Sparkling Flashcards
Chenin Blanc Huet ‘Petillant Reserve’ Brut Vouvray Loire Valley France 2009
Winemakers: Jean-Bernard Berthomé & Noël Pingue
Vedor: Polaner
It is widely believed that the estate is today making the most consistently great wines in its history. Pinguet was one of the earliest adopters of biodynamic practices, and the domaine’s recent wines achieve a fascinating level of transparency, purity and knife-edged balance. / Each of Huet’s three iconic vineyards imparts a different signature to its wine. Le Haut-Lieu’s deep limeston-clay soil produces wines that typically blossom early. Le Mont has less clay and more stone, yielding young wines of intense minerality. With age, Le Mont cuvées develop great length and finesse. And due to its extremely shallow, stony soils, Clos du Bourg often synthesizes Le Mont’s intense minerality with Le Haut-Lieu’s generous texture. / In any given vintage, the estate can produce up to four different cuvées from each site: Sec, Demi-Sec, Moelleux, or Moelleux 1ère Trie, or “first selection.” / A superb sparkling Pétillant is also made, drawing grapes from all three vineyards, as well as from other small parcels on the estate
Bottled before primary fermentation is finished, resulting in a lower pressure sparkling wine - pétillant - because only a portion of the fermentation occurs inside the bottle. Yeast is added to ensure the fermentation progresses smoothly. Once finished the wine is disgorged. Dosage = 10 g/l.
chalk, citrus zing, spiced stonefruit
Chardonnay + Pinot Noir Jansz ‘Premium Cuvée’ Tasmania Australia MV
Winemaker: Natalie Fryar
Vendor: Winebow
Known as Méthode Tasmanoise! Judges were asking questions about Jansz at TopSomm, so… The name Jansz pays homage to Tasmania’s namesake, the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman who first sighted the island in 1642. When the Jansz vineyard was established in 1975, it was originally named after Tasman’s ship, the Heemskerk. In 1986, esteemed Champagne house - Louis Roederer partnered with the owners of Heemskerk Wines to produce Tasmania’s first premium vintage sparkling wine. In 1997, the Hill-Smith family purchased the vineyard and began the journey that has seen Jansz Tasmania become the most highly regarded sparkling wine house in Australia. The vineyard sits to the northeast of the island state within the Pipers River region of the Tamar Valley. This cool little corner is colloquially known as ‘Sparkling Tasmania’, with climatic conditions that rival Champagne. Temperatures here are moderated by close proximity to Bass Strait. The ocean breezes keep the temperature up during winter – minimizing risk of frost, and down in summer – allowing the grapes to ripen slowly. Free-draining red basalt soils. Natalie Fryar is the winemaker with a history of experience and acclaim, she knew what she wanted to do when she was 12 years old. All batches are kept separate during winemaking to maximize blending options. Aged on lees with the average age of the final blend being 18 months to two years.
green/yellow apple, pie crust, tart pineapple
Chardonnay/Pinot Bereche et Fils ‘Brut Reserve’ Champagne France MV
This old domaine was founded in 1847. Yet, it has been the innovative work of young Raphaël and Vincent Bérêche that has made this one of the most talked about Champagne houses among France’s sommeliers, cavistes and connoisseurs. With lavish praise from Peter Liem and Antonio Galloni, the same is beginning to happen the United States. / Building on a strong foundation of traditional Champagne making learned from their father, Raphaël and Vincent are two of the region’s most insatiably curious vignerons. To that end, their portfolio not only includes an extraordinarily vibrant NV Brut Réserve, but several micro-cuvées brilliantly conceived to express different aspects of terroir, vintage and grape variety.
The range begins with the Brut Réserve, a blend of 70% wines from the base year with the balance reserve wines, composed from approximately one-third each of the three major varieties. A model of harmony, nuance and verve, it is a pure expression of the domaine’s varied terroirs that demonstrates both the Bérêche brothers great skill and their originality.
chalk, toasted brioche, almond, quince
Chardonnay Pierre Péters ‘Les Chétillons’ Blanc de Blancs Champagne France 2009
Winemaker: Rodolphe Péters
Vendor: Skurnik
Pierre Péters is a grower-producer (RM) located in the Cote de Blancs, and their reputation is founded upon their classic & sleek blanc de blancs Champagnes. Currently in its sixth generation, the estate is run by Rodolphe Péters, grandson of Pierre. The majority of their vineyards are located in Les Mesnil-sur-Oger, and the vintage Champagnes rely heavily on fruit from this vineyard. Their other vineyards are in the Grand Crus of Avize, Oger, and Cramant. They aim to showcase the subtleties of terroir in their wines and thus chose to farm sustainably and ferment in stainless steel. The Champagnes are considered racy, elegant, and mineral driven. /In order to maintain the freshness and elegance of Chardonnay, they chose to ferment exclusively in stainless steel. All wines go through malolactic fermentation. The dosage varies, depending on the wine, though in general falls between 2-6 g/l.
The 2009 Cuvée Spéciale Les Chétillons is pure Mesnil. Three parcels of vines, ranging from 40 to 70 years of age, within one of the most highly regarded vineyards in Champagne, yield the grapes used to make this legendary cuvée. It is the most complex and demanding wine from Pierre Peters. Their wines are light, elegant, pure, and fresh. The Les Chétillons gets to be a little more racy and powerful. Golden Robes and pretty ribbons. Ginger bread spices, apricots, toasted almonds.
2009 - After early complications a superb summer produced a clean crop of high quality, with particularly good Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims. Wines are plump and approachable (JR)
pear, chalk, toasted hazelnut, apricot, passion fruit
Chardonnay Wenzlau ‘Cuvée L’Inconnu’ Blanc de Blanc Sta. Rita Hills Santa Barbara California USA 2012 - $130
Cindy & Bill Wenzlau bought 100 acres on Western edge of Santa Rita Hills - cool and foggy plot, specialized in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay - 12.5 acres organically farmed. Justin Willet is winemaker. Cedric Bouchard tasted with Justin Willet and encouraged him to make sparkling wine from this site, extra brut / L’Inconnu is sourced from a single plot that’s located 7 miles away from the ocean and sees a blanket of fog that helps keep the cool and maintain a vibrant acidity. The alluvial soils with rocks and seashells add a firm mineral backbone.
Pinot Noir Analemma ‘Atavus Vineyard’ Blanc de Noir Columbia Gorge Washington USA 2011 - $115
Hailed by some as the best sparkling wine from Washington to date / Founded by Steven Thompson and Kris Fade in 2010, Analemma Wines was built upon the opportunity to lease one of the oldest vineyards in the Pacific Northwest: The Atavus Vineyard - at the foothills of Mount Adams // The analemma is a figure 8 shape made by the Sun’s annual migratory path between the Northern and southern hemispheres as seen from the Earth. This pattern is caused by the tilt of the Earth’s axis and is a visual cue of the Sun’s movement through the calendar year - the analemma’s shape presents a fingerprint of place that speaks of a site’s soil, microclimate and culture / Atavus Vineyard has been dry farmed since its inception in the late 1960’s. A combined vision of owner Charles Henderson and Dr. Walter J. Clore, this site was destined for Alsatian-inspired Gewürztraminer and the Swiss-originating Mariafeld clone of Pinot Noir. The high elevation nature of this site presents conditions that help establish the boundaries of cool climate viticulture. Receiving an annual rainfall of approximately 35 inches, Atavus vineyard has existed by the generosity of mother nature’s moisture
The wine spends an astounding 42 months on the lees, well beyond anything else I’m aware of in Washington State. This extended aging regimen has helped to jam pack the bubbly full of complexity and nuance. Visually, the wine does show just a slight hint of coppery pink color, extracted from the Pinot Noir Grapes. The nose has just a hint of strawberries, cherry blossoms, and citrus peel. The palate immediately fills your mouth with bubbles and has a smooth creamy texture. There are hints of almond flavors, along with toasty warm notes freshly baked biscuits. The wine has a rich and supple finish, with lots of exuberant acidity, as is the hallmark of many Columbia Gorge Wines.
Rosé Valdiguié Cruse Wine Co ‘Rancho Chimiles’ Pétillant Naturel Napa Valley California USA 2013 - $75
Michael Cruse - 2016 SF Chronicle Wine Maker of the Year / Valdiguie - grape formally known as Napa Gamay - 950 acres in Napa in the 1970s, now only 21 acres remain and Cruse’s Valdiguié vineyards are among those survivors: Rancho Chimiles in Wooden Valley, planted in 1972; the Deming site in Calistoga, 1959. “The grape was in high demand then,” says Cruse, 36. Like Gamay from Beaujolais, Valdiguié is fruity and open-knit, but it’s often fuller and fleshier: In other words, more Californian. Cruse likes the grape because it’s delicious, and because he can sell it for a reasonable price ($29), but most of all for its historical significance in Napa. // Cruse’s pet-nats — ancestral-method sparkling wines, made by simply bottling the wine mid-fermentation to trap carbon dioxide — are unfailingly clean and focused. The 2015 sparkling Valdiguié tastes like ripe, sweet tomatoes; though texturally austere, its flavors are generous.
Rosé Chardonnay + Pinot Noir Sandhi Brut Nature Sta. Rita Hills Santa Barbara California USA 2012 - $145
Small production California winery focusing on select vineyards from the Sta. Rita Hills in Santa Barbara Country - collaboration between Rajat Parr (wine director for Michael Mina restaurants) and Sashi Moorman (Stolpman)
Rosé Pinot Noir Under the Wire ‘Alder Springs Vineyard’ Mendocino California USA 2013
Chris Cottrell and Morgan Twain Peterson - part of the new wave of California winemakers inspired by the grower producer movement in Champagne - aiming to showcase single varietal, single vineyard, single vintage sparkling wines from California - aiming to prove California can produce terror driven sparkling wines
Alder Springs - Mendocino County California
“That’s what I love about California: Nobody decides for you – you decide what you want to do.” -Stuart Bewley
In terms of sheer wildness few vineyards in the world compare to Alder Springs. Closer to Humboldt County than any vineyard in Mendocino, Stuart Bewley, following his own divining rod decided to plant in a wilderness no one had ever thought could grow grapes. Despite the constant issues of wild pigs, bears pushing over rows, and discovering that irrigation has been utilized by another cash-crop, Alder Springs has become one of the greatest vineyards in California. Spreading over 140 acres, with 85 separate blocks and a dizzying array of rootstock and variety/clone combinations the vineyard is a true reflection of the maniacal drive the owner. What we love about Stuart is that he is not someone who claims to have the answers, far from it. He embraces the process of learning and improving everything about his vineyard, whether it be the vines themselves or his impact on the surrounding ecosystem. All the while, he continuously/tirelessly works to produce something unique and delicious.
Currently, we work with Alder Springs’ Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from which we fashion a white and a rose’. In typical Stu fashion he jumped at our idea of growing some Pinot Meunier for us, so we will welcome a third variety from the phenomenal vineyard in a few years.
