastic!

 A tasty asparagus soup was a nice accompaniment to a great salad with duck confit.

 Isn't this stuffed trout with aspargus gorgeous!

While we were waiting for dessert, Chef Scott brought us a taste of Austrian Zweigelt, something we had never tried before. What a treat! It's a light, fruity red with cherry flavors that make it a perfect summer red wine. I have to apologize for the photo (below), I took it rather quickly and apparently was a bit shaky.

Desserts were equally fabulous with a rhubarb crumble, a chocolate cake and chef's choice.

Above is the chef's choice dessert which was  a rhubarb crepe, a shot of boxelder sap with maple syrup and bee pollen, and a grown up s'more.

This new iteration of our wine club could not have been more fun and we could not have felt more welcomed at Corner Table. Thanks to Chef Scott and staff for a very fun and memorable evening. See you in August!

A Rose not to miss.

Okay, okay. I'm on a bit of of a rose kick right now. But when friends request a rose tasting, who am I to refuse, especially when they agree to pair them with tapas. Many of the wines I picked I had tasted at the Solo Vino pink wine tasting but I also wanted to try something new. So off to Byerly's Wine Shop where I spied this little number. The label caught my eye and then the wine consultant in the store started to rave about it. I was hooked and couldn't wait to try it.

Charles and Charles 2009 rose is a collaboration between Charles Smith of KVitners and Charles Bieler of Three Thieves, both of Washington state. This wine is a knock out and was the favorite wine of the evening with flavors of strawberry, raspberry, a little black pepper and even citrus on the back of the palate. It's dry and refreshing and perfect for a summer evening. But you better get it now as once it's gone, it's gone. And at only $12.99 a bottle, it will go fast.

And by the way, this group of friends noticed that almost all of the wines tasted better after they had warmed up a bit. Not room temperature, but not straight from the fridge. Just let it warm up for about a half hour after you pull it out off the ice or out of your chill chest (to quote Alton Brown.)

Cheers,
Sandy

Rose Tasting: Odds and Ends

This will be my last post on the Rose Tasting. Today I'll focus on a couple of the unusual wines as well as some other fun ones.

Lopez de Heredia Rioja: Pictured above in the center, this was the oldest wine in the tasting. A 1998 vintage, this Spanish Rioja Rose was an orange or dark peach color. Not surprsing as wines turn more amber colored as they age. However, it is unsual for for a rose to be aged as they are typically meant to be drunk young. Also, this rose was unusual because it had been aged for 4 1/2 years in barrels. This rose didn't have any of the qualities you would expect in a rose, instead it was full of dried fruits like raisins and prunes and a hint of caramel.

Chateau Deffends: This rose is a classic from the region that's known for rose, Provence. Pictured above center it's a beautifully pink blend of syrah, grenache and cinsault. Flavorwise, it is typical for the region. For me, it had notes of strawberry, tea and olives. Tasty indeed.

Whispering Angel: Above center, Don't let the pretty label fool you, this isn't a fluffy sweet wine. From Chateau D'Ecslans in Provence this is a great food wine. Made from grenache and rolle (a white grape used for blending, some believe it is identical to vermentino in Italy) this wine had a good balance fruit, sweetness and acid. I liked the light red fruit flavors of strawberry and cherry.

Pavao Vinho Verde: This white pictured on the left is from Portugal. Vihno Verde literally means green wine and that is what you'll taste. This great summer sipper has almost a fizzy quality to it and tastes green like an underripe apple or pear. Plus, this wine is only $8.00 ($6.39 until Memorial Day at Solo Vino's sale).

Okay, last up. If you're looking for an alternative white for the summer consider a falanghina from Italy. This grape is grown in the Campania region of Italy and makes wines that can be very fragrant. This wine, pictured left, is the San Martino. It was citrusy, minerally and had loads of green flavors. This, too, is a very affordable summer wine at only $10, even less at the sale.

Well, I think I'm officially ready for summer and I hope these posts have given you some ideas for your next picnic or barbecue.

Cheers,
Sandy

More Tickled Pink: Sparkling and California

One of my favorite ways to enjoy Rose is in a sparkling wine. There were a few that I tasted at the Rose Tasting Event:

Riondo Pink: The wine consultant that was pouring described this wine (pictured above) as being made from cabernet sauvignon grapes. I Googled this wine to get more information, but was unable to find a review on it. I don't think I've ever seen a Cabernet rose, so it's quite unique from my point of view. It was delicious, too. Sweeter than most, but still delicate, I wrote "like candy" in my notes. I've always like Riondo's Prosecco, it's a great value and a highly rated wine by Robert Parker. Brides take note: this is a perfect wedding wine.

Novacento Rosado: This sparkler comes from Argentina. It was perhaps a bit too sweet. It reminded me of Angel food cake and a friend at the tasting described it as tasting a little artificial, like low fat food. Not a highlight.

Baumard Cremant de la Loire Rose Sparkling: Since Champagne can only legally be used on wines from the region of Champagne, France, other regions that use the same method of making sparkling wine are called Cremant. This wine is from the Loire Valley and is therefore, Cremant de la Loire. I was not as impressed with this wine, in fact it had distinct green pepper taste to me.

Now for some of the American wines:

Alexander Valley Sangiovese Rose: (Third from the left in the photo above.)  Made from the same grape as Chianti, many California wineries are having success with Sangiovese rose. A pretty fuschia color, this reminds one of raspberries, has some nice spice notes and a dry finish.

Matchbook Tempranillo Rose: (Second from the right, above) I've had this wine served at a very elegant dinner yet it's an affordable backyard sipper. It's made with the same grape as Spain's Rioja so look for strawberry, raspberry and a touch of wood. Yet it's not overly dry so it makes a great summer sipper.

Cline Mourvedre Rose: (Second from the left, above, sorry but the label isn't showing) Mourvedre is a grape that's popular in France and Spain (called Monastrell). Cline makes very good Ancient Vines Mourvedre and Small Berry Mouvedre and doesn't disappoint with this rose. Expect lots of earthy notes and some nice spiciness on this one.

Wine Word Wednesday: Saignee.

This French term means "bled". This refers to the technique of running off (or bleeding) some juices from crushed red grapes to make rose wines. The length of time the juice is left on the skins determines the intensity of the color. Sometimes, the juice is run off after only a few hours resulting in a very pale rose. However, not all the juice is run off the skins and that which is left on will be come a very concentrated red wine.  Two birds with one stone you might say.