Sparkling Wines

Our Thursday wine tastings have been missing in action for a while. George and Gail of Fine Wines of Stockton take the month of August off and now in September they start the tastings again. We started off the wine tasting year with sparkling wines. One from France and some from other areas of the world. We had a pretty good variety, one from Champagne in France, one Cava from Spain, a Prosecco from Italy and two from the United States.

It was interesting tasting the differences and similarities from all of the different areas. All were selected to have a similar level of dryness, as much as possible. Most were labeled as Brut. And of course, the big similarity, they all had bubbles, lots of bubbles.

At the end of the blind tasting we were asked to choose which wine(s) were real Champagne and also which was our favorite. The one true Champagne won on both counts narrowly beating out a Spanish Cava.

I have say up front that I am not a real sparkling wine fan and Nancy was unable to make it to this tasting. However, I found all of the wines were enjoyable and wouldn’t turn any away if the occasion, or food, called for a sparkler.

First up was a 2010 Sofia Monterey County Blanc de Blanc made by Francis Coppola. Usually Blanc de Blanc indicates the wine is 100% Chardonnay, however the Sofia is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Riesling and Muscat. I found this wine had a little bit yeasty nose, though almost everyone else found some orange blossom. Interestingly when I tasted this wine back in February, I had picked up the orange blossom. Maybe my nose was off tonight. It had large bubbles with some minerality and green apple flavors. The long finish was fairly clean with what I felt was a little residual sugar.

The second wine presented was a 2004 Chateau St. Michelle Luxe from the state of Washington. The color was a more medium yellow and the bubbles were finer and exploded in the mouth. Both the nose and the flavor were green apples and there was a long clean finish

Next up was the NV Desiderio Jeio Prosecco Brut. The bubbles in this wine also just exploded as the wine hit your mouth, so much so they almost felt like they burned. The nose was closed but there was good fruit in the flavor and finish.

Now we get to the Champagne! An NV Gosset Brut Excellence. There were a lot of fine bubbles along with a smoothness on the palate. There was very nice fruit in the flavor and finish. This was a much more elegant wine than any of the previous ones.

Last was a Segura Viudas Aria Cava Estate Brut. I found it had a yeasty nose with a lot of fine bubbles in the mouth. The flavor was a light pleasant minerality with a creaminess feeling. A nice really clean finish to complete the tasting.

This was very interesting for me. As I mentioned I am not a real fan of sparkling wines but this really showed me some of the differences in wines that I often think all taste the same. Maybe sparkling wines are starting to grow on me and are helping expand my palate.