‘MERICA: Domaine Saint-Vincent Brut, Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, NV

With the sun setting and the staccato of fireworks and screams building in the neighborhood, it’s time for my palate to get patriotic.

Mr. Fizzy from Albuquerque.

Tonight we pop fizz with Domaine Saint-Vincent’s Brut from the highland, cool nights near Albuquerque, New Mexico: where wine is possible. They claim to follow the Méthode Champenoise (Champagne Method), where secondary fermentation happens individually in each bottle to give it its fizz. French assistance helped with our Revolution, so why not here.

Both the golden color and mixed-sized, constant fizz show that Saint-Vincent did bottle ferment and age it.

The moderately yeasty, smokey aromas hint at the same effort. Golden delicious apple follows them. Ripe chardonnay probably hides in here.

Ick! Aside from the Brut designation, this tastes medium minus dry to my tongue’s tip. Acidity feels medium, maybe medium plus but can’t compensate for the sweetness. Alcohol feels an average 13%. The body is mid-weight.

Medium hits of ripe yellow apple lead, sprinkled with a flinty black pepper, and loads of uncooked white bread dough follow the flavors. The length is medium. The quality is acceptable (2 out of 5). However, for $10 it gets it done.

Domaine Saint-Vincent Brut is wholly serviceable, sweet American bubbly. But it is too cloyingly ripe, and lacking complexity and length to be more than drinkable. Like an American bombshell, it pleases immediately but starts to grate the more you think about it.

Overkill?

Since it’s so sweetly shallow, I decide to inject more hubristic, national pride, by adding some home-grown fruit:

Jingoistic? I hope so!

Sadly, the stars (blueberries) just add tannin and tartness. Yet our red strawberry stripes come through with oodles of ripeness to match Saint-Vincent’s sugar. Either way: Happy Fourth ya’ll.