Vintage Champagne -- that is, Champage with a year instead of NV for non-vintage -- isn't especially common; when a Champagne house announces one, it's to mark an exceptional year. Which makes perfect sense with the Moet ($70, sample).
This is as well made a bubbly as the Wine Curmudgeon has had in a long, long time, and reminds me why I enjoy Champagne so much. Frankly, as much as I like sparkling wine, too many Champagne makers long ago stopped caring about price as it relates to value. They have a brand that they can charge too much money for, and so they do. It doesn't seem to matter whether the wine is worth that price.
That's not the case here. If you want to spend $70 for Champagne, the Moet is money well spent. It's subtle and charming, like a woman you meet at a party who stays in your head and you think about at the oddest moments. There is a bit of yeast and lots and lots of clean, fresh green apple fruit, as well as bubbles that never, ever end. Drink this on its own, to celebrate a special occasion, or with a fancy holiday dinner, for it's a terrific food wine.
Quick note: If you're confused by some of the terms used here, since sparkling wine can be confusing, check out this post, which explains the basics of bubbly.
The Wine Curmudgeon has been drinking cava, the Spanish sparkling wine, for more than 20 years. In all that time, there has been just one label that has been crappy. This consistency of quality is mind-boggling, since wine is difficult enough to do well and cava is among the most difficult of wines to make.
The tendency, given this string of success, is to take cava for granted. And, in fact, I didn't expect too much from the Naveran ($15, purchased), which I bought for dinner last weekend. I figured it would be just another well-made cava, and probably not worth the premium I paid compared to the seemingly endless number of world-class $10 cavas that exist.
So imagine my pleasant surprise when this wine delivered more than $15 worth of value. It was another knockout cava, with lots of crispness, plenty of tight bubbles, and some sweetish apple fruit. In this, it was a fuller, richer wine than the $10 bottles that I like, and well worth the extra money. I drank it with oven fried chicken, and it paired beautifully. But drink this on its own, for toasting the upcoming holidays, or anytime you want a nice glass of bubbly.
The Wine Curmudgeon reported a couple of weeks ago that a study found that French wine gets a disproportionate amount of Internet buzz given its declining share of the world market. There are any number of reasons for this, including the Winestream Media's obsession with red Bordeaux and the sense among many consumers that French wine remains La Grande Dame despite its many problems.
This month, I'm going to add to the Internet buzz, but not for either of those two reasons. The White Foil ($47, sample) can stand on its own as an example of what Champagne is and what French wine can be when the French aren't preoccupied with selling wine to the Chinese, rioting vineyard owners, and sneaking one past all those stupid Americans.
Those of us who write about wine use terms like classic a lot (probably too much, in fact), but that's what the White Foil is. If you want to taste real Champagne -- sparkling wine grown in the Champagne region of France -- then try this. As Champagne goes, it's not ridiculously expensive, and has all of the qualities Champagne is supposed to have.
Look for lots of green apple fruit in the front and streams and streams of bubbles in the glass. The wine is crisp and fresh and fine, and has a bit of the toast quality of classic Champagne -- though it's quite subtle and not as overdone as other, more popular wines, who offer that baseball bat up the side of the head effect. And leaving the wine open for a few minutes before you drink it won't hurt.
This is a wine for gifts and special occasions, and to share with someone who appreciates quality and a quiet moment.
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