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

Champagne, it's not just for special occasions anymore.

Image via bgvjpe's flickr

I'm a big fan of sparkling wine, even those not from the Champagne region (the only sparkling wines legally bearing the name Champagne). They are incredibly food friendly and come in a variety of styles that should be able to please anyone.

That's why I found this post on the WSJ blog, On Wine, intriguing. Apparently, Robert Mondavi's low priced Woodbridge line has launched an everyday sparkling wine. To launch the brand as an "affordable luxury" they teamed up with Daniel Boulud's DGDB in New York, known for 14 different kinds of sausages. The idea is to bring sparkling wine to the everyday, to be enjoyed with comfort foods like sliders and fried chicken.

Hooray! But we didn't need Woodbridge to usher in this trend. There are a number of great Cavas from Spain and Proseccos from Italy that nicely fit the description of an everyday affordable luxury. Neither of these have the complexity of a high end sparkler, but for everyday drinking, you're not looking for that. Rather, these at the lower end provide simple pleasing flavors that complement food and snacks perfectly. Try them with saltier foods like sushi, chinese take-out, pizza, french fries, and the like. No doubt you'll find it enjoyable.

Cheers!

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.