Wine Club Notes

[tammylc]

As you may recall from my previous posts looking for help with food and wine pairing, I host a monthly wine club at the community where I live. This time I figured out the food pairings on my own, but I thought I'd share the results anyway.

Last night we tasted sparkling wines. We tasted one genuine Champagne, a Loire Valley sparkler, a Cava, and a wine from New Mexico. Each person scores the wines on a scale of 5 that just reflects how much they like them, no real formal evaluation. The scores below are the averages, and the range is the high and low score for each wine. We taste all the wines blind, first alone, then again with food. Then we do a big reveal at the end.

After the gathering, I thought it would be fun to compare what "real" reviewers said about the wines to what we said, so I looked some reviews up on the web.

#1 Segura Viudas Aria Estate Brut $8.99

Review from the web: This classy yet inexpensive bubbly is a great buy and provides a floral nose with hints of yeast that leads to a crisp balanced mouthful of bubbles.

What we said: Light but smooth and creamy, with good balance and a touch of lemon. Yeasty nose.Score: 3.4 Range: 4/3

# 2 Marquis de la Tour Brut, Loire Valley, France $10.99

Review from the web: Remarkably clean and balanced for the money, this is flawlessly made, with soft pear fruit, a light touch of sweetness and pleasantly soft mousse.

What we said: Very, very light bodied. Almost clear with irregularly sized bubbles. Flowers, peaches, "Cap 10," with a nice bite at the end. Score: 2.8 Range: 2/4

#3 Duval-Leroy Brut Champagne France $29.99

Review from the web: Complex and beguiling, with floral, rosemary, candied citrus and mineral aromas and flavors. This is both elegant and intense, with a vibrant structure and long finish. Ideal as an aperitif or with light foods.

What we said: Darker color. Much fuller nose and flavors. Lots of complexity - straw, earth, wet wood. Orange on the palate, good balance, full and rich with some viscousity. The biggest of the wines we tasted. Score: 4.1 Range: 3/5

#4 Gruet Brut "Method Champenoise" New Mexico $14.99

Review from the web: The Brut offers a crisp, and full-bodied sparkling wine, which has developed rich complexity and fine mousse. The allure of toasty finish from twenty-four months on tirage, is a complement to the sophisticated apple and citrus flavor. Winemaker's Note: Brilliant with ultra fine

bubbles. A wonderful fine bouquet dominated by green apple and grapefruit flavors. A truly classic house style!

What we said: Assertive, fruity nose. Refreshing apple flavors. Score: 4.0 Range: 3/5

In terms of overall evaluation, the real Champagne just narrowly edged out the Gruet from New Mexico, but since the Gruet is half the price ($15 vs $30), I'd say it was our find for the evening. And the Cava had great QPR. $30 Champagne aside, this crowd tends not to like French wines, as the Loire Valley sparkler scored lowest - one other person and I really liked it, but most people didn't.

Most people didn't find that the foods we had enhanced the taste of the wines any, but instead, that the wines made the food taste even better. We had a two year old aged gouda (Remeker), some Marcona almonds from Spain, and potato chips (which actually go *great* with champagne - who knew?). They weren't just any potato chips, but my favorite brand of thick cut kettle chips with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

[Brad Ballinger]

We had a two year old aged gouda (Remeker), some Marcona almonds from Spain, and potato chips (which actually go *great* with champagne - who knew?).  They weren't just any potato chips, but my favorite brand of thick cut kettle chips with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

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Salty and oily/fatty/creamy foods tend to go well with Champagne. Hence, typical pairings of smoked fish, caviar, etc. So the potato chips pairing isn't that surprising (and you'll find it recommended as a pairing in plenty of wine literature). Next time you pull the cork from a bottle, substitute the aged gouda with a double or triple creme, like Explorateur.

The Marquid de la Tour is a nice, easy bubbly to serve as an aperitif. Of the wines you served, it probably had the "fruitiest" profile. It's half chenin blanc with the rest of it being part sauvignon blanc and part chardonnay.