100 Wine Blogs, 100 Days Blog 26 Do you want to have an online wine tasting with sparklers?

26. Do you want to have an online wine tasting with sparklers?

Let’s start our wine tasting by reviewing the labels on the bottles, what each Web site has to say about their wines and the price of each. The two wines that we are reviewing are Korbel Brut, California Champagne and Schramsberg, Blanc de Blancs, Brut Sparkling Wine, Vintage 2006.


Korbel Web site:

Korbel Brut is America’s favorite methode champenoise champagne. It is used to celebrate more weddings, anniversaries, and New Year’s Eves than any other quality champagne. The goal is to make a champagne that consistently delivers a lot of quality for the price. Korbel Brut is crisp and refreshing, with a light citrus and fresh pear-like note in the finish.


Schramsberg Web site:

The first wine Schramsberg produced in 1965 and was America’s first commercially produced, Chardonnay-based brut sparkling wine. Small lots of malolactic-and barrel-fermented wines are added for complexity. The wine is aged on the yeast lees in the bottle for about two years prior to disgorgement. With its vibrant, fruitful and crisp nature, this sparkling wine will maintain its freshness, structure and refined finish for many years, even decades following its initial release.


KORBEL

Label:
Established 1882
Methode Champenoise
Korbel
California Champagne
Brut
Alcohol: 12%
Produced and Bottled by F. Korbel & Bros., Inc.
Greenville, Sonoma Co., California

Not on Label:
A blend of multiple varieties from multiple appellations and even multiple years.
Harvested: Non-vintage Blend
Appellation: California
Composition: Pinot Noir, Chenin Blanc, French Colombard, Chardonnay
Dosage: 1.00%
Production: 750,000 cases annually

$9.99 US Dollars


SCHRAMSBERG

Label:
Schramsberg
Founded 1862
Blanc De Blancs
Methode Champenoise
Brut
Vintage 2006
Produced and Bottled by Schramsberg Vineyards
Calistoga, California
100% North Coast Sparkling Wine
Alcohol: 12.9%
100% Chardonnay
Handcrafted
Cool climate North Coast Vineyards
Barrel fermentation and extended aging
Hugh Davies, Vintner

$25.99 US Dollars

If you have these two bottles in your local store, go out and buy them and give them a try. I want to hear what you have to say about each. Have someone label the glasses A and B and label the bottles A and B for a blind tasting. Do not look at which one you are trying. Try a blind tasting and see what you think. If you do not have these two bottles or cannot get them locally, just look for our next post and see what others have to say about the taste.


Tell me your thoughts, make them funny, keep them nice and educate me.
Bon Vin!
Veronica

100 Wine Blogs, 100 Days Blog 19 Do You Like Bubbles in Your Wine?

19. Do you like bubbles in your wine? What are the different methods used to make bubbles?

In France, Champagne is made using the Methode Champenoise method developed by the French and now used in other parts of the world. The term Champagne is so named because of the Champagne region in France and may not be allowed on other bottles of sparkling wine.

In the United States, in the past, we have used the term Champagne to mean any wine having bubbles. I cannot say that I blame the French for wanting to make a distinction between their Champagne and our use of the word Champagne. To the French, it means more than just a name or a region. It involves a tradition and method of hard work and time spent in making their sparkling wine have quite a sparkle. It is no wonder why they call their method of making Champagne the MethodeTraditionelle.

Sugar and yeast are combined inside a bottle with the wine to create the fizzle; they are capped with a bottle cap for second fermentation to take place inside of the bottle itself. Carbon dioxide is mixed with the wine in the bottle creating the bubbles. Yeast sediment that is left is removed when ready, the sparkling wine is topped off and a cork is put in its place. Sometimes there will also be a little sugar added called “dosage” to make the sparkling wine sweeter.

In the United States, wines made using the Methode Traditionelle also called traditional method or Methode Champenoise, are labeled “naturally fermented in this bottle”. Wines made using the transfer method are labeled “naturally fermented in the bottle” because they might not necessarily use the same bottle for second fermentation. Those wines that get their bubbles from the tank instead of the bottle are sometimes labeled “naturally fermented Charmat Bulk Process” and may also be known as Charmat or Cuve Close.

How do I like my bubbles? I like my bubbles using the traditional method which makes loads of fine, small bubbles. I do not like the sometimes larger bubbles that you find when other methods for making sparkling wine are used.

The next few articles will contain some of my favorite places to visit in California that make sparkling wine.

Tell me your thoughts, make them funny, keep them nice and educate me.
Bon Vin!
Veronica