SDMB Wine Club -- Week Five

Cafe Society
21

Like my friend silenus I drink red wine rather than white, sweet, sparkling wines. I stopped and picked up a bottle of this on my way home last evening, and chilled it. We drank some after dinner. My wife and daughter really liked it. I will keep some on hand for them.

I do not have the wine vocabulary to properly describe wine flavors, so all I have to go on is my impressions. This was a tasty and refreshing wine without the lingering sweetness at the back of my throat I have experienced with other spakling wines. If an event called for a wine of this type, I would not hesitate to serve it to my guests.

For my tastes though, it was like craving a cup of black coffee and the only thing available was cafe latte. After drinking my glass of this wine, I opened a bottle of cabernet and sipped that for the evening while my wife and daughter finished off the bottle of Toad Hollow. A good time was had by all…

22

I thought this wine was a real gem.
I picked it up a few days ago for just under $10 at the Toad Hollow tasting room.
When I opened it today, I realized it is not a Blanquette de Limoux as I had stated earlier, but a Blanquette Methode Ancestrale (just like it says on the website and the info sheet the tasting room staff gave me. :smack: )

While the two are similar, there are differences in how they are vinted and what grapes are used; the former allows up to 10% of Chenin Blanc and/or Chardonnay while the latter is 100% Mauzac (the name Blanquette comes from a white [blanc] film that grows on the underside of the leaves of the Mauzac vine.) Mauzac is the main grape varietal grown in the Limoux region.

The traditional method (which is how Blanquette de Limoux is made) of producing Champagne/sparkling wines involves adding additional yeast and sugar to a base wine in bottle, creating a second fermentation; capturing the CO2 given off in bottle (bubbles), then disgorging the dead yeast cells and topping off the bottles with a ‘dosage’ of sugar and wine.

Blanquette Methode Ancestrale is different in that the original fermentation is stopped by cooling the tanks of wine. It’s bottled while cold and then when it later warms up, the fermentation will continue in the bottles.

There is a tradition that is still upheld which I thought was pretty interesting - the partially fermented must (it’s allowed to reach about 5% alc. before chilled) is bottled during the full moon of the month of March. When the temp. of the bottled wine rises (spring time), the initial fermentation will begin again, trapping CO2, creating bubbles and elevating the alcohol level to 6 or 7%. The result is a fairly sweet, low alcohol, sparkling wine.
This is all most likely controlled by the winery now, but it is something that used to happen naturally during the cool winters and warm springs of the Limoux region of France. There is no addition of yeast or sugar. Pretty interesting.

Well, now that I geeked out on that, I’ll get to my notes.

As far as aromas, I definitely picked up candied pears, green grapes, green apples, orange rind, and a hint of something biscuity - kind of like those oblong, roundish teething biscuits my kids used to chew on way back when.

The taste was wonderful - nice texture, nice bubbles. Crisp at first, then rounding out smoothly with that sweetness. Not cloyingly sweet at all, this wine is definitely as described, lively and fun. I picked up more apple, apricot, and hazelnut cookie.

It had an amazingly long finish of dried apple slices, which lingered and mingled with each new sip I took, making it seem more like a sweet, hard apple cider to me.

After my initial tastings I paired it with a ‘ghetto trifle’ - angel food cake, some mixed berries, Cointreau, custard, apricot preserves, Cool Whip. The two played perfectly together. And I got to have dessert for dinner. :wink:
This was a treat, and one that I am certain I will buy again. That apple cider quality has convinced me that it will be a regular addition to my Thanksgiving table, knocking the jug of fresh apple cider off the table for good.

Thanks! (Also, I hope you guys don’t mind if I go off on wine history and whatnot like this from time to time. It’s good for me to write stuff like this out, I think it will help me retain the info.)

Of course, at 6% alc., it’s just not going to cut it for a Friday night, especially after this crazy week. Time to open a Zinfandel!

23

WOOHOO!!! :smiley:

24

Since I couldn’t find a Toad Hollow, we opened something pretty much completely unlike it but still sweet and white :smiley: Here’s my notes:

2001 Zind-Humbrecht Gewürztraminer Heimbourg, 375 ml:

Medium intensity light honey gold color. Nose fully of lychee and custard. Palette had pears, custard and a big mineral pop on the finish. Voluptuous and oily. Interesting grapefruit-skin toward the middle in the back of the mouth. Later on into the bottle definite notes of banana and other tropical fruits.

This wine was spectacular. If I have to die someday, I’d like to drown in a vat of Zind-Humbrecht. Fantastic!

25

Didn’t mind the geeking out at all.

We have it on our Thanksgiving table. We let the kids drink a small amount of wine at Christmas/Thanksgiving (they are allowed to taste anytime - but are not exactly fans of the tannin filled reds we tend to drink - they are seven and eight) - and this is one that they actually like. The low alcohol content, sweet taste and bubbles make it a great wine for the eight year old palate.

(By the way, our eight year old son has a great nose. People say “oh, I pick up plum” and I think “really, I get wine” Hand the glass to our eight year old and he says “berries and green pepper.”)

26

Friend Psycat90,

I always enjoy your comments. I just don’t have the “nose” or the refined palate to clearly describe what I am drinking.

27

Thanks longhair!
I’m working on it, and I confess I don’t have much of a nose myself.

There are hundreds of descriptors used by wine writers, As of right now, I probably have the ability to pick out less than 100 of them, pretty much the basics. The process is simple though,what does the wine smell like to you, what do those smells remind you of? Sometimes they are strong, sometimes they are subtle. Sometimes there really isn’t that much going on in a wine.

I smell everything I can lately, and while I have access to an aroma kit at school, I rarely use it. (And I need to, because gooseberry, black or red currants, lychees, ylang ylang, etc. are all descriptors I see used often, but I don’t think I’ve ever even *seen *any of those things let alone smelled them, so they have no meaning to me.)

I know Athena mentioned having one in another thread, and that’s definitely to her advantage. They are pricey, but if you are interested in the sensory evaluation of wine, they are a good investment. Or for a cheaper version, try making some standards using Ann Noble’s Aroma Wheel recipes. (pdf)
(PS Athena, I have a Zind Rielsing and a Gewurz on the wine rack, your fabulous notes have convinced me tonight might be a good night to open one! It’s been forever since I’ve had either and you’re right, they are spectacular.)

Dangerosa - I know exactly what you are saying about your son. My oldest (almost 20 now) is incredible at it. I always feel like it’s easier for me since I know what aromas I’m looking for, but my son has no idea what aromas are associated with what varietals, and he absolutely nails them. It amazes me. And thanks again to you and your hubby on a great pick. My husband really enjoyed it as well.

28

I definitely do not mind – I love learning the history and the science behind things, as it helps me to understand them in a way that’s more meaningful to me. You’re like Alton Brown, only for wine. :smiley:

My take on the wine is very similar to yours – it reminds me of a sparking grape juice or sparkling cider, like my parents used to put on the kids’ table at Thanksgiving. As Dangerosa says, you’ll get fat before you get drunk on this stuff, but it’s a nice change of pace from the chewy tannin-y reds.

29

Aaack! Every week I mean to do this, and then I forget, or something. So I didn’t see this thread until today. And it sounds exactly like the kind of wine I simply don’t like; I hate sweet wines. Especially if this one is reminding people of apple cider and whatnot. I really don’t like that, either.

Zins are about my favorites, at least right now. I’m not unwilling to head into whites, as long as they aren’t sweet sweet sweet. Oddly, I usually love sugar, so I don’t know what it is about sweet wine that I don’t like.

Maybe next week I’ll remember to check the thread and see if I can find the wine before it’s too late.

30

Oh by all means, do. I am an Alsacian whore, I freely admit it. I remember them from 15 years ago, when I barely knew white from red and worked in a wine store. The owner opened some Alsacians, and I was hooked. We spent a week in Alsace last autumn, and that just cemented the deal. I stood in the Rangen vineyard outside of Thann one morning and drank a wine made from the grapes I was looking at and knew I’d never get that wine out of my head.

All poetry aside, drink 'em and post your notes! I have another half bottle from another vineyard, and a bottle of Pinot blanc from them, as well as a pile of others. Would love to hear your impressions.

31

More notes, now that I actually have a glass in front of me…

The smell is like champagne - **Dangerosa **calls it “yeasty” but I think of it more as musty or dusty. There’s a dry quality to it, and I guess I can smell the yeast but that’s not the first thing I think of. The taste is a complete contradiction to that, though – there’s almost no dryness. Like psycat90, I get hints of apple, pear, grapes (shocking!), and there is more than a bit of honey. It’s definitely sweet, but I knew that, since I recommended it…

There’s very little aftertaste, and what there is is mostly like a tangy sweet apple, a Fuji perhaps. The bubbles lend a bit of character to the feeling in the mouth, which goes along with the apple feeling. I believe I posted before that this reminds me of a sparkling apple cider, and in tasting it now I am again reminded of that.

Now I’m off to find some Vosges Haut “Red Fire” chocolate and see how the contrast with a dark chocolate with ancho peppers in it goes. :slight_smile:

32

All of you folks who don’t like sweet wines… how about if you ever wind up with a bottle of sweet wine, you send it to me. And when I end up with something awful and dry like a chardonnay, I’ll send it to you! lol :wink:

I didn’t get a chance to look for this one this week but I am going to check next week (stupid Georgia doesn’t sell alcohol on Sundays… so lame)

33

Friend Opalcat,

Don’t let this one slip by. I am sure this wine will please your tastes.

34

Have no fear. I put it in the “notepad” in my phone so I won’t forget what it’s called. This last week was just very busy (Spring Break, boyfriend in town, yadda yadda)

35

Sounds good to me! To each their own. I don’t even like sweet bubbly wine. I love the bubbles, though.

Maybe it’s because I really don’t like either grape or apple juice.

36

I don’t like grape or apple juice either–they taste like baby burps to me. And I’m not a huge fan of carbonation as it hurts my mouth. Sparkling wine isn’t usually as bad as, say, a Coke though.

37

I found it Friday, and had it tonight with a failed shepard’s pie like thing - as I’ve heard the bubbles cut the grease (so I should get it out with burgers and pizza).

I liked it. I usually don’t go for sparkling wines as they’re often too dry for me to bother with more than 1/2 glass worth. But this was nice. It wasn’t overly sweet (which I’m always worried about, and I like sweet.)

Brainiac4, thanks. I quite enjoyed this, I’ll probably get more.

38

Sorry I’m jumping in so late with this, but I didn’t get around to drinking it until last night.

I’m going to be the voice of dissent here, it seems. I can’t say it was worth the wait. I am a huge fan of both Champagne and Sauternes, so I thought there was a good possibility I would like this. But no. It smells good, with yeasty notes, but upon tasting, it seems like more of a soda taste. Very little depth or complexity; just sweet, sweet, sweet. Unlike a can of Pepsi, though, it has a bitter aftertaste.

I guess I like my dessert and apertif wines to have a little more structure than just a sugar bomb. I would not pick this up again, especially for $13.99/btl.