Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Longitude Premier Cru NV
Pierre Larmandier’s wines are pure and terroir-driven. This superb bottling of the Longitude Premier Cru Extra Brut is composed of 100% Chardonnay sourced from Vertus, Oger, Avize, and Cramant, with 40% of the blend coming from 2010 reserve. Poached pear, baked apple, lemon sorbet, and chalk are slowly released by a clinquant mousse. In the […]
Cantine Umberto Bortolotti Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore Brut NV
Umberto Bortolotti’s exquisite line of Proseccos, their non-vintage Valdobbiadene Brut is the sweetest of the line, all have feature attractive creaminess at the core and a mousse that is notably finer than most Proseccos I’ve tasted. It opens with a garland of white flowers, acacia honey and honeydew melon. Here, the creaminess is upfront, gradually […]
Cantine Umberto Bortolotti Rive Di S. Stefano Montagnole Valdobbiadene 2016
Umberto Bortolotti’s stylish 2016 Rive Di S. Stefano Montagnole Valdobbiadene qualifies as one of the best Proseccos I’ve had in recent memory. Aromas of fresh Williams pear, green apple, and white grapefruit pith are held aloft by ultra-fine, diaphanous bubbles. At 2 g/l residual sugar, it feels perceptibly dry and crisp. Calcium-rich marl limestone soils […]
Cantine Umberto Bortolotti Piai Alto Valdobbiadene Rive Di Rolle 2016
From a single 2.65 ha parcel on the steep slopes of the Rive DOCG, the 2016 Umberto Bortolotti Piai Alto Valdobbiadene Rive Di Rolle is awash with delicate, tender aromas of acacia flowers, acacia honey, that swirl ’round white peach and Asian pear. It’s round and creamy upfront, with a delicate honeyed character that can […]
Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Vieille Vigne de Cramant Grand Cru 2006
Walnut skins, curling yellow parchment paper, roasted yellow apples, poached pear, and honeysuckle. Larmandier-Bernier’s Vieille Vigne de Cramant Grand Cru 2006 always feels autumnal to me and masterfully constructed. Subtle oxidation, ultra-fine mousse and quarried vinosity on the finish makes this a somewhat austere Champagne. One feels compelled to study it, the graceful lines and […]
Lucien Albrecht Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé NV
The season of lights continues with this mercurial Cremant d’Alsace from Lucien Albrecht. Glinting copper and rose gold in the glass, it’s an expressive wine, trimmed with apricot and quince, red berries and spice—notes that rise and tumble through an alluvion of cascading bubbles. In the mouth, this 100% Alsatian Pinot Noir is fresh and […]
Dopff & Irion Crémant d’Alsace Rosé Brut NV
A luminous salmon-hued sparker, Dopff & Irion’s Brut Rosé is composed of 100% Pinot Noir and opens with a cascade of lively bubbles that give rise to a chorus of citrus, raspberry, alpine strawberry, and spice notes. Nice energy on the palate, with acidity that ebbs and flows as it darts through clean layers pink […]
Gustave Lorentz Crémant D’Alsace Brut NV
The color of sun-bleached straw, this charming Crémant D’Alsace from Gustave Lorentz opens with a lively torrent of fine bubbles and inviting layers of baked yellow apple, smokey pear, granulated honey and sea foam. In the mouth, orchard fruit is couched in blithe minerality and weightier layers of marzipan and wet dough. Finishes on a […]
Camille Braun Crémant d’Alsace Brut NV
Really loving this year’s crop Crémant d’Alsace sparklers, including this honey-hued biodynamic blend of 60% Auxerrois and 40% Pinot blanc from Camille Braun. It’s expansive on the nose, expressing baked apple and poached pear along with a heady topnote of shortbread, brioche, and earth. In the mouth, there’s weight, but there’s nice palate tension, too—a […]
La Marca Prosecco NV
La Marca Prosecco is a tasteful addition to any holiday table. A torrent of clinquant bubbles adds sparkle and elan to delicate aromas of yellow apple, lemon, white flowers, and acacia honey. This is a spritely, medium-bodied Prosecco graced with bright acidity, creamy texture, and a welcome burst of subtle minerality twining a pleasant bittersweet […]