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French Champagne Heidsieck Monopole Brut Premier Cru “Yellow Bottle,” NV ($37.99) - An incredible value, this Champagne should win an award for the ugliest bottle of 2008. The mustard-yellow bottle is truly revolting, but the Champagne is sublime. All the villages in the Champagne district are rated on a scale of 80 to 100, and the growers are paid accordingly for their grapes. Only wines that use grapes from villages rated 90 or higher can be labeled “Premier Cru.” Agrapart Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, NV ($3 9.99) - I hate to beat up on Moët, but for a few dollars more you can have a truly outstanding Champagne. This boutique Champagne house is clearly committed to quality, not advertising. It was founded in 1894 by Arthur Agrapart, the great-grandfather of the current owners, Pascal and Fabrice. All their grapes come from the Grand Cru village of Avize in the heart of the Cote de Blancs. Each village is rated on a scale of 80 to 100. Only villages with a rating of 100 can call their wines Grand Cru. This cuvée is a blend of younger-vine fruit from 1996 (2/3) and 1995 (1/3). It was aged over three years before bottling, and it is easily the equal in quality of any Champagne under $50. Amazingly classy and refined for this price, this is much better than the more famous “name brands.” Delicious!!!Marc Hébrart Brut 1er Cru Reserve NV ($43.99) - German wine importer Terry Thiese has branched out into Champagne where he searches out small producers of hand-crafted wines. Marc Hébrart, located in the Vallée de la Marne, makes this wonderful cuvée from 75% Pinot Noir (from the great 1er Cru vineyards of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ, Avenay Val d’Or, and Bisseuil) and 25% Chardonnay (from the Grand Crus Chouilly and Oiry). Hébrart employs techniques such as hand-selected grapes, Bucher pressing, fermentation in petite cuvée, malolactic, and hand remuage. His wines are fuller, richer, and better than Clicquot, yet they are buoyant, lithe, and integrated. Parker 91: Interestingly, Hebrart’s non-vintage Premier Cru Cuvee de Reserve smelled and tasted more like a rose than a white. Produced from 80% Pinot Noir and 20% Chardonnay, this terrific NV Champagne bursts from the glass with gorgeous aromas of chalk, slate, yeast, smoke, blackberries, and currants. Medium-bodied and rich, it coats the taster’s palate with minerals, strawberries, and toasted bread. Marc Hébrart Brut 1er Cru Selection NV ($49.99) - See the Reserve above. Even better! Parker 92: The non-vintage Selection (degorge le 2 mai 2005), a blend of 65% Pinot Noir and 35% Chardonnay, reveals a deep, intense nose of spring onions and mineral liqueur. This Champagne has loads of depth, richness, concentration, and length. It is silky-textured, medium-bodied, and sports a long finish. Chartogne Taillet 1999 ($49.99) - Parker 93: "Gorgeous aroma (pears, almonds & flowers) bursts from the glass. Concentrated, rich, muscular. Fresh & packed with minerals. Long, fruit-filled finish." Marc Hebrart Brut Rosé, NV ($54.99) - Rosé Champagnes are particularly special in France. They are made by either adding Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier juice to the white base wine, or more rarely, allowing brief contact with the red grape skins during fermentation. Rosé Champagne has a slightly different palette of flavors than white Champagne and somewhat more texture. It is made in much smaller amounts and is usually more expensive (Dom Perignon Rosé is over $200 a bottle). Hebrart, an artisanal “grower” Champagne located in the Vallée de la Marne, owns 25 acres of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines. The Pinot comes from two 1er Cru vineyards; the Chardonnay comes from two Grand Crus vineyards in the Côte des Blancs. Hebrart’s total production is 5800 cases yearly. Clicquot produces that much every two days! Guy Larmandier Blanc de Blancs Cramant Grand Cru, NV ($55.99) - Only 25,000 bottles of this wine are made annually from sites in the top-rated Cramant village. Hand-harvested and aged at least three years on the lees, this cuvée is 100% Chardonnay. Because the quality of the fruit is so superior, the cuvées shipped to the U. S. receive virtually no “dosage.” Thus Guy Larmandier Champagnes are exceedingly dry, delicate, and fine. Stephen Tanzer 91: “Light gold shot through with green. Understated, elegant aromas of pear, tangerine, and kiwi complemented by notes of lees, green cardamom, and mustard seed. Chalky, spicy, and firm with concentrated citrus and quince flavors that cling tenaciously. An intensely mineral, concentrated Champagne that shows the structure and flavor of top-drawer, old-school Chablis.” Agrapart L’Avizoise Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru, 1996 ($59.99) - Only 6500 bottles of this spectacular wine were made from a parcel of 50-year old vines in a vintage that may be the best of the decade. It was especially strong for Chardonnay-based wines from the Cote de Blancs. Twenty percent of the cuvée was aged in wood. One-third of the cuvée underwent malo-lactic fermentation, and it was aged almost six years before bottling. In comparison to the NV, this is bigger in all its dimensions especially its body, yeast characteristics, focus, and minerality. It will easily compete with the $100 Champagnes out there. A riveting Champagne and a bargain!!! Gosset Grande Reserve Brut ($64.95) – Parker 90: "Grosset has fashioned a Grand Reserve Brut offering pleasant, yeasty bread notes inter-mixed with spicy pears, apple skins, & grapefruit. Medium-bodied, crisp, & impressively-endowed, it should be consumed now-2010." Marc Hébrart Brut "Special Club," Premier Cru, 1999 ($75) - This is the big brother of the best-selling Hébrart Brut Reserve and Selection. It is an outstanding Champagne with everything you could hope for: an intense and yeasty bouquet and flavor, fine bubbles, remarkable balance and finesse, and a lengthy finish. It embarrasses many more expensive Champagnes. Parker 92: Toasty minerals, spices, poached pears, and yeast are found in the aromatic profile of the 1999 “Special Club” (degorge le 24 mars 2005). Well-focused and complex, it offers flavors reminiscent of minerals, apples, pears, and yeast. This medium-bodied Champagne is packed with fruit and displays a long suave finish." Krug Grand Reserve NV ($169) – Parker 93: "The most consistent Krug wine I have been tasting lately. This is a big, boldly styled Champagne with smoky, earthy, pear, apple, and spicy aromas as well as flavors, loads of effervescence, and fine body and depth." Louis Roederer Cristal 1999 – Parker 98: One of the finest Champagnes I have ever brought to my lips, the 1999 Cristal bursts from the glass with fresh hazelnut & apple scents. Elegant, deep, and silky textured, this medium to full-bodied beauty is immensely concentrated, pure, packed with apple flavors, and astoundingly long in the finish. Other
Good Bubblies Vigna Dogarina Prosecco "Sforsin," NV ($12.99) - Prosecco never reaches the quality level of French Champagne or even the better California imitations, but it does offer pleasant sipping and good value. This one is frizzante, which means that the effervescence is not high enough to require a champagne cork. It has plenty of sparkle, a bit of complexity, and a nice balance of fruit, acidity, and residual sugar. Sumarroca Cava Brut Reserva ($14.99) - We’ve been waiting for the wines of Sumarroca since my wife and I visited this Spanish winery 2 years ago. Located in Penedès, just west of Barcelona, the original Molí Coloma estate in Subirats was purchased in 1983 by Nuria and Carles Sumarroca. Albert, their son, has also developed a passion for quality wines. Like their Chardonnay, Sumarroca’s sparkling wine is made only from free-run juice. The weight of the grapes on top will gently press the grapes below releasing only 20% of the potential juice. This is the cleanest, purest juice that can be obtained. Sumarroca uses 30% Macabau, 30% Xerello, 30% Paraleda, and 10% Chardonnay. The DO authorities discourage Chardonnay, but the stubborn Sumarrocas believe it to have the greatest potential and are actually increasing its percentage each year. Mass-produced Cava, like Freixenet, must only be aged on the yeast for 9 months. Cava Reserva requires a minimum of two years on the yeast. Sumarroca Brut Reserva gets a full three years! A value sparkler. Sumarroca Cava Brut Nature Gran Reserva, NV ($16.99) - Sumarroca is a moderate-size Spanish winery in the Penedès region just south of Barcelona that makes table wines as well as terrific Cavas. Unlike the giants of the Cava world such as Freixenet, Sumarroca grows all its own grapes, thus maintaining complete control of the production process. Despite pressure from the government and from its neighbors to use only indigenous grapes, Sumarroca uses some Chardonnay (7%) in the blend because the owners rightly believe that it is superior. We've carried the Brut Reserva for some time, but the Gran Reserva is a real steal for just a few dollars more. Its yeasty, Champagne-like character comes from thirty months in bottle on the lees. This is a complex, elegant, and dry sparkler with a prolonged finish. Gruet Brut Gold, NV ($15 .99) - This wonderful sparkler is as good as any “Champagne” available under $22. The blend is 60% Chard and 40% Pinot Noir. It has a creamy texture and surprising finesse and harmony. It lacks the intense yeastiness of a $30 French Champagne, but it is a terrific value. Gruet is the labor of love of Farid Himuer and Laurent Gruet who left France after years in the family Champagne business. (The family French Champagne is available here under the Paul Laurent label.) They investigated California and Oregon, but fell in love with New Mexico! I had the opportunity to visit the Albuquerque winery a few years ago. The winery was founded in 1987 using grapes planted in 1983. The grapes are grown at a high elevation in southern New Mexico where Chardonnay grows very well. Although generally less successful, Pinot Noir adds complexity to this cuvée.ORGANIC: Perlage Prosecco "Riva Moretta," 2008 ($16.99) - I approach organic wines with a bit of skepticism;. The first to market weren't always good wines, but one made allowances given that the producers were still learning how to grow quality grapes consistently without pesticides, herbicides, or artificial fertilizers. The truth is that grape vines are subject to various pests and diseases. Controlling them by natural means is not always easy, but producers are getting better at vineyard management and winery techniques. There is usually a price premium for organic wines, but some are as good as any in their price range. Brothers Ivo and Claudio Nardi have been farming organically since 1981. They own fifty acres and purchase organic grapes from 175 nearby acres allowing them to produce 100,000 cases per year. Ivo obtained his degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Florence and is the company president. Claudio, whose degree is in technical design, also took specialized wine courses and is responsible for production. The Perlage vineyards are certified organic by Codex, an international food control organization.
Gloria
Ferrer Royal Cuvee, 2000/2001
($22.99)
- Wine Enthusiast: 93 "Royal
Cuvée has turned into one of the most consistent buys in an upscale
California bubbly, mainly due to the elegance that always marks the wine. The
2000, which is a classic blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, shows the
smoothness and complexity that mark fine sparkling wine, with subtle citrus,
peach, raspberry, brioche and smoky vanilla flavors." Leconfeld Sparkling Shiraz
($33.99) -
Despite the interest engendered by recent magazine articles, there are
very few of these oddities available. This is one of the more expensive of the
genre, but it justifies the price. It’s both very dry and very intense in
fruit. Try it with chocolate or flavorful cheeses.
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