The Wine Curmudgeon

Wine of the week: Segura Viudas Aria Estate Brut NV

Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine, is a conundrum. It's significantly less expensive than champagne, the French sparkling wine, which immediately makes it suspect among the Winestream Media. Their thinking, of course, is that something that isn't pricey can't be any good. Yet there is a not a thing wrong with cava, most of which deliver quality and value for around $10.

So, as a public service, the Wine Curmudgeon offers the Aria (sample, $13), since it is actually a little more than $10. (There are cavas that cost $20 and more, though they are rarely available in the U.S. I'll review several for those who are curious when I wrap up my Spain trip, paid for by Segura Viudas, later this week.)

The Aria is a little richer and more full bodied than basic cavas like Cristalino and Freixenet, and is probably a little closer in style to champagne. But it's still cava, with the typical fresh, clean lingering finish, a minimum of fruit, and a notable absence of yeast and oak. In all, a lot of wine for not a lot of money.

Serve this chilled on its own, or with most white wine dishes. It would also work with cold plates -- Iberian ham, corned beef on rye, and the like.

Cava update: Final

I'll post a couple of items later in the week about the cava trip to Spain, but I wanted to hit some of the highlights today:

• The Wine Curmudgeon appreciates any country where people drink wine at lunch, and those three-hour lunches aren't bad, either. Though I will never, ever get used to dinner at 9 p.m.

• Spain, like much of the rest of the European Union, has enacted tough, American-style no-smoking laws. Which means Spaniards are standing outside buildings smoking -- a sight I never, ever thought I would see.

More, after the jump:

Mini-reviews 21: Bin 36, Simmonet-Febrve, Moncontour, Rodney Strong

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month.

• Bin 36 Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 ($16, sample): A good example of what can be done to make affordable California cabernet in the style of Avalon and 337. This is rich and fruit forward, and though there isn't much more than that, it also isn't as simple as something like the many popular grocery store cabernets.

• Simonnet-Febvre Chablis 2008 ($20, sample) This French white had lots of acid, but also quite fruity (green apples?) for a Chablis. Though $20 is probably too much to spend on it, it was still quite nice to drink.

• Château Moncontour Vouvray Brut NV ($18, sample): Would that someone in Texas (hint, hint) made bubbly of this quality. This French sparkling wine is made from chenin blanc, and has lots of acid balanced by sweet apple fruit at the back.

• Rodney Strong Pinot Noir 2009 ($18, sample): Another excellent effort from Rodney Strong -- varietally correct, with cherry fruit, an almost cola-like aroma, some earthiness and pinot tannins. Given the silly prices for pinot noir, a decent value.

Cava update: Tuesday

Call it Cuvee Cranky -- my entry in the informal competition between the writers on the cava trip to blend the best sparkling wine. We did the blending on Tuesday, and, believe it or not, Seguras Viudas winemaker Gabriel Suberviola picked mine as the best blend. Yes, the wine world did turn upside down.

I'll write more next week when I get back, but it's enough to know that we have some top wine types on this trip to Spain. So I didn't beat just any group of schlubs. And, given that wine making is not what I do, I was quite surprised. Suberviola said my blend was "balanced and harmonic." Who knew?

Spain, cava and the Wine Curmudgeon

The Wine Curmudgeon will be in Spain next week, touring the cava region in and around Barcelona, plus a side trip to Priorat. I'll have a full report on my return, and will try to add a couple of updates while I'm in Spain.

This trip is being paid for by the company that owns the Seguras Vidas label, but no quid pro quos have been made to allow me to go on the trip. If something isn't up to snuff, I'm not going to pretend otherwise. Though, to be honest, anyone who reads the blog even occasionally knows how much I like cava.

The other highlight? I'm told I'll be able to create my own cuvee -- Wine Curmudgeon cava? Maybe with a cartoon of a bearded fellow with a hat and glasses hunched over a keyboard for the label? Letting wine writers make their own wine is au courant on press trips these days, but I'm still looking forward to it. Though, apparently, I'm going to have to sit through some sort of yeast class.

And don't worry. The blog will roll on while I'm gone, with all the regular features. I may be a little slow in responding to emails and comments, but I will get to them.

Anyone can write a wine review 3

My brother Jim, as noted, is a wine aficionado of some repute, though he hangs out in much more rarefied wine circles than I do. So, when Jim emailed that he was opening a bottle of vintage Cristal for New Year's Eve, I asked him to send his impressions about the wine and I would post them. (Yes, I know I banned Roederer wines from the blog, but I can make an exception for my brother.)

His thoughts on the 1990 Cristal (and a new feature that will appear occasionally -- Wine my brother drinks):

"Out of the bottle it looked normal -- noticeably different pressure release, an errant cork may get to the ceiling, maybe, but the bubbles rose in the glass when poured. First sniff was almost sour, not unpleasant but not expected. Didn't know what to expect, really.

"First sip I tasted on the roof of my mouth and in my sinus -- big, slightly sour but fruity. The majority of the folks who had an opinion deemed it sour apples, and I agree. Really smooth, and if I knew what a 'velvety mouth feel' was I might employ it here. Plenty of carbonation to keep the party in the glass going, all in all a big hit. I don't know that letting it sit for 20 years made it any better, certainly different, but it was a treat to try something that was really well made and not something you see everyday."

Wine of the week: Lamberti Prosecco Vino Spumante Extra Dry NV

The Wine Curmudgeon does not drink much Italian sparkling wine. This disappoints two of my favorite people in the wine business, who see qualities like lightness and charm where I see fizziness and dullness. So this wine is their holiday gift.

That's because the Lamberti (sample, $15) manages to be very Italian and yet still offer some backbone and sturdiness that too many Italian sparklers don't have. The Lamberti is simple and light with a hint of apple fruit, but it's not too sweet and it's bubblier than many other proseccos. Italian sparkling wine usually doesn't have wave after wave of small, tight bubbles rising to the top of the glass, which I love and which seems to be the sign of quality bubbly.

Hence my pleasant surprise at how well this wine was made, and especially at this price. Drink the Lamberti to welcome in the New Year, with any sort of holiday brunch, as an aperitif, or with a mid-week dinner (white pizza or spaghetti with clam sauce).