By Seema Tikare
My favorite parties are those when I walk into-the room and the host greets me with sparkling wine. It is immediately off to a great start. It eases all the awkward introductions if you don’t know someone, the decision of whether you need to take your shoes off, how to give the host gift in a friendly way, where to put your purse and so forth. A glass of something fizzy and beautiful is the butter that allows you to glide through the formalities and get to the actual party. Coco Chanel once said: “I only drink Champagne on two occasions: when I am in love and when I am not”. While it sounds rather pretentious, I appreciate the sentiment. (...)
It is a huge mistake to think of sparkling wine as something to reserve for celebrations and not serve it with a meal. It is one of those amazing chameleon wines. It can be drunk alone, with cheese and canapes, with a meal in the afternoon or evening, or with dessert. And it is one of those unusual wine that is entirely appropriate when the weather outside is frightful and when it is delightful. In the summer, the temperature cools you down and in the winter, the bubbles warm you up.
In previous article I have written about the laborious and time-consuming process of traditional method sparkling wine making – the second fermentation which produces the bubbles is finished in the final bottle, and the yeasts or lees are disgorged. Then the wine is prepared for final cork and cage closing. The result is a wine that has more complex flavors, including astry notes from the lees aging and finer and more persistent bubbles. (...)
Made with 55% Cabernet Franc and 45% Semillon grapes, this is a delicious combination. The Cabernet Franc portion of the wine is a blanc de noir and the Semillon is a blanc de blanc, meaning this wine is not a rose despite including red grapes. This pale-yellow colored wine is fresh and flavorful. The base wine is 30% fermented in new oak barrels then put into the bottle to be aged on the lees for 12 months. Between the oak and lees, this wine has wonderful notes of vanilla and brioche that overlay the lemon and apple and even a hint of stone fruit. And “Brut” means that it has up to 12 g/liter of sugar added at the end to soften it a bit. It is perfect wine to kick-off an evening of un. Available from United Liquors.
Learn more about Barton & Guestier Cremant de Bordeaux Brut.
Read the full article HERE.
