Exploring Regional Wine – Gruet Got Game!

Gruet Winery – A Regional Wine Rockstar!

By most accounts, Champagne is the center of the bubbly world.  However, I’m not sure the US has a ‘clear’ (if there is such a thing) nucleus for sparkling wine.  Though I am very fond of the Schramsberg sparkling wines from California, and the bubbly from Claude Thibault in Virginia (see previous VA sparkling wine post here), I recently had the chance to visit a state that could make a run for top US sparkling wine production – New Mexico.  Yes, that Southeastern state bordered by Arizona on the west, Colorado on the north, Texas on the east, and Mexico to the south.

More specifically, Gruet Winery based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

During a recent visit to Albuquerque, I had the opportunity to visit this gem of the Southwest.  Gruet was founded in the early 1980′s, with their first harvest in 1987 and subsequent inaugural release in 1989.  Today Gruet has 700 acres under vine located about 150 miles south of Albuquerque near Truth or Consequences at an elevation of about 4,000 foot.  Gruet currently produces about 130,000 cases annually all from New Mexico fruit.

Riddling machine holding 500 bottles of Gruet Brut

Riddling machines as far as the eye can see... (or, a lot of them!)

Gruet’s current sparkling lineup includes nine different wines – six non-vintages (Sauvage, Brut, Blanc de Noirs, Rose, Extra Dry and Demi-Sec) and three vintage wines (2006 Blancs de Blanc, 2003 Grand Rose, and 2001 Grande Reserve).  During the visit, our host for the afternoon, Shannyn, graciously opened a couple of sparklers and still wines not normally on the tasting menu.  A few of the most notable include:

Sauvage, $17 – This is Gruet’s newest release.  With no dosage, this is the driest of Gruet’s sparkling wines.   Although I like very dry sparkling wine, I wasn’t too fond of this one.  Although I didn’t include a bottle of Sauvage in my order, I wish now that I had so I could have tried this one again.  Tasting notes – basic, green apple, with hints of lemon. $17

Brut, $13.75 – Chardonnay 75%, Pinot Noir 25%. Gruet’s flagship sparkling wine. Lively nose, green apple, nice yeast components, lemon/lime candy, refreshing. Excellent QPR!

Blanc de Noirs, $13.75 – Pinot Noir 75%, Chardonnay 25%.   Great mousse, rose petal and berries throughout.  Wish there were more sparkling wines like this at this price point.  Made in the Methode Champenoise style.

Sparkling Rose, $13.99 – A nice summer sipper.  Strawberry, watermelon. Refreshing.

2007 Blanc de Blanc, $25 – 100% Chardonnay.  Wow!  Pear, pear, pear with yeast, mineral, and green apple components. Bright, refreshing.  Excellent.  Would love to put this in a blind tasting with other US sparkling wines.

2003 Grand Rose, $30 – Sexy. The Natalie Portman of sparkling wine.  Bright salmon color. Cherry Garcia ice cream complemented by fresh strawberry and watermelon candy.  At the high end of my price scale, but worth it.  Would be perfect on a hot summer evening on the deck with friends.

2001 Grande Reserve, $42 – Only 600 cases produced.  Gruet’s premier offering. Holy US sparkling wine Batman – damn good. Made from still wines that are fermented and aged in French oak barrels for one year, followed by seven years in bottle.  Green apples and lemon cream pie meets toasted almonds.

Not only is Gruet making serious sparkling wine, they are also producing still wines from New Mexico grapes – including a Chardonnay, Syrah and Pinot Noir.

When I first heard the words Pinot Noir and New Mexico used in the same sentence, I was skeptical.  Shannyn setup a vertical of the 2006, 2007, 2008 and Barrel Select Pinots for me to taste, and was pleasantly surprised by each of them.  Although I am a huge advocate of the wines of my home state of Virginia, I must concede that I prefer the Pinots from Gruet more than the Pinots I’ve had from Virginia. In my personal opinion, Willamette Valley and Anderson Valley are still ‘the’ places for US Pinot, but I was impressed (surprised) by the purity, freshness, and varietal correctness of Gruet’s pinots.

If you are ever in the Albuquerque area, I highly recommend a visit to the Gruet tasting room.  If you can’t make it to Albuquerque, look for one of Gruet’s sparkling wines in your local wine shop.  Gruet is yet another testament to the growing quality of the regional wine movement in the US!

Thanks to the Tyler for the initial contact and Shannyn for sharing her time and Gruet knowledge with me!

_________________________________

Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

__________________________________

 

And Virginia Does Sparkling Wine Too

And Virginia Does Sparkling Wine Too – Virginia Sparkling Wine Blind Tasting Results

When I first began my wine blogging exploits in early 2008, my primary goal was to have a single, organized repository of all things wine – my wine notes, musings, and wine-related photos.

More than bringing organization to my wine world, DrinkWhatYouLike.com has served a vehicle to connect with wine enthusiasts throughout the world and forge many long lasting friendships.

Yesterday, I had the chance to get together with a group of my Virginia wine friends – all met via this blog – for a Virginia sparkling wine tasting (with a couple extras from France and California thrown in).

The purpose of this tasting was not to determine the ‘best‘ Virginia sparkling wine – that would be impossible to do even if we wanted to.  Instead, the real purpose was to taste Virginia sparkling wines in a blind comparative setting that we may not have otherwise tasted, and more importantly to hang out with good friends and talk wine.

Our group gathered at Keswick Vineyards for the tasting, including wine writer Richard Leahy, John & Jean Hagarty of Hagarty On Wine, VWD & GEG of Swirl Sip Snark, Paul & Warren from Virginia Wine Time, Joel Timmons of The Examiner, Keswick Vineyards winemaker Stephen Barnard and his wife Kat, John Witherspoon (owner of the Wine Cellar wine shop), Rick Collier & Nancy Bauer (developer of Virginia wine iPhone app), and me.

The Virginia wine crew.

The tasting line up included ten Virginia sparkling whites (excluding sparkling Viogniers).  Given the differences in vintage, processing, and blends, this may not have been the most technically correct comparative tasting lineup, but the real purpose of was really to get together and talk about wine with friends.

Thibaut-Janisson Blanc de Chardonnay, $30
Thibaut-Janisson FIZZ, $21
Kluge SP Blanc de Blanc, $24
King Family Brut, $30
Veritas Scintilla  ,$30
Afton Mountain Vineyards Tete’ de Cuvee, $30
Prince Michel Sparkling Wine, $30
Barboursville Brut, $18.99
Potomac Point Sparkling Wine,$0 (received as tasting sample)
Ingleside Vineyards Virginia Brut,$20
Barefoot Brut Cuvee, $9.99
Chateau Gaillard Cuvee Charlette Voyant Touraine, $19

The tasting lineup.

To keep the tasting moving, and the scoring/ranking simple, we opted for a ranking system wherein each taster ranked the wines from 1 to 12 – 1 being their favorite, down to their least favorite, #12.  This ‘rack and stack’ system allows everyone to score based on their own personal scoring system preference, while keeping the overall ranking simple.

Finishing in the #1 spot on my scoring sheet was the Thibaut-Janisson FIZZ, followed by the Kluge 2007 SP Blanc de Blanc in second, and the Veritas Scintilla in third.

From my tasting sheet:
Thibaut-Janisson Fizz – wow, lively, bright, perlage for days. tart apple and peach throughout.
Kluge 2007 SP Blanc de Blanc – bright gold, lots of green apple, pear and hints of nuts. Great texture.
Veritas Scintilla – great mousse, bright straw color, small bubbles, lemon/lime fizzy lifting drink.

In the overall group ranking, the Thibaut-Janisson Fizz was ranked as the favorite by far – six of 12 tasters ranked the Fizz as their favorite, and three others ranked it their second favorite.  The FIZZ is 100% Chardonnay, 1.5% residual sugar, and is made in the Brut Methode Traditionnelle

The Prince Michel sparkling wine (finished #8 in my scoring) finished as the second favorite in the group ranking.  The Prince Michel sparkling wine is made from Pinot Noir grapes in the Method Champenois style.  Rounding out the top three was the Afton Mountain Vineyards Tete’ de Cuvee (finished #4 on my scoring sheet) – is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay made in the traditional Methode Champenoise style.

Richard Leahy, Paul, Warren, Nancy, John Witherspoon chatting after the sparkling flight.

After the sparkling flight, our group moved on to taste five Viogniers – two from Paso Robles and three from Virginia.  Stephen Barnard was gracious enough to open a special wine for our group – the 2009 Keswick Signature Series.  This Signature Series wine was made from a block of Viognier planted personally by Keswick Vineyards owner, Al Schornberg.

Given the heavy use of oak, this Viognier reminded me more of a California Chardonnay than a Virginia Viognier.   Most notable of the Keswick wines Stephen graciously opened for the group was the 2009 Keswick Vineyards Merlot  - wow!  Virginia wine fans, keep your eyes open for this release.

Lesson Learned: If you want a technically correct blind tasting experience, ensure consistency of grapes used, processing technique, and vintage.  If you want to have fun, gather your favorite wine friends and just enjoy the wine and conversations!

Thank you to everyone who participated, and a special thanks to Stephen and Kat at Keswick Vineyards for hosting our group! An even bigger thank you to Kat for helping secure the 50+ champagne flutes needed for this tasting, and thanks to Inn on Poplar Hill for providing us the flutes.  We appreciate all of your help with this event!!!

__________________________________

Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

__________________________________

United Kingdom Sparkling Wine – Nyetimmmmmberrrrr!

A few weeks ago, during a conversation with Wes, the owner of Cork Wine Bar in Adelaide, Australia, I mentioned that I would be spending some time in England and he insisted that I visit Nyetimber Winery to try their sparkling wine.  Nyetimber, located in West Sussex, United Kingdom, means timbered house.

He even wrote the following on the server’s notepad…

Hmm… that’s a strong recommendation and prediction from a guy that lived and worked in the wine trade for 8 years in London.  I will admit that I had my doubts about any fermented grape juice from the United Kingdom.  I smiled, took his sheet of paper and said I would check it out. 

Notable Facts – One notable fact about Nyetimber is that the 1998 Blanc de Noirs was served at the G20 Summit at the Downing Street reception in London a few weeks ago.  The vineyard has a terroir similar to those in Champagne and all grapes are trellised on the single Guyot System identical to that used in the Champagne area. The estate was planted in 1992 by fellow Americans Stuart and Sandy Moss, after a prolonged search for a site capable of rivaling the best estates in France .  The current production methods exceed the French rules including maturing the wines for at least 5 years – double the minimum required for champagne.

Nyetimber currently has 35 acres under vine with aggressive expansion plans.  In 2006, 148 acres of vines were planted followed by an additional 74 acres in May of 2007.

Unfortunately I had a packed schedule this week in London, Ampthill, Farnham and Havant so I was not able to visit Nyetimber, but I did manage to pick up a bottle at the wine shop in Harrod’s.  I shared my initial skepticism with the Harrod’s wine clerk and he quickly schooled me on why this sparkling wine could rival some of the better Champagnes and Sparkling Wines from around the world.   The same techtonic plate and terroir as Champagne, blah blah blah.

2003 Nytimber Pinot Meunier Bland De Noirs Vintage

28.95 British pounds at Harrods ~ $44US.   Golden color.  On the nose, I got a lively green apple, faint skittles candy and an intense bread dough aroma.  The bread dough was more of a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop smell which really made me want a Krispy Kreme hot-n-now.  (I did pick up a Krispy Kreme glazed donut on upper floor on the way out of Harrods for the walk back to the Tube).  Very fresh in the mouth – the bubbles were lively with more skittles and unripe fruit (in a good way) with a toasty/yeasty finish.  Shorter than hoped for finish, but lively and well worth the trip to Harrods. 

Want to expand your palate and try something that could possibly rival some of the better champagnes?  If you can find it… pick up one of the Nyetimber Sparkling Wine offerings! 

Really good stuff!!!

 _______________________________

Ceravolo Sparkling Shiraz

I’ve only been in Australia for a few days and am already way behind on posting.  I could spend months here just roaming around the Hills, Barossa, and McLaren Vale – winding my way through gravel roads and off beaten paths in search of new finds.  I really hate when I have to mix work with my wine tasting trips.

I stopped by Universal Wine Bar in downtown Adelaide for a quick drink before dinner and asked for something unusual that I may not be able to get in the US.  The bartender (who is a student enrolled in the University of Adelaide wine marketing program) recommended the Carvolo Sparkling Shiraz.  She qualified her recommendation by stating that people either love it or hate it, but not much in between.  Sparkling Shiraz… another first for me.

Ceravolo 2006 Sparkling Shiraz

This is the inaugural vintage of Ceravolo’s sparkling Shiraz.  From the Adelaide region.  13.5% alcohol. $10AU/glass ~ $7US/glass.  Dark purple/red color with a nose of blackberry pie, hints of raspberries and prune .  A dull fizziness as if the wine was just too ‘heavy’ to fiz.  Tastes of blackberry, blueberry and Concorde grape finish.  My first impression, in terms of both smell and taste, was Welch’s Grape Juice.  I don’t say this with any negative connotation at all – just my first impression.

I can’t say that I’m a fan of sparkling Shiraz from this particular wine, but I will keep trying them throughout my trip. 

____________________________