Non-Champagne faves?

[jbonne]

speaking of Champagne, i just released our look at French sparklers made a bit further away from Epernay and Rheims: It's French, it's sparkling, it's not Champagne

wondering what other eGers' experiences have been of late with these. are you finding cremants you keep coming back to? other obscure stuff that's risen to the surface lately?

[KatieLoeb]

I'm personally very fond of the Domaine Barmes-Buecher Cremant d'Alsace. It's an inexpensive alternative to Blanc de Blanc and it's incredibly tasty with fine bubbles and a very dry finish.

I have to respectfully disagree about Blanquette de Limoux. The few that I've tried have been delicious and a bargain by comparison with Champagne. But I've never had an overly yeasty one. Actually the overly yeasty thing is why I think Dom Perignon is so overrated. If you're going to spend that much money on a bottle of hulking muscular Champagne it better be Pol Roger Cuvee Winston Churchill. Nothing less will do.

[jbonne]

i have a feeling there may be some more subtle blanquettes out there, though it's possible that the AOC requirements just make it so. more likely, i suspect the blanquettes making their way through the Seattle area -- notably the Berlene -- are just not good wine. every time i see it at Whole Foods, i cringe.

one of these days, i should put the Limoux up against some real capital-C bubbly, just to compare the yeastiness.

[little ms foodie]

We tried a glass of Cremant d'Alsace last night due in part to this topic I had read and then recognizing it on a wine list. Very interesting. It absolutely tastes different than Champagne but honestly if I hadn't known what it was I don't think I would have questioned it. As a novice I'm just not that good. I picked up a lot of hazlenut flavor and it was "creamy" tasting. Anyway thanks Jon for the info on these, i would have never known.

[jbonne]

We tried a glass of Cremant d'Alsace last night due in part to this topic I had read and then recognizing it on a wine list. Very interesting. It absolutely tastes different than Champagne but honestly if I hadn't known what it was I don't think I would have questioned it. As a novice I'm just not that good. I picked up a lot of hazlenut flavor and it was "creamy" tasting. Anyway thanks Jon for the info on these, i would have never known.

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you're most welcome. just curious -- do you remember which cremant? some of the Alsatians blend in pinot blanc/pinot gris/riesling/whatever. which to me just makes the wine more interesting.

[little ms foodie]

We tried a glass of Cremant d'Alsace last night due in part to this topic I had read and then recognizing it on a wine list. Very interesting. It absolutely tastes different than Champagne but honestly if I hadn't known what it was I don't think I would have questioned it. As a novice I'm just not that good. I picked up a lot of hazlenut flavor and it was "creamy" tasting. Anyway thanks Jon for the info on these, i would have never known.

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you're most welcome. just curious -- do you remember which cremant? some of the Alsatians blend in pinot blanc/pinot gris/riesling/whatever. which to me just makes the wine more interesting.

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I honestly don't and unfortunately Le Pichet (where I had it) isn't online. They had a few different types that I recognized from your article. Stop it and have a glass!

[2roost]

Just to take the thread a little off-line I prefer Prosecco's as an alternative to Champagne. This is partially because I live in British Columbia where the selection of Cremant is virtually zero 9the monopoly carries only 1 Pierre Sparr Brut Reserve at $27 while a number of good Prosecco are available.

[JPW]

I, too, am a convert to non-Champagne French sparkling wine. A new favorite local restaurant (Jackie's) introduced me to Cremant d'Alsace a few weeks ago. They are pouring Wolfberger. I thought it was very interesting. More importantly, Mrs. JPW, who tends to dislike sparklers, said "Wow, we need to get some more of this." I am currently working my way through all of the C d'A's I can find in my local wine shops.

[Jason Perlow]

Some more suggestions on this thread:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=10340

By far my favorite Non-Champagne, and domestic at that, has to be the Argyle Brut from the Willemete Valley in Oregon ($15?). If you can get the Extended Tirage ($25-$40 depending on vintage), even better. The Rose' is a really kickass sparkler as well, but harder to come by.

[jbonne]

i adore proseccos, but i think of them really as summer wine. the light lemon notes and such in them, tend to be more hot-weather tastes for me.

i agree with Jason -- the Argyle is wonderful. my other votes for domestics are Mountain Dome from WA (NV, but the '97 brut is even more gorgeous) and Gruet NV brut from NM. but i'm supposed to cover all this in next week's column, so i'll have to wait 'til then to hold forth.

[jrufusj]

Continuing the recent topic drift toward Italy...

It is not really a low cost alternative, but I love Bruno Giacosa's Brut Extra.

Here is a recent note on the 2000.

The wine had a really tightly wound core of acidity, like a spring waiting to explode, surrounded by slight yeast/toast, apple and apricot fruit, and a surprisingly big (but pleasing) mouthfeel. I really enjoyed the two bottles I bought and drank. I will also be buying more to lay down. I can't wait to see how this wine develops over 10 years or so. The core of springlike acidity promises a great life. I'll be interested also to see how the yeast/toast comes out. The low level of yeast/toast was the biggest difference I noticed versus a BdN Champagne, though it normally takes some time for that to come out in more age-worthy champers as well.

The wine is a Blanc de Noirs made, I believe, entirely from Pinot Niero. The grapes are grown in Oltrepo Pavese in Lombardy, near the Franciacorte DOC area.

Then again, you should discount this note by the fact that I love everything Giacosa does. He is one of my favorite growers/producers from any region, period.

[MaxH]

wondering what other eGers' experiences have been of late with these. are you finding cremants you keep coming back to?  other obscure stuff that's risen to the surface lately?

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Have had very good results in the US over the last couple of decades with available Crémants de Bourgogne, Blanquettes de Limoux, and sparkling Côtes de Jura.

Few months ago a venerable food-wine group that explores and promotes wines of Burgundy served [with snails in puff pastry and steak tartare with oyster] NV Louis Bouillot Crémant de Bourgogne Perle Noir. Finely yeasty, long-flavored, in a more than usually Champagne style. (The group made a toast saluting the people of Burgundy.) Later in the same meal, NV Louis Bouillot Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé. Pleasant tart strawberry sparkler.

In my own purchases I've respected for many years the products and the value from Roederer Estate, in the Anderson Valley in California. Set up by the family-owned Roederer Champagne house and long under the direction of the respected former professor Michel Salgues, this US firm and Salgues deserve some credit, in my opinion, for the impressive elevating of the general standards of premium California sparkling wines that unfolded over the 1980s. (Those who remember the pre-1980 California sparkling wine scene may know what I mean.) I ran into Salgues in Boonville a couple of years ago, and told him so. The firm does a particular aged vintage product called Brut Hermitage, though the price gets up to those of Champagnes, and therefore higher than the non-Champagne sparklers that are the point of this thread.

-- Max

[jbonne]

Few months ago a venerable food-wine group that explores and promotes wines of Burgundy served [with snails in puff pastry and steak tartare with oyster] NV Louis Bouillot Crémant de Bourgogne Perle Noir. Finely yeasty, long-flavored, in a more than usually Champagne style. (The group made a toast saluting the people of Burgundy.) Later in the same meal, NV Louis Bouillot Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé. Pleasant tart strawberry sparkler.

i really enjoyed both those Bouillots. and Roederer, though i'm sort of Roederered out right now. i really wish i could source a Limoux or a sparkling Jura that i liked. keep trying, with no luck. suggestions welcome.

on the Giacosa above, we tried to get a bottle of the '97 Giacosa brut (on the list for, like, 17 euros) as an apertif during my birthday dinner in Piedmont. and they were SOLD OUT!! i've been craving some of that ever since.

part 2 of my walk through non-Champagne published today.

[waves2ya]

Fingered thru these threads a week ago and thought about our festive imbibing; we drink (as opposed to collect) wines - and things - so don't always have the scratch for vintage. Our favorite is Perrier Jouet but also seem to have Nicolas Feuillatte or Taittinger around, as well; however...

I am very fond of Boyer Brut, a blanc de blancs. Wotta price. So smooth and delicate - tho' certainly not as complex as aforementioned champagne brethren.

During the season I often find myself with a bottle at the ready - or ready to go -and it does a great job of lightly setting a tone & opening the palate...

[MaxH]

i really wish i could source a Limoux or a sparkling Jura that i liked. keep trying, with no luck. suggestions welcome.

My own experience with both of those appelations is mostly older, particularly the Jura. Could probably dig out the notes but a tasting note that may be 15 years old is scraping the bottom of the barrel, surely. Of the non-Champagne French products, I've encountered more creditable Crémants de Bourgogne than any others, easily. Several good Spanish sparklers also over the years.

Solid sparkling wines can last for years in cool storage, a consumer can stock up when there's an unusual supply, or a sale from a good merchant. In 1999, there was all this jockeying among wine merchants to have adequate supply on hand for an expected big New Year's Eve. With the same concern I laid in at home, early in the year, a "reserve" of the premium Roederer-Estate product from California, "Brut Hermitage" (it was the 1993 vintage at the time, I remember). Then as Y2K approached, people were apprehensive with vague millenial concerns, and demand for Champagnes in my region was weak, there were some good retail sales eventually. (New Year's eve turned out to be pretty quiet and moderate; The Roederer Estate lasted well beyond that date.)

part 2 of my walk through non-Champagne published today.

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Very good survey articles I thought. (I could be mistaken but it looked as if your word allocation is tighter than some Burgundy distributions! :-)

Cheers -- Max

[jbonne]

Very good survey articles I thought.  (I could be mistaken but it looked as if your word allocation is tighter than some Burgundy distributions!  :-)

and how.

just to confuse things, we indulged in a bottle of Argyle 1994 extended tirage brut on Friday to go with bouillabaisse. i wasn't so keen on the '93, but this is the 2nd time having the '94 and it's just a wonderful wine. layer after layer, and all in balance. great stuff.

[Jason Perlow]

I don't have the '93 or the '94, I have the '91, and its great stuff. Supposedly the '89 is stellar but I never got ahold of any.

[glossyp]

and Gruet NV brut from NM

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I love this as well...it is incredibly difficult to find here in Hawaii. I rang every wine shop in town and most responses were huffy "we carry no wines from New Mexico!" but finally tracked down a place willing to get it for me.

Just read the second part of your article and was delighted to see you mention the Lindauer Brut - it's a wonderful wine.

Edited December 28, 2004 by glossyp (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I really like "J", a California sparkler. I drink it and I frequently give it, but I seldom get much response, other than a perfunctary "thank you". Can I get one here?

[MileHiWine]

Well, I will give you a thank you. I really enjoy the 'J' California Sparkler. My fiance has bought it to celebrate my birthday a few times. I also agree the Mountain Dome Sparkling wine from Washington stands out in the crowd. I however prefer their Rose.

I recently had the opportunity to do a component tasting of their wines before they blended them, it was facinating to see each part come together and create different styles.

[jbonne]

I don't have the '93 or the '94, I have the '91, and its great stuff. Supposedly the '89 is stellar but I never got ahold of any.

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when i tried the '93, i thought it had actually passed its prime. but now i'm thinking i may just have had an off bottle. (which would be weird, because i tasted it at their tasting room.)

haven't had the '91, but i can only imagine ...

Just read the second part of your article and was delighted to see you mention the Lindauer Brut - it's a wonderful wine.

i was surprised how much we liked the Lindauer, seeing as i had pretty modest hopes for it. makes perfect sense, though, given how well NZ does with its pinots and unoaked chards. that price point's hard to beat, too.

[Natalie MacLean]

I don't have the '93 or the '94, I have the '91, and its great stuff. Supposedly the '89 is stellar but I never got ahold of any.

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I haven't tried that one Jason, but I'm going to look for it. When I'm asked for my fav bubbly, my choice is usuall Roederer Brut from California, which is about $25. It has lots of fruit but is still balanced and toasty. I think it's a great value too.

Happy New Year!

Natalie

[Jason Perlow]

Fat Guy and I had some Gruet NV Blanc De Noirs with some Thai food last week, we thought it was a really nice wine, perhaps slightly sweet, which went really good with the spicy food. At $13.99 here at my local wine store, its a good buy. On jbonne's recommendation I most definitely want to try their Brut as well, which goes for about the same price. Their Blanc de Blancs goes for about $22-25 and their Rose is $30 from their web site (and they only made 280 cases???) which I haven't tried either. Anyone?

http://www.gruetwinery.com/wines.htm

[KatieLoeb]

Jason:

I love the Gruet, and you could've knocked me over with a feather the first time I was told it was from New Mexico. "They grow grapes in the desert???", I said incredulously. Who knew?? I was actually introduced to it as the house sparkling wine at The Tasting Room restaurant in New York. They have an all-American wine list and the lovely FOH Manager Renee suggested I try a glass. I think it's one of the best domestic sparklers out there as well as an incredibly good value.

Additionally the J sparkler, the Argyle Brut and the Roederer Estate are all delicious choices others have mentioned. The Domaine Tattinger "La Reve" is something I tried recently that really surprised me. About the closest taste to true French Champagne I think I've had from a domestic product. And the Chateau St. Michelle Blanc de Blanc from Washington in pretty tasty and Champagne-like for the price as well.

[Devotay]

Unless I missed it, no one mentioned any Cava. Here's my column which ran on the Wednesday before New Year's. It includes a nice mussel recipe:

Table Wine

By Chef Kurt Michael Friese

29 December 2004

Jaume Serra Winery

In 1647, about 30 miles south of Barcelona on a hilltop in the Garraf region of the Penedés, a castle was built.  It came complete with a dazzling blue ceramic turret and a secret escape tunnel that was used during the wars with France.  For the centuries before the advent of electricity, the turret was used as a lighthouse because of its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea.  Today the castle still holds the battle scars left by the Spanish Civil War.

Records of winemaking on the property date back to 1847, and in 1943 it was purchased by renowned oenologist Jaume Serra.  The Rato family bought it in 1975, and built a modern winery on the site in 1984.  Today, their sons use the vineyards - the only vineyards in Spain with a view of the Mediterranean - to make a wide variety of wines.  Tempranillo, Macabeo, Merlot, and Cabernet are all grown there.

This is the Penedés, though, and it is the combination of Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada that give the winery its popularity in the US.  With these grapes, the Rato brothers make Cava, the sparkling wine of Spain.  The name “Cava” is simply the Spanish word for “cave,” and refers to where these wines are aged. 

Keep in mind that this is not Champagne, nor is the Prosecco or D’Asti of Italy, nor the sparklers of California.  Champagne can only be made in the region of the same name, near Paris.  It is a distinct wine for a multitude of reasons; some are qualities, some are legalities.  This in turn does not mean that there aren’t some perfectly enjoyable, often fantastic sparkling wines from outside Champagne; only that they are different.

Just to keep things confusing, you will often find winemakers from almost any region making sparkling wine labeled with the words Methode Champenoise, this simply means that they use the same vinifiying methods as Champagne; those perfected by (though not invented by) Dom Perignon a couple centuries back.  Jaume Serra Winery’s Cristalino Cava Brut NV is one such wine.  They use the same type of stronger bottle, Spanish cork and wire cage recommended by the French monk, as well as methods such as riddling and discourgment that help create the yeasty characteristics and, of course, the bubbles.  The result, in the case of the Cristalino, is a delightful, creamy, apple and peach-laden treat.  There is a pleasant green-gold color, fine bubbles, and a nose like the cinnamon toast my mom used to make for me when I was little.

When you compare all of this, at $8/btl and $88/cs, to the typical Champagne prices of $30/btl and up, it’s easy to see why Cristalino Cava is the wise choice for your New Year’s celebration.  For that matter, it’s tasty anytime.  Try it with some raw Delaware Bay oysters, or with the mussel recipe below.

And here’s a raised glass to you: may the New Year find you surrounded by family and friends.

Poached Mussels with Parsley-Pepper Vinaigrette

6 pounds mussels

4 each bay leaves

2 cups dry white wine

Water

2 each onion

3/4 cup roasted red peppers, minced

1/2 cup pepperoncini peppers, minced

6 tablespoons Italian parsley

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

6 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper, to taste

Lemon wedges, to garnish

Parsley sprigs, to garnish

In a large pot, bring the wine, water, and one of the onions (split) to a simmer.  Poach the mussels.  Each mussel is done when it pops open (usually about 3-4 minutes).  This may be done in several batches, if necessary.

While they're poaching, mince the other onion and combine with the peppers, pepperoncini, parsley, oil, vinegar and salt & pepper.  Whisk together, and then toss with the warm (not hot!) mussels.  Serve immediately with crusty bread, garnished with lemon and parsley.

Serves 8

Table Wine is a weekly feature of The Press-Citizen.  Prices listed are estimated retail.  Chef Kurt Michael Friese is co-owner with his wife, Kim, of the Iowa City restaurant Devotay, and serves on the Slow Food USA Board of Governors.  He lives in rural Johnson County.