TESTING 1-2-3: Sparkling wine, bargain prices
By Sabine Morrow
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Ringing in the new year with a budget in mind isn’t always easy, especially when you want to toast to the promise of good health and prosperity with a nice bubbly in your glass. While a top vintage champagne can indeed break the bank, there are alternatives that allow you to revel in the festivities while enjoying a lovely glass of sparkling wine —- and still keep a little change in your pockets.
I found three sparkling wines under $20, and one of them under $10. While I know good wines are available at bargain prices, and I can even tell a decent wine from one that’s a few minutes away from salad dressing, I’m also aware of my limitations, and I don’t really know beads from Brix when it comes to wine. And that’s why I sought out the help of a professional palate. Michael Nix, the wine consultant at the Cook’s Warehouse and Sherlock’s Wine Merchant, agreed to taste test the trio of sparkling wines, none of which came from his store.
He poured and tasted Mumm Napa Brut Prestige, Jean-Louis Cuvee Blanc de Blancs Brut by Charles de Fere and Risque Vin Vivant by Toad Hollow Vineyards. His results follow:
Mumm Napa Brut Prestige sparkling wine
$17.99 for a 750 ml bottle at Cost Plus World Market stores
First look: This familiar name in sparkling wines comes in a traditional olive green champagne bottle designed with a slightly wider body than that of its close relative, the Burgundy bottle. The neck and cork are wrapped with gold foil, and the body boasts an elegant black-and-gold label.
The rundown: The label touts methode traditionnelle, which means that Mumm uses the traditional French method (methode champenoise) for making champagne, but that the wine is made outside of France. It comes down to this: While all champagnes are considered sparkling wines, not all sparkling wines are champagne. And in some countries, it’s illegal to label sparkling wine champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region of France.
Upside: This wine is a standout in its class. Mumm Napa’s much-heralded blend of 51 percent Pinot Noir, 46 percent Chardonnay, 2 percent Pinot Meunier and 1 percent Pinot Gris starts with a toasty and slightly yeasty nose. Once on the palate, this medium-bodied gem delivers a complex and beautiful balance between peachy-citrusy fruit and its underlying minerality. The long finish is topped with a whisper of vanilla.
Downside: This sparkler can be somewhat hard to find.
Bottom line: Enjoy this one by itself for the full effect.
Risque Vin Vivant by Toad Hollow Vineyards
$12.79 for 750 ml bottle at Total Wine & More, 124 Perimeter Center West, Atlanta, 770-395-1678
First look: The pretty yellow label is an attention-getter with a Toulouse-Lautrec-inspired can-can dancer in front of a windmill who, upon closer inspection, turns out to be a toad. While the bottle features a traditional cork in a wire cage, it also comes with an old-fashioned metal and white porcelain flip top with a red rubber gasket so that you can seal the bottle if you don’t drink it in one sitting.
The rundown: This sparkling wine produced in the south of France is billed as employing the methode ancestrale, a rarely used, early bottling method that turns out a sweeter, less fizzy experience than champagne, and with a lower alcohol content. It’s produced and bottled by Les Vignerons du Sieur d’Arques, Limoux, France, and imported by Toad Hollow in Healdsburg, Calif. Toad Hollow was co-founded by Todd Williams, actor Robin Williams’ older brother, who died last year.
Upside: A delicate yet expressive bouquet on the nose is followed by loads of honey and melon on the palate. There is a subtle sweetness that is both refined and noncloying, and adds an unexpected dose of elegance. It contains only 6 percent alcohol.
Downside: Those of you who can’t forgive Robin Williams for starring in “Death to Smoochy” might hold a grudge against his late brother’s vineyard, but you’d only be cheating yourself out of a lovely glass of sparkling wine.
Bottom line: It’s ambrosia in a glass.
Jean-Louis Cuvee Blanc de Blancs Brut by Charles de Fere
$9.99 at Cost Plus World Market and select liquor stores
First look: It comes in the standard green bottle but it’s set off by silver foil on the neck and top, and the pale blue label with white, silver and gold lettering makes it look far more expensive than its under-$10 price tag suggests. It features a tag boasting that it received 87 points, Best Buy from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
The rundown: Produced in France, this sparkling wine is categorized as the varietal blanc de blancs, a white wine made from white grapes that include Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard.
Upside: A wonderful expression of a Blanc de Blancs Brut. This wine has a light to medium body and a slightly shy nose that leads to soft and pretty fruit on the palate. Look for notes of apricot, dried pineapple and a very subtle note of citrus, specifically lemon and lime. The Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard grapes are fermented in the Charmat method, which also is known as tank or bulk, allowing for a terrific product at an affordable price.
Down side: This is a deal for the price, so stock up before it becomes hard to find.
Bottom line: By itself or used in a Mimosa, this one’s a keeper.
Got a product for a pro to test? Let us know at ajc.com/buyersedge
Every other week “Testing 1-2-3” road-tests a wide range of products. It’s not scientific testing —- we use the items just as consumers do, checking to see whether they deliver as promised. The tests can help you make buying decisions.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Ringing in the new year with a budget in mind isn’t always easy, especially when you want to toast to the promise of good health and prosperity with a nice bubbly in your glass. While a top vintage champagne can indeed break the bank, there are alternatives that allow you to revel in the festivities while enjoying a lovely glass of sparkling wine —- and still keep a little change in your pockets.
I found three sparkling wines under $20, and one of them under $10. While I know good wines are available at bargain prices, and I can even tell a decent wine from one that’s a few minutes away from salad dressing, I’m also aware of my limitations, and I don’t really know beads from Brix when it comes to wine. And that’s why I sought out the help of a professional palate. Michael Nix, the wine consultant at the Cook’s Warehouse and Sherlock’s Wine Merchant, agreed to taste test the trio of sparkling wines, none of which came from his store.
He poured and tasted Mumm Napa Brut Prestige, Jean-Louis Cuvee Blanc de Blancs Brut by Charles de Fere and Risque Vin Vivant by Toad Hollow Vineyards. His results follow:
Mumm Napa Brut Prestige sparkling wine
$17.99 for a 750 ml bottle at Cost Plus World Market stores
First look: This familiar name in sparkling wines comes in a traditional olive green champagne bottle designed with a slightly wider body than that of its close relative, the Burgundy bottle. The neck and cork are wrapped with gold foil, and the body boasts an elegant black-and-gold label.
The rundown: The label touts methode traditionnelle, which means that Mumm uses the traditional French method (methode champenoise) for making champagne, but that the wine is made outside of France. It comes down to this: While all champagnes are considered sparkling wines, not all sparkling wines are champagne. And in some countries, it’s illegal to label sparkling wine champagne unless it comes from the Champagne region of France.
Upside: This wine is a standout in its class. Mumm Napa’s much-heralded blend of 51 percent Pinot Noir, 46 percent Chardonnay, 2 percent Pinot Meunier and 1 percent Pinot Gris starts with a toasty and slightly yeasty nose. Once on the palate, this medium-bodied gem delivers a complex and beautiful balance between peachy-citrusy fruit and its underlying minerality. The long finish is topped with a whisper of vanilla.
Downside: This sparkler can be somewhat hard to find.
Bottom line: Enjoy this one by itself for the full effect.
Risque Vin Vivant by Toad Hollow Vineyards
$12.79 for 750 ml bottle at Total Wine & More, 124 Perimeter Center West, Atlanta, 770-395-1678
First look: The pretty yellow label is an attention-getter with a Toulouse-Lautrec-inspired can-can dancer in front of a windmill who, upon closer inspection, turns out to be a toad. While the bottle features a traditional cork in a wire cage, it also comes with an old-fashioned metal and white porcelain flip top with a red rubber gasket so that you can seal the bottle if you don’t drink it in one sitting.
The rundown: This sparkling wine produced in the south of France is billed as employing the methode ancestrale, a rarely used, early bottling method that turns out a sweeter, less fizzy experience than champagne, and with a lower alcohol content. It’s produced and bottled by Les Vignerons du Sieur d’Arques, Limoux, France, and imported by Toad Hollow in Healdsburg, Calif. Toad Hollow was co-founded by Todd Williams, actor Robin Williams’ older brother, who died last year.
Upside: A delicate yet expressive bouquet on the nose is followed by loads of honey and melon on the palate. There is a subtle sweetness that is both refined and noncloying, and adds an unexpected dose of elegance. It contains only 6 percent alcohol.
Downside: Those of you who can’t forgive Robin Williams for starring in “Death to Smoochy” might hold a grudge against his late brother’s vineyard, but you’d only be cheating yourself out of a lovely glass of sparkling wine.
Bottom line: It’s ambrosia in a glass.
Jean-Louis Cuvee Blanc de Blancs Brut by Charles de Fere
$9.99 at Cost Plus World Market and select liquor stores
First look: It comes in the standard green bottle but it’s set off by silver foil on the neck and top, and the pale blue label with white, silver and gold lettering makes it look far more expensive than its under-$10 price tag suggests. It features a tag boasting that it received 87 points, Best Buy from Wine Enthusiast Magazine.
The rundown: Produced in France, this sparkling wine is categorized as the varietal blanc de blancs, a white wine made from white grapes that include Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard.
Upside: A wonderful expression of a Blanc de Blancs Brut. This wine has a light to medium body and a slightly shy nose that leads to soft and pretty fruit on the palate. Look for notes of apricot, dried pineapple and a very subtle note of citrus, specifically lemon and lime. The Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche and Colombard grapes are fermented in the Charmat method, which also is known as tank or bulk, allowing for a terrific product at an affordable price.
Down side: This is a deal for the price, so stock up before it becomes hard to find.
Bottom line: By itself or used in a Mimosa, this one’s a keeper.
Got a product for a pro to test? Let us know at ajc.com/buyersedge
Every other week “Testing 1-2-3” road-tests a wide range of products. It’s not scientific testing —- we use the items just as consumers do, checking to see whether they deliver as promised. The tests can help you make buying decisions.
Labels: bargain, sparkling wine
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