Bubbly Fest III results. From December 10. Thanks to Terri for organizing the wine and Pam for making the food.
     Last year's December tasting dealt with winter wines. This year we returned to form and had another tasting of sparkling wines. Previous winners included the nonvintage Deutz and the nonvintage Nicholas Feuillate Brut -- both from Champagne. Tonight's winner was an actual Champagne, too, though -- like every other wine we tasted -- there was a bit of a twist.
     1) "Mister." 1997 Louis Roederer Brut Rosé, Reims, Champagne. $49 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 16.1; range 12-19. The last wine of the evening, so we all had high expectations before we poured it. It delivered. This one is 70% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay. For a pink wine, it's a real blue-chip sparkler: nicely doughy and fruity in the nose, a hint of sugar on the tongue. Smooth and very well balanced. Exactly what it wants to be. Chip says that it's like "coming home to a suite at the Plaza." The only dissent of any sort came from Mark, who said it was fine but didn't knock his socks off.
     2-tie) "Jane." 1996 Sakonnet Brut, Southeastern New England. $30 at winery. Average 12.6; range 8-15. The first Rhode Island wine we've ever tasted. This wine, a blend of 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay, is made with the méthode champenoise, but it has more body and bigger bubbles than the other wines we tasted. Very yeasty in the nose. Spicy and citrusy (grapefruit? lime?) on the tongue. Pam thought it went well with her homemade pâte. Gary said he could "drink and drink and drink and drink it." Chip didn't think it supported "tongue-surfing." Mark found this unremarkable and gave it an 8.
     2-tie) "Wrap." 1993 Dernière-Ansiot Blanc de Blancs, Oger, Champagne. $38 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 12.6; range 7-15. This is a grower's Champagne, which apparently means that the grower produces it only when the harvest is especially good. This particular grower hasn't made one since. An odd beast -- it almost smells like port, but it's also got some lighter lemon and honey notes to it. Terri found it substantial and fun. Becky thought it was plummy. Steph thought it was a New Year's Eve Champagne; it reminded her of cake, and she didn't think it would go well with meat. Others found it syrupy and sweet. Stop the presses: Mark didn't like this one, either. It reminded him of headache and anise.
     4) "Licious." NV Gruet Blanc de Noirs, Rio Grande Valley, New Mexico. $13 at martin Wine Cellar. Average 12.4; range 10-14. Like the Sakonnet, this wine is somewhat odd because of its place of origin. Some people say that Gruet is the best sparkling wine producer in America, but few of us would go that far. This one smells of sour apples; it's sharp and acidic, with a mineral undertone. Gary found it reasonably smooth. Several of us thought it started out well but had a stomach-acid finish, and once that gets in your mind there's no getting rid of it. Chip says it "took its own waterpark ride down my gullet when I wasn't paying attention." Whether he liked it or not, we can't be sure.
     5) "South Sea." NV Graham Beck Brut, Robertson, Cape, South Africa. $18 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 9.8; range 6-14. Graham Beck makes a simple, tasty Pinotage. And this sparkler was chosen to celebrate Nelson Mandela's inauguration as president of South Africa in 1994. After all those years in prison, he deserved better. The fruity and floral nose is pleasant for half a second but gets cloying fast. Terri found it musty. Steph thought it tasted like beer. Becky might have detected a hint of juniper and thought it was better than stomach acid. Naturally, this was Mark's favorite wine of the evening. He said it "clicks with my plebeian taste."
     The fake names all have something to do with the word "bubble." "Jane" is Jane Horrocks, who played the character Bubble on "Absolutely Fabulous."
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 5:43 PM
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Tragedy at Turley The California earthquake hit the Paso Robles area hard -- I hope Matt Garretson and his wonderful rose' survived intact. Here's what AP reports happened to the Turleys, who have an outpost in Paso: At Turley Wine Cellars, owner Larry Turley estimated he lost more than $1 million in wine when 700 wooden barrels in his storage cellar toppled like dominos. Among the losses was a barrel of port worth $24,000, he said.
So, anyone out there ever tried a $24,000 port?
 :: posted by Stephanie Grace at 10:50 PM
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Straight Outta [Little] Compton. When I was in Rhode Island recently, my sister and I stopped by Sakonnet Vineyards. I wasn't sure what to expect. I've seen a few of their wines in the gift shop at the Providence Airport before, but those bottles have cutesy names like "America's Cup White" and are made from grapes from who knows where. Plus, I usually fly out on Sundays, and you can't buy alcohol on Sundays. (As opposed to Louisiana, where you can buy it 24-7.)
     In the tasting room in Little Compton, though, you can sample all of their estate wines. A few of them are made from hybrid grapes -- crosses between vitis vinifera grapes and native American species that handle the cold better than vinifera grapes alone. The Vidal Blanc was OK, and the Vidal Ice Wine was quite good. The Rhode Island Red, by contrast, comes from a hybrid called Chancellor and tastes like grape jam. The lady in the tasting room gave me a dirty look when I said that out loud, though.
     Not surprisingly, the vinifera grapes that do well in Rhode Island are ones found in Burgundy, Alsace and other cooler regions. For me, the big surprise was the Sakonnet Brut 1996, a dry, tasty sparkling wine. (More on it later.) The Pinot Noir was flaccid, but I brought back a bottle of the Pinot Noir Rosé. And the Cabernet Franc Reserve had some subtlety and muscle to it, too.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 10:17 PM
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