Tag Archives: sparkling wine

Mother’s Day wine 2022

mother's day
“Yes, honey. We’ll buy some of the WC’s Mother’s Day wine suggestions.”

Four suggestions — white, sparkling, rose, and red — for Mother’s Day 2022

The blog’s 16th annual Mother’s Day wine post speaks to how far we’ve come in making it OK to buy cheap wine, despite all the obstacles over the years.  So, as always, the emphasis is on value and quality — and with the reminder that we should buy Mom something she will enjoy and not something we think she should drink.

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

• Calcu Rosé Reserva Especial 2021 ($13, sample, 12.5%): Much more going on with this Chilean pink (a blend of malbec and petit verdot) than it would seem. Crisp, tart, stony, and barely ripe berry fruit. Highly recommended. Imported by Global Vineyard Importers

• Duquesa de Valladolid Verdejo 2020 ($10, purchased, 13.5%): Solid, professional Spanish white from the Rueda region. That means very bright lemon fruit, as well as very fresh and very crisp. What more can one ask for in $10 wine? Imported by Monsieur Touton Selections

• Paula Kornell Brut NV ($18, purchased, 12%): Quality California bubbly for less than $20 is almost unheard of, so the Kornell has gotten a lot of attention. Look for some sweet stone fruit, maybe some lemon, and lots and lots of bubbles.

• Castillo del Barón Monastrell 2019 ($9, purchased, 14.2%): I’ve been buying this Spanish red for several years, and it has never disappointed. It’s not too big and not too rough, as some can be, and it has not too noticeable tannins and just enough black fruit —  drink with a hearty weeknight dinner or Mother’s Day barbecue. Imported by Europvin

Photo: CarolinaJG, via MorgueFile

More about Mother’s Day wine:
• Mother’s Day wine 2021
• Mother’s Day wine 2020
• Mother’s Day wine 2019
• Expensive wine 151: Bellavista Franciacorta Cuvee Brut
• Wine of the week: Ken Forrester Chenin Blanc Petit 2019

Mini-reviews 155: Two Sicilian grillos and two sweet wines

pop culture winesReviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. This month, two grillos from Sicily and two sweet wines

• Stemmari Grillo 2020 ($8, purchased, 13%): Simple, not stupid, and professionally made Sicilian white. There’s some citrus (not too tart) and very refreshing. It just doesn’t taste like an Italian wine or like grillo. Imported by Prestige Wine Group

• Corvo Irmana 2020 ($18, sample, 12.5%): Fresh and fruity Sicilian white that doesn’t especially taste like grillo, either, and costs $6 more than it should. Imported by Disaronno International

• Villa Wolf Dry Riesling 2020 ($15, purchased, 11%): Overpriced and not especially dry German white. Some stone fruit; the sweetness hangs around as if the producer couldn’t decide whether to make a focus group wine or a German wine. Imported by Loosen Bros.

• Viticoltori Acquesi Brachetto d’Acqui NV ($18, sample, 65%): This fizzy Italian red is very sweet and almost creamy. Whether you want to pay $18 for this style of wine is up to you. Imported by Mack & Schuhle

Wine of the week: Corvezzo Prosecco Extra Dry NV

Corvezzo Prosecco Extra Dry NV/$12-$15

The Corvezzo Prosecco is a step up from the usual fizzy Italian sparkler

The Wine Curmudgeon has long had an indifferent relationship with Prosecco, the inexpensive Italian sparkling wine. On the one hand, quality has improved greatly over the past decade. On the other, not enough producers seem much interested in improving it past where it is – decently fizzy, sometimes not quite too sweet, and just enough fruit so that it tastes like wine.

So when I find a Prosecco that is more than that, I want to write about it.

Such is the Corvezzo Prosecco Extra Dry NV ($13, sample, 11.5%).

It’s noticeably sweet, but there’s enough acidity in the back so it’s mostly balanced. Again, sweetness itself isn’t necessarily a problem. There is also some sort of citrusy fruit, and the bubbles are very well done — almost creamy, which is rare for a Prosecco.

Just the thing for sipping this weekend, whether to bring in the New Year or for a holiday brunch. One note: You may see this with a variety of names, including an organic designation. As near as I can tell, they’re all the same wine.

Imported by Origins Organic Imports

 

New Year's sparkling wine 2019

New Year’s sparkling wine 2021

new year's sparkling wine
“Wow! The WC has found some value in those sparkling wines.”

New Year’s sparkling wine 2021 recommendations, where the focus is on value

This is not a great year for sparkling wine — lots of spot shortages, lots of too high prices thanks to the sport shortages, and so on and so forth. But never fear: the WC’s focus is on value with these four wines. Keep in mind the blog’s annual wine gift guidelines and our sparkling wine primer.

• Lucien Albrecht Crémant Brut NV ($23, sample, 12.5%): This French bubbly was once one of the world’s great wine values, but the price has increased  by almost one-half since then. Having said that, it’s still worth buying — a bit soft (apples and stone fruit instead of citrus), but that’s a terroir and grape thing, given the wine is made mostly with pinot blanc in Alsace. Highly recommended. Imported by Foley Family Wines 

• Dr. Loosen Riesling Extra Dry Sekt NV ($23, sample, 12%): Very well done riesling sparkling from Germany, with wonderful balance and those tight, delicious bubbles. Quite fresh, with tart green apple fruit and not especially sweet even though it’s extra dry. Imported by Loosen Bros USA

• Bouvet Brut NV ($12, purchased, 12%): Once again, the French Bouvet is a stunning value — zippy mouth feel and lemon apple fruit in a wine that puts other $12 sparklers to shame. Buy a case! Imported by Kobrand

• Bruno Paillard Champagne Brut Premiere Cuvée NV ($56, sample, 12%): Classic Champagne, made in the crisp, fresh, and less yeasty style, and a tremendous value given what Champagne costs. Look for citrus and green apple fruit and maybe some caramel in the back.  Imported by Serendipity Imports

More about New Year’s sparkling wine
• New Year’s sparkling wine 2020
• New Year’s sparkling wine 2019
• New Year’s sparkling wine 2018
• Expensive wine 147: Laherte Freres Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature NV
• The good old days of Texas Champagne

Photo:

Expensive wine 151: Bellavista Franciacorta Cuvee Brut

bellavista brut
Bellavista Cuvee Brut/$25-$55

Italian sparkling wine, made using the Champagne method, that offers quality and surprising value

Most Italian sparkling wine costs less than $15, comes from the Prosecco region, is made using the less expensive charmat method, and is fizzy and slightly sweet. Right, Big Blue?

But there are several other styles of sparkling made in Italy, with Franciacorta perhaps the best known (and yes, I know most of us still haven’t heard of it). I’ve never quite been able to figure out Franciacorta; why would anyone want to make Champagne-style bubbly with the same grapes used in France in Italy?

Having said that, I’ve tasted some terrific Franciacorta wines over the years. Typically, they’re pricey, though well-made, and they’ve shown up once or twice on the blog. The Bellavista ($35, sample, 12.5%) is also well-made and much less pricey – just the thing for the holidays.

Look for tight, Champagne-style bubbles, the traditional green apple fruit, not too much French-style yeastiness, and a very nice finish and back end that with surprisingly minerality. Considering its price as well as the cost of Champagne, the Bellavista is a tremendous value.

A word about vintages and availability. I tasted the 2008, which is long gone (and no doubt why I got the sample). But the wine is widely available in a variety of vintages, as well as a non-vintage wine. Most should be similar to what I tasted.

Imported by TMT USA

Christmas wine 2021

christmas wine 2020
“Yes, I know he used this picture last year. But it still does the job, yes? And maybe I can finally get a royalty.”

Four recommendations for Christmas wine 2021

Once again, the blog’s Christmas wine suggestions — whether for a last minute gift, something to drink when you just want a glass, or a holiday dinner. As always, keep our wine gift giving tips in mind — and don’t overlook the blog’s 2021 holiday gift guide (blog subscriptions, hint, hint).

These wines will get you started:

• Domaine Bousquet Brut Rose NV ($13, sample, 12%): This isn’t quite the stunner that the previous version was, but it’s still a fine value sparkling wine. Look for quality bubbles, some red fruit and a bit of citrus. The finish is a bit tart. Imported by Origins Organic Imports

• Domaine du Séminaire Côtes du Rhône 2019 ($17, purchased, 14.5%): This red is a balanced, structured and almost subtle Cote du Rhone from France. That means lots of berry fruit and some spice (licorice?) and maybe even some garrigue. Plus, of course, since we’re hipsters here, it uses concrete tanks. Imported by Martine’s Wines

• Moulin de Gassac Guilhem Rosé 2020 ($10, purchased, 12.5%): This is the rose from this French producer, and is almost as impressive. Look for more fruit tan expected (strawberries), plus a touch savory, and almost stony on the back. Imported by Polaner Selections

• Château Boisson Blanc 2018 ($12, purchased, 13%): Dependable white Bordeaux — fresh, lots of citrus, some minerality on the back. It’s not subtle, but it is professionally made and won’t disappoint if you’re looking for something white that tastes French. Imported by Virtuoso Selections

More about Christmas wine:
• Christmas wine 2019
• Christmas wine 2018
• Christmas wine 2017
• Wine of the week: Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc 2021
• Expensive wine 149: Vina Maquis Viola 2014

Photo: “guardian of wine” by marcostetter is marked with CC PDM 1.0

Holiday wine gift guide 2021

holiday gifts
“That metal foil cutter looks super cool.”

The Wine Curmudgeon’s holiday wine gift guide 2021 — which, of course, includes things that aren’t wine

Do a Google search for wine gifts, and they tend to repeat each other — as if one gift guide borrowed from another gift guide which borrowed from another gift guide. Consider this waterproof Bluetooth glass holder so you can listen to tunes and drink wine while in the shower. It showed up in so many gift roundups that it’s sold out.

Which, of course, we don’t do here. Hence, the blog’s 2021 holiday wine gift guide, which includes things that aren’t wine. And, as always, keep the blog’s wine gift buying guidelines in mind:

• Steven Spurrier: A Life in Wine ($45): Spurrier, who died this year, could have been the most important wine writer in those ancient, pre-Parker days. If he had not held the Judgment of Paris, who knows how long it would have taken California wine to take its place in the world? But Spurrier was much more than a wine writer; he was also an important wine educator and leading wine merchant who owned a wine shop in Paris  — hardly something most Britons would do.

• Smith-Madrone’s riesling ($35, sample, 12.9%) is a wine that reminds me just how amazing wine can be. For one thing, California doesn’t do much riesling, and it certainly doesn’t do much well. But this one is a revelation, combining California-style fruitiness with the varietal characteristics that make great riesling so much fun to drink. That means lime zest, a bit of tingliness in the back, a hint of petrol, some sweetness floating around to remind you it’s riesling, just enough acidity to greet the sweetness, and stoniness in the finish.

• Regular visitors know that the Wine Curmudgeon is not much for wine gadgets; he’d rather buy wine. Still, there’s something about this metal foil cutter ($25) that strikes me as worthwhile. Too many bottles still have foil caps and too many of those refuse to come off with a twist. And, frankly, using a waiter’s corkscrew to remove the foil leads to cursing and cut fingers. So why not a foil cutter?

• Laherte Freres Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature ($50, purchased, 12.5%) is an amazing bubbly, everything that Champagne – the sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France – should be, and especially for those of us who prefer a cleaner, more minerally style.  One estimate gives it another 20 years in the bottle, and I wouldn’t argue with that at all.

And, finally — shameless plug alert! — give the blog as a gift: One year of the newsletter at 20 percent off, just $56. Click this link to send a gift subscription. Use the email address of the person you’re giving the subscription to where it asks for an email, add a credit card, and they’ll get the $10 Hall of Fame, the Cheap Wine of the Year, and all of the rest — plus the rants and analysis that have made the blog what it is.

More holiday wine gift guides:
• Holiday wine gift guide 2020
• Holiday wine gift guide 2019
• Holiday wine gift guide 2018