La Crema is one of those brands we see seemingly everywhere. From wine shop to wine shop, bar menu to bar menu, La Crema is one of those brands it is hard to get away from in the USA.
So, naturally, it sparked our interest, and we wanted to find out if their California Pinot Noir was worth our attention.
For its price, well, this certainly was an interesting one!
Whenever we drink Champagne, we often go for the more common blanc de blanc or blanc de noir bottles over rose and other styles. But when we found Moet & Chandon Rose Imperial NV at a duty free store at an approachable price point, we knew we had to give it a try.
If you are looking for a sparkling wine with some intense red fruits and, admittedly, more mellow lees character, this one may need to be on your radar!
Whenever we travel, especially to regions that are not known for wine production, we often pick up a bottle or two of sparkling wine at duty free to enjoy somewhere beautiful.
Whenever our duty free shopping happens in Europe, odds are good we are picking up a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne to enjoy if only because it is at a vastly lower price point than we are able to find at home.
For a bottle that you are paying for the name recognition as much as you are what is inside, a lower price point is always welcomed!
We are big fans of Champagne Dumenil, and in the past have tried gems like their Dumenil 1999 and Dumenil Les Pecherines Cuvee which we adore.
Another bottle from this producer we finally got the chance to enjoy is their Reserve NV wine, Dumenil Reserve 22 edition, and while perhaps not as intense as the previous two bottles (which are on the higher end of their portfolio), it is still a gem for those looking for a bottle at a slightly lower price point!
We're never ones to say no to an easy drinking Gamay, and when we can find this grape in a blend we almost always have to give it a try.
Domaine Curtet's Autrement Rouge gave us just that with a mix of Gamay, Pinot Noir, and Mondeuse Noir giving all of the hallmarks of a classic Beaujolais but originating from Savoie!
We always love trying Champagne house's premium production lines as they are always worth savoring and talking about. Bollinger's Special Cuvee NV Champagne is no different.
What makes Bollinger's Special Cuvee unique is that this wine is not a vintage Champagne. It has all the characteristics of being an intense, vintage bottle of bubbly but is instead made up of reserve wines that have been aging anywhere from five to 15 years made with grapes from grand and premier cru sites from all over Champagne.
So what you end up is an incredibly intense, powerful wine that can be enjoyed again, and again, and again- assuming you can find a bottle for sale, at least.
One of the perks of having a wine cellar is that sometimes we do not really know what we have in stock. We keep an inventory of our bottles, of course, but sometimes a few slip through the cracks and we forget about them for years.
Our Lamoreaux Landing Pinot Noir 2014 was one such bottle. We pulled it out not only to find that we had one at all, but also that it was pushing almost nine years old.
As we didn't expect this bottle to age too much longer, we decided to open it up and see how it was faring, and we were pleasantly surprised by what we found!
After going down the Champagne rabbit hole, we realized that there is Champagne and there is Champagne.
If you have had incredible Champagne, you know exactly what we mean about this. Strong acidity, pronounced fruit and lees notes, an incredible mouthfeel, and a finish that just hangs on.
While we generally like all bottles of Champagne that find their way to our table, only certain bottles are Champagne in this sense. These are often vintage or prestige blends that are some of the top of the line bottles from any producer and often come at a price to match.
Champagne Dumenil's 1999 was one such bottle for us. Although this one clocked in at one of the highest price points we have ever paid for Champagne (about $120 a bottle), oh was it worth it.
Whenever it comes to fine Champagne, you generally have many categories of bottles to choose from. These can include non-vintage, vintage, and more exclusive blends that feature the best of the best the producer has to offer.
Prestige-branded Champagne often is the top of the top for any given producer, and we knew we were in for a treat when we opened Champagne Dumenil's Cuvee Prestige Vieilles Vignes Brut.
But it wasn't until we sampled this astoundingly delicious bottle that we truly understood how special it was. This one is quite the gem!
When I decided to sign up for WSET Diploma, I knew I'd have to go sparkling heavy when in the D4 module.
As I have the least experience with all things bubbles, this meant finding new styles of wines to try outright (although not necessarily new grapes per our quest).
So early on in this module, I decided to go for Jean-Baptiste Adam Brute Rose- a Cremant d'Alsace made in the traditional method with a little bit of skin contact from my favorite region in France!
It was every bit what I hoped for.