Category Archives: Sparkling

Ridgeview Merret Bloomsbury, Sussex 2009

Posted on June 11, 2012 by waywardwine

I plunk a bottle on the table. “English Quality Sparkling Wine” the label proclaims. No, that is not a euphemism for beer. It is Ridgeview’s hopeful claim to the crown of Champagne. Odd though it seems, across the Channel, Southern … Continue reading →

Posted in Chardonnay, EMPTIED BOTTLES, Sparkling | Tagged Belemnite, british wine, bubbly, Chalk, Champagne, Dom Pérignon, English Channel, Kenelm Digby, méthod ancestrale, Merrett, methode champenoise, Pinot meunier, pinot noir, Ridgeview, Sparkling wine, travel, White cliffs of Dover | Leave a comment

Chenin Blanc “Triple Zéro” Jacky Blot, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, Montlouis, Loire NV

Posted on July 18, 2011 by waywardwine

I’ve wrestled with sugar before. No, not in that way. Grow up. I’ve introduced a dry Lambrusco, a dry rosé, a few dessert wines and fought to keep yeasts converting sugar with my own wines. This week, a wine that … Continue reading →

Posted in Chenin Blanc | Tagged 1907, Alcohol by volume, Champagne, chaptalization, chenin blanc, Christian Prudhomme, Domaine de la Taille aux Loups, French wine, Jacky Blot, Lambrusco, Loire Valley, méthod ancestrale, Montlouis, Mouton-Rothschild, Opus One, petillent, Ripeness in viticulture, Sparkling wine production, Sugar, Taille aux Loups, Tours, Triple Zéro, wine, yeast | 1 Comment

Chardonnay, Sevastopol Winery “Krimskoye” Semi-Sweet, “Premium Crimean White Champagne” NV

Posted on April 18, 2011 by waywardwine

Quietly poking into the US market, like an accidental cellphone call, is the sparkler from Sevastopol Winery. It comes from Crimea: today a sub-republic of Ukraine. This peninsula, provides a funny hat for the Black Sea. If the name Crimea … Continue reading →

Posted in Chardonnay, Sparkling | Tagged Black sea, bubbly, Bulgars, Champagne, chardonnay, Cimmerians, Crimea, Khazars, Krimskoye, Russian, Sevastopol, Sparkling wine, Tatar, Ukraine, wine | 1 Comment

Cava, Dibon Brut Reserve, Catalunya, Spain NV

Posted on March 3, 2011 by waywardwine

Drink this Cava. Agricola Dibon has overseen an amusing sparkler that outpaces its price ($9-11) in quality. This sparkling wine comes from Vilafranca del Penedes: Spain’s sparkling homeland of Catalonia in the northeast. Their 75 hectares of trellised vines are … Continue reading →

Posted in Cava | Tagged Bodegas Pinord, Catalonia, cava, Parellada, Spain, Spanish wine, Sparkling wine, Wine tasting descriptors, Xarel·lo | 5 Comments

Chateau Frank, Blanc de Blancs, Finger Lakes, NY 2006

Posted on February 3, 2011 by waywardwine

New York sparkling wine might sound oximoronic. But some of the best places for bubbly are cold and miserable. Take the region of Champagne, for example. It sits around latitude 49. The average temperature is 50. The Finger Lakes are … Continue reading →