The Cellar: High-End Bubbles for New Years
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
New Year’s Eve is this Thursday and you know what that means; it is time to go bubble shopping! If you are an avid bubble consumer (like me) you're probably already aware of the many delicious inexpensive bubbles out there. I would go as far as to say that the market is currently saturated with really good $10-$20 bottles of sparkling wines, whether they be Crémants from France, Cavas from Spain, Proseccos from Italy or other types of sparkling wines from around the world.
Over the years I have featured a slew of these value-driven bubbles, so this year I have decided to step things up a notch and review two higher-end sparkling wines; a $25 Prosecco Superiore and a $80ish Rose Champagne.
The first wine is a Prosecco Superiore, which means it is a step up from a standard Prosecco. While regular Proseccos can be produced throughout much of northern Italy’s Friuli and Veneto wine regions, the growing area of Prosecco Superiore is limited to a small area covering 15 tiny hillside communes surrounding the town of Valdobbiadene, approximately 50 miles northwest of Venice. They have been growing Prosecco's principal grape variety Glera in this region for more than three centuries founding Italy’s first School of Winemaking as early as 1876. Restrictions on yields and long aging requirements are just some of the rules governing the making of Prosecco Superiore.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTThis week's featured producer Bisol has been producing wines in Valdobbiadene since 1542. Still family owned and operated Bisol manages 20 plots of vineyards located throughout the Prosecco Superiore designated wine-region. Their non-vintage Spumante Brut called 'Crede', named after the clay-laden soils the vines grow in, is made from a blend of primarily Glera, with Pinot Bianco and Verdiso and aged for a minimum of 60 months. The resulting wine is one rich and delicious affair – super refreshing with green apples and pears up front and lingering citrus on the finish.
This year’s featured Champagne is a Rosé made by one of my favorite producers Laurent-Perrier, which was founded in 1812. Like most of the major Champagne houses Laurent-Perrier sources much of its grapes from smaller growers most of whom are simple farmers and not winemakers themselves. (Fun fact: 90% of the grapes that are made into Champagne each year are grown by more than 15.000 registered growers who farm roughly 5 acres on average).
The 100% Pinot Noir grapes that go into making Laurent-Perrier’s Cuvée Rosé are sourced from a dozen or so growers, most of whom are located on the southern and northern slopes of Montagne de Reims; one of the five major districts of Champagne and a region that is particularly well-known for growing quality Pinot Noir. The different batches of grapes, called crus, are then blended together with Laurent-Perrier’s own estate fruit to make this outstanding Cuvée.
To extract the gorgeous salmon-pink color the winemakers allows the juice to soak (macerate) with the grape skins for up to 72 hours before the soon-to-be wine is pressed off and bottled. After fermentation, which takes place inside each individual bottle, the wine is bottle-aged for 4 years before being disgorged.
The resulting wine is seriously intense, frothy and delicious. Upon popping the wine and pouring the first sip you almost need to give it a minute and allow the wine to settle inside the glass. Don’t worry about the bubbles disappearing as they are not only soft and smooth, but also plentiful. The wine is densely flavoredwith bright strawberries and red currents in the forefront and lingering leesy deliciousness. A special wine for a special occasion. Stunning!
Happy New Years,
Steffen Rasch is a Certified Sommelier and Specialist of Wine. Feel free to email him at [email protected] with any wine-related questions or learn about wine in person by signing up for one of his tastings at the Providence Wine Academy.
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