The Wine Curmudgeon

Wine of the week: Gérard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux 2009

The holiday that must not be named is next week. You want to buy sparkling wine. But sparkling wine, being sparkling wine, is expensive and confusing.

Not to worry. The Wine Curmudgeon is on the job, as always, looking out for everyone caught between bubbly's rock and hard place. The Bertrand ($15, sample) is sparkling wine from France that isn't made in Champagne, which is why it's one-third the price of entry-level Champagnes. Better yet, it has much more than one-third of the quality, and is a tremendous value.

It's made using the same method as Champagne, and it uses more or less the same grapes (including pinot noir, which is not common in sparkling wine made in France outside of Champagne). That's one reason why it delivers so much value; its grapes are grown in the Limoux region in the Languedoc, where land is a fraction of the price of Champagne.

This is not as simple a wine as its price would indicate; the pinot noir gives it an edge that others don't have. Look for very crisp apple fruit and an impressively long finish (lemon zest, maybe?). And you can impress everyone with your bubbly knowledge: If the wine says Cremant on the label, as this does, that means it's sparkling wine made in the traditional method but not in Champagne. Highly recommended, and sure to impress whoever needs impressing next week.

Wine of the week: Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Belleruche 2009

White wines from France's Rhone region aren't particularly well known and, at least in this country, don't get all that much respect. You don't see many of them on store shelves or restaurant wine lists, and you don't see many of them reviewed, for that matter.

Which is a shame, given that white Rhones are usually different and interesting, and that's something the Wine Curmudgeon is always looking for. The Belleruche ($12, purchased), from one of the Rhone's largest producers, has always been one of my favorite wines for just that reason (when I can find it, of course).

This is a previous vintage, and the extra year of bottle age has given the wine, a blend of grenache blanc, clairette and bourboulenc, a little more character. There is lots of white pepper, some oiliness and just a hint of a green fruit, like lime or apple. This is a not a white wine for people who need something fruit forward, like sauvignon blanc or chardonnay, but it's not supposed to be.

And don't worry that you haven't heard of the grapes used to make it -- almost no one who isn't in the wine business has heard of them, either. Which is another reason why the wine is so interesting, and that's three more grapes for your Wine Century Club effort. Chill this and drink it on its own or with something like goat cheese; roast pork with apples would be terrific, too.

Wine of the week: Château Font-Mars Picpoul 2010

The Wine Curmudgeon has always enjoyed picpoul, a white wine from southern France made with the picpoul grape that is grown, believe it or not, in the Picpoul region. Which is a weird naming convention even for the French. Picpoul is cheap and food friendly, one of those wines that you can keep around the house in case you want a glass of wine and don't want to have to worry about what you're drinking.

The catch, of course, is that it's difficult to find quality picpoul in Dallas. Those that I've had have mostly disappointed -- either sweet or too citrusy or overpriced. Hence my delight in finding the Font-Mars ($10, purchased), which is everything picpoul is supposed to be. And I did I mention that it's only $10?

It's a simple wine, but not in the way that too many cheap wines are simple, with one flavor or characteristic dominating all. Look for apricot and stone fruit in the front and a very nice stony finish with acid to balance all. I drank it over the New Year's holidays when I wanted something for dinner that wasn't overwhelming, and I was truly surprised at how well made it was. It's one of the early contenders for the 2013 $10 Hall of Fame, and highly recommended.

A personal note: The Wine Curmudugeon does not write about politics here; that's what political sites are for. But I do want to mention the controversy surrounding two proposals in Congress that would limit Interent speech, the SOPA and PIPA legislation. Copyright is one thing, and as a writer I certainly understand that. But free speech is even more important than copyright, especially as the Internet changes the way the world communicates. The New York Times explains what's going on today here. If you'd like to support those of us who believe that SOPA and PIPA are wrong-headed, you can sign this on-line petition.

Wine of the week: Chateau Bonnet Blanc 2010

This white blend from Bordeaux has been in and out of the $10 Hall since I started it for a Dallas magazine 10 years ago -- but not because of quality. Rather, what once was a $10 wine has been as expensive as $15 in Dallas, and though I like it a lot, it's not a $15 wine.

The good news is that Spec's, the largest retailer in Texas, has opened in Dallas, and they carry the Bonnet  (purchased) for $10. So it's back at a good price and eligible again for the $10 Hall of Fame -- the newest version of which will be announced in two days. Have a suggestion for the Hall? Leave it in the comments or send me an email.

But I'm not sure this vintage of the Bonnet is a Hall of Fame wine. This is not to say that it's not well made, because it is, crisp and fresh with lots of citrus fruit like lemon and grapefruit, and there is nothing off about it. It just doesn't taste very Bordeaux-like. Call me picky (that's a harsh charge for the Wine Curmudgeon, no?), but when wine is from Bordeaux I want a little minerality and not quite so much fruit. If I want this style of wine, I'll buy any of the equally fine $10 sauvignon blancs from New Zealand.

This doesn't mean the Bonnet isn't a fine $10 wine, and it doesn't mean that I won't buy it again. I will, and drink it chilled on its own or with almost any white wine dish that doesn't have a big sauce. What it does mean is that wines that make the Hall have to better than this; it is the Hall of Fame, after all.

New Year's sparkling wine 2011

How confused are Americans about sparkling wine? Very. The Wine Curmudgeon was in line at one of Dallas' upscale grocers last week, and the woman ahead of me in line had all sorts of expensive produce and meat -- and six bottles of $9 Freixenet black bottle cava. That almost certainly never would have happened if she had been buying regular, or still, wine; then her cart would have had the required 92-point bottles.

Or, to take it to the other extreme, a very well-known TV chef advised her viewers a couple of weeks ago to make mimosas -- the 20-somethings' favorite hangover remedy -- with $40 sparkling wine. Which would be the equivalent of making sangria with one of the $40 reds I review in the monthly expensive wine post. Which would seem certainly seem like overkill.

What's the reason for all this confusion? Because sparkling wine is seen as even more confusing than still wine, and still wine confuses us enough. Sparkling wine is more difficult to open. We're only supposed to drink it on special occasions, and never for dinner in the middle of the week. And it has bubbles!

But sparkling wine doesn't have to be this way. In fact, other than opening it, bubbly is not much different from still wine. It's made with the same grapes, it's made in much the same way, and it pairs with food just like regular red and white wine. Best yet, quality labels are available at all prices, even for less than $10.

After the jump, what you need to know about bubbly and my suggestions for the New Year's holiday.

Expensive wine 34: J.M. Boillot Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Les Referts 2003

One of the myths about the wine business is that wine needs to age. Most wine doesn't, of course. Buy it and drink it and neither the drinker nor the wine will be worse off. That's something that most people, and even those who drink a lot of wine, are often confused about.

Hence it's always a treat to taste wine where aging is part of the wine's makeup. Generally, these are expensive, Old World wines; California high-end producers have a love-hate relationship with aging wine, though there are certainly some California wines that age well and producers who care about it.

The Boillot ($30, purchased) is a good example of how aging works (and comes from a solid, if lesser known, producer in Burgundy). It's chardonnay that is ready to drink now, and doesn't seem tight or jumbled the way younger wines that are made to age sometimes do. In other words, you can taste all the flavors -- they're distinct and one doesn't dominate the mix. In this case, that means pears and some apples, even a little honey, and the minerality that is so crucial to these wines. There was a little more oak than I expected, but it still had all of Puligny's rich and lush fruit and character.

The other thing about aging? Wines can fade, and get worse, not better. The Boillot is ready to drink now. Hold it for much longer, and the fruit will go away and the wine will, literally, lose flavor. Now, though? A great gift or something to serve for a fancy holiday dinner where you pull out all of the stops. Cream sauce, even.

Wine review: Domaine de Chevaunet Touraine 2010

In the old days, sauvignon blanc from the Loire region of France was among the best sauvignon blanc in the world. It was the original anti-chardonnay: crisp, fresh, minerally, and not much fruit. Then the modern wine business happened, and Loire's wines became, if not irrelevant, a lot less important. New Zealand became the predominant sauvignon blanc region, and the rest of the world mostly copied what New Zealand was doing.

This always depressed the Wine Curmudgeon; as much as I like New Zealand's wines, I miss the old style Loire whites. Some of them are still around, of course, but they cost $30 and often difficult to find. The less expensive ones, if not complete knockoffs of New Zealand's grapefruit style, have still morphed into something they never used to be.

That's the dilemma I found myself in with the Chevaunet ($10, purchased). There is nothing wrong with it -- clean, well made, pleasing and refreshing. It's nice by itself, and shines as a food wine, especially with some shrimp marinated in olive oil and garlic. But there is too much grapefruit and lime fruit and not enough minerality to mark it as traditional Loire wine. So I'll keep looking for Loire the way I remember it, and let you make your own judgments about this.