Tag Archives: Mother’s Day wine

Wine of the week: De Chanceny Cremant Brut Rose NV

De Chanceny Cremant Brut RoseThe De Chanceny Cremant Brut Rose is pink French bubbly just in time for Mother’s Day

The first time the Wine Curmudgeon tasted this French sparkling wine, it was apparently corked – flawed thanks to the chemical TCA, which muted the flavors and gave it the faint aroma of wet newspaper. Hardly pleasant at all.

But, since I am a professional, I tried another bottle a year or so later, and that’s why the De Chanceny Cremant Brut Rose ($15, purchased, 12.5%) is the wine of the week with Mother’s Day on Sunday.

The De Chanceny is made with caberent franc, a red grape, in the Loire region of France, using the same technique as much more expensive Champagne. It’s usually a value, about one-third the price of comparable Champagne, and that’s true here. Look for berry aromas, lots of ripe black cherry fruit mixed with some pleasant tartness, terrific, tight bubbles, and a crisp, clean finish. It’s not as luxurious or yeasty as Champagne, but it’s not supposed to be.

In this, it’s food wine – Mother’s Day brunch certainly, but also a bottle for mom to enjoy when all the celebrating is over and she’s on her own again.

Imported by Signature Imports

Mother's Day wine

Mother’s Day wine 2018

Mother's Day wine 2018Four suggestions — red, white, rose, and sparkling — for Mother’s Day wine 2018

This Mother’s Day wine 2018 post is the 12th time we’ve done it on the blog, and one thing has remained consistent every year. Buy — or serve — Mom a wine she will like, and not something you think she should drink. Our Mother’s Day wine gift giving guidelines are here; the idea is to please your mother. What’s the point otherwise?

These Mother’s Day wine 2018 suggestions should get you started:

• Arrumaco Verdejo 2016 ($8, purchased, 12%): A Spanish white that is a little richer than expected (more stone fruit than citrus), and as well made as all Arrumaco wines are. Imported by Hand Picked Selections

• Scharffenberger Cellars Excellence Brut Rose NV ($24, purchased, 12%): This California sparking wine is impressive in many ways — the very aromatic raspberry fruit; the hint of spice that is a surprising and welcome note; and just the right amount of yeastiness, which lets the fruit show. Highly recommended.

• Justin Rose 2017 ($18, sample, 13%): A California pink that is one of the shockers of rose season — a pricer wine from a winery best known for big red wine that is intriguing, almost subtle and delightful. Not nearly as fruity as I expected (barely ripe raspberry), with a little minerality and floral aroma. Highly recommended.

• Domaine de Courbissac Les Traverses 2015 ($15, sample, 13%): This French red blend is delicious, and it’s even more delicious if you can find it for $12 (and it’s only about $9 in France). Mom wouldn’t want you to overpay. Look for some earth, a little rusticity, and black fruit. Imported by European Cellars

More about Mother’s Day wine:
• Mother’s Day wine 2017
• Mother’s Day wine 2016
• Mother’s Day wine 2015
• Two Murrieta’s Well wines

Wine review: Two Murrieta’s Well wines

Murrieta’s Well winess

Two Murrieta’s Well wines – The Spur and the Whip – are a reminder that top-notch California wine doesn’t have to be expensive and boring

The Wine Curmudgeon has rarely been disappointed by Murrieta’s Well wine for more than 20 years. In the old days, when $20 was a lot of money and not something to spend because it was trendy, I would happily pay it for Murrieta’s Well.

How impressive is the the current incarnation, powered by new winemaker Robbie Meyer and a renewed commitment from the label’s owner, Wente Vineyards? It may be the best yet – and costs about the same, too.

The Spur 2015 ($20, sample, 14.5%) is a red blend that’s almost one-half cabernet sauvignon, but not dominated by it. Most importantly, despite the higher alcohol, the wine isn’t hot but balanced between dark, ripe black fruit, just enough sweet oak, supple tannins, and a wonderfully fragrant baking spice aroma.

The Whip 2016 ($18, sample, 13.5%) is a white blend with orange muscat, a grape that is difficult to work with and tends to overpower everything else. Here, though, it lends the tiniest hint of an orange aroma, which plays off the citrus of the sauvignon blanc, green apple of the chardonnay, and stone fruit of the viognier. And, somehow, the wine is floral, crisp and fresh.

How Meyer got these wines to taste like this – elegant and enjoyable – speaks to his talent and commitment to the cause. Because he is a believer; we tasted these at a media lunch, and Meyer and I probably spent too much time lamenting the sad state of $25 wine – soft, sappy, almost sweet, and tasting exactly the same.

Both wines are highly recommended, and offer value as well as quality. Serve these for a Mother’s Day brunch or dinner – the white would pair with eggs Benedict or a rich and cheesy quiche, while the red is ideal for roast beef and leg of lamb.

Mother's Day wine

Mother’s Day wine 2017

mother's day wine 2017Four suggestions for Mother’s Day wine 2017

The same lesson applies for this, the Wine Curmudgeon’s 11th annual Mother’s Day wine post, that applied to the previous 10. Buy Mom something she will like, and not something you think she should drink. Our Mother’s Day wine gift giving guidelines are here; the idea is to make her happy, not to impress her with your wine knowledge. She’s your Mom – she’s impressed already.

These Mother’s Day wine suggestions should get you started:

• Pewsey Vale Dry Riesling 2015 ($16, sample, 12.5%): Australian rieslings are some of the least known quality wines in the world, because who associates riesling and Australia? This white shows why the wines offer so much quality at more than a fair price: dry, crisp, lemon and lime fruit, and a certain zestiness. Highly recommended.

• Cristalino Rose Brut NV ($9, sample, 12%): Every time I taste this Spanish cava, or sparkling wine, I am amazed at how well made it is, and especially how well made it is for the price. No wonder it has been in the $10 Hall of Fame since the beginning. Tight bubbles, red and citrus fruit, and perfect for Mother’s Day brunch.

• Mulderbosch Cabernet Sauvignon Rose 2016 ($10, sample, 12.5%): This South African pink is tighter and more closed this year, and the weight of the cabernet is more obvious. Having said that, it’s still a fine, fresh rose, with dark red fruit and a little spice and what could even be tannins in the back that add a little interest.

• Bravium Pinot Noir 2015 ($30, sample, 12.5%): This California red is nicely done, a varietally correct pinot from the well-regarded Anderson Valley and more or less worth what it costs. Some earth, red fruit and even a hint of orange peel.

More about Mother’s Day wine:
• Mother’s Day wine 2016
• Mother’s Day wine 2015
• Mother’s day wine 2014
• Wine of the week: Anne Amie Cuvee Muller Thurgau 2015

Wine of the week: Francois Montand Brut Rose NV

Montand Brut RoseHow about $12 for the very French Montand Brut Rose sparkling wine for Mother’s Day?

The wine world’s obsession with Champagne has always puzzled me, even before I stopped drinking it. We’re always reminded that perfectly enjoyable wines like cava and Prosecco aren’t “real” like Champagne and that we’re missing something by not drinking it.

Nuts to that – these days, given that acceptable Champagne may cost as much as $40, what’s the point when there is quality sparkling at a fraction of the price? Hence, the Montand Brut Rose.

The Montand Brut Rose ($12, purchased, 12%) is French, made with odd grapes (cinsault, grenache noir) that come mostly from the Jura, an odd region best known for cheese and what the locals call yellow wine. But the Montand is made using methode champenoise, with the second fermentation in the bottle, just like the $40 stuff. That means it has the tight, rapid bubbles that are the hallmark of well-made sparkling.

Look for red fruit aromas (raspberries?), a little creaminess, and soft, simple, and enjoyable red berry flavors. This will work both before and after Mother’s Day brunch, as well as for brunch itself. Scrambled eggs in the French style, anyone?

Or keep a bottle chilled in the refrigerator, handy when you feel like bubbles after a very hard day at work. At this price, it’s truly an affordable luxury.

Mother’s Day wine 2016

Mother's Day wineWelcome to the Wine Curmudgeon’s 10th annual Mother’s Day wine post, in which the point has always been about finding something to make Mom happy. It’s funny how often that doesn’t happen in wine, isn’t it?

As always, the most important piece of advice to make that possible? Buy Mom a Mother’s Day wine gift that she will like, and not something that you think Mom should like because you know more about wine than she does. In other words, if Mom likes sweet white, then buy her the best sweet white you can find, and don’t worry about whether it’s a proper wine for her to drink.

These Mother’s Day wine suggestions should get you started doing just that – and all are highly recommended:

• Domaine Robert Sérol Turbullent NV ($18, sample, 8.5%): This rose sparkling wine, made with the gamay grape from a less well known part of the Loire in France, is one of those wines that most of us are afraid to try because it’s so different. So take my word for it: Terrific Mother’s Day bubbly, with raspberry fruit, tight bubbles, and surprisingly dry given the lack of alcohol.

• Domaine Séguinot-Bordet Petit Chablis ($20, purchased, 12.5%): Delicious and almost affordable white Burgundy (chardonnay from the Chablis area in the Burgundy region of France) that is varietally correct – a rich mouth feel, wonderful lemon fruit, hints of white spice, and an almost nutty flavor mixed in with all the rest. A good introduction to Chablis for someone who drinks mostly California chardonnay.

• Bieler Père et Fils Sabine Rose 2015 ($10, purchased, 12.5%): Given how many roses – even from the Old World – are amping up the fruit this vintage because some focus group said they should, the Bieler remains what a great Provencal rose should be: Tart raspberry fruit, crisp and refreshing, and always enjoyable. There is even a hint of what the French call garrigue – an almost herbal aroma from the flowers and herbs growing near the vineyards.

• Alois Lageder Schiava 2014 ($15, purchased, 12%): A fascinating wine from one of my favorite Itlalian producers made with the odd schiava grape. It produces a light, spicy, fruity (berry?) red wine with few tannins. Somewhere between gamay and pinot noir, but truly its own wine and one that should please both red and white drinkers.

More about Mother’s Day wine:
• Mother’s Day wine 2015
• Mother’s day wine 2014
• Expensive wine 86: Jansz Premium Cuvee NV
• Wine of the week: Banfi CollePino 2014

Wine of the week: Pio Cesare Arneis 2013

Pio Cesare ArneisDoes Mom like white wine? Do you want to spend more than $10 since it’s wine for Mother’s Day? Then enjoy the Pio Cesare Arneis ($15, purchased, 13%). If all $15 wine tasted like this, the Wine Curmudgeon would drink more $15 wine.

Arneis is a rare Piedmontese white grape usually used for blending in expensive red wine, or to make flabby, simple stuff that we rarely see much in this country. The Pio Cesare Arneis, on the other hand, gives this grape a respect it has rarely had. I first tasted it four years ago, where it was almost an afterthought during a lunch that included most of the great red wines from Pio Cesare, one of Italy’s top producers.

This vintage (which was about one-quarter less expensive than the first Arneis, and no, I don’t know why) was even more enjoyable. Look for white pepper, some subtle white fruit that stays just out of recognition, and that is still amazingly fresh even though it’s a three-year-old white wine in this era of drink it or toss it. It’s also rounder and fuller than most $15 white wines, without the acidic edges that even some chardonnays at that price have.

Highly recommended, especially if you want to try something other than chardonnay and more green apple fruit and fake vanilla. Drink it on its own to toast Mom, or with any sort of Mother’s Day brunch.