Best Sparklers from the Observer

Observer's food monthly this month had several pages of the best wines, reds whites and fizz. these are the four sparklers under £10, I'll be tracking them down for tasting in the next few weeks.

Asda Cava Brut NV

Okhre Organic Cava Brut Nature, Spain NV 

Château Moncontour Vouvray Brut, France 2007 

Taste the Difference Prosecco Conegliano DOCG, Italy 2009 

England's defeat

Ridgeview Cuvee Merret Bloomsbury Brut 2008

Last week I opened the Ridgeview Cuvee Brut, I've been looking forward to this for some time. An English sparkling wine to match my favourite spanish Cava's would be a great addition to the cellar.

reviews had led me to expect a golden wine, good balance of sweetness and acidity. Unfortunately I was sadly disapointed. Its exceedingly rare for me to pour away a Cava or Cuvee but this time I was defeated, it was a complicated wine, too many tastes vying with each other and the acidic overtones mentioned in reviews overpowered any sweetness. It tasted raw and unfinished, maybe another year or two would help mature it, maybe I just got a bad bottle  ........... I hope its the latter as I have another bottle of this waiting but feeling disinclined to open it just yet.

It is always a shame when your first experience of a new wine doesn't work, it can put you off that grape, that vineyard or type of wine for a long time (in some cases for ever). I really want to give ridgeview a fair hearing however so I'll be tasting a couple of their other wines in the near future.

Autumn leaves and Rain

Not a reflection of experiences this time, but a musing on the seasonal element to certain drinks. It's been very autumnal lately, red and old leaves, rain, blue skies and wind.
Its the time of year most people turn to warming reds and beers, I'm not immune to the effect myself but don't feel you have to deprive yourself of sparkle in your life just because of the seasonal changes.

A golden champagne is a beautiful drink for those crisp autumn days, I'm looking for one with a good balance of  fruit, one that will stand up to food but equally be a great mellow evening drink, in short a champagne to convince my red wine friends to make the switch......... watch this space to see if I succeed.
 

pink fizz and Australian Brut Cuvee

Two new wines tasted this week, my virgin wine order arrived so after the excitement of unpacking the bottles and admiring the shape I got down to drinking them. (you're going to love the Italian Brachetto bottle - photo's uploading next week when I taste it).

First up was the pink fizz :La Certosa Sparkling Pinot Grigio Rose Brut NV to be exact. This was incredibly drinkable, soft, easy on the mouth and just plain yummy! I drank most of the bottle in one evening, the only downside to it is that it is an ideal one for drinking with the girls... and this time around I was tasting it on my own.

Bubbles were just right, not too fizzy but enough bubble to create a wonderful lighthearted spirit. I'll be ordering more of this one!

Tonight's taster is the Woolundry Rd Brut Cuvee, a very different wine. Dry and packed with fruit it hasn't a hint of sweetness, instead the fruits are clean melon, kiwi and pineapple with just a hint of grapefruit. Good fizz sensation on the mouth, complex flavour and fairly intense. to be drunk with good company, getting ready to go out or perhaps chilled on a summer picnic.

Champagne history

All the 19th century, Champagne was only sweet.... Champagne houses would use the dosage to tailor the sweetness to every style ....France at 165 grams, Germany with slightly more, ....the British preferred the driest style at 22-66 grams of sugar............ more

Seasons resturant

Had a lovely meal last night, R and I went over to the Station in Richmond and ate in Seasons.

R had Steak which he reckoned was bloody (as asked for) and nicely partnered with the blue cheese sauce. My Salmon Steak was delicous, moist and buttery inside a slightly crispy chargrilled surface. Both came with a watercress based salad with a good sharp dressing (a pet hate of mine is dressings that are bland or too oily), and mini deep fryer baskets of thin fries.

We'd kicked off with a couple of sides/ starters, toasted nuts and the roasted tomatoes and olives. I'm not a fan of olives but I can recommend the tomatoes, intense flavour but not too overpowering as some sun dried mixes can be, the nuts stayed on the table for the whole meal and were a great partner to the wine.

So now for the really important part, what did we drink? we picked the Veuve St Vincent Brut; light and eminently drinkable, it stood up well to the intense flavours of the food, particularly the nuts and salmon. Although perhaps not the best partner for a bloody steak it did stand up to the blue cheese sauce and as a Brut sparkler it offered a good counterpoint to the richness of both the sauce and my buttery salmon.

A good summer bubbly, and at £15.95 a bottle in the restaurant a very nice way to accompany the meal. I can happily report that even after consuming most of the bottle myself (R was driving) there was no hangover in the house the following morning.


http://www.drinkon.com/Details/WN439861/Detail/Wine

Cava and Chips

Why is this becoming such a classic combination, well the salty earthiness of chips actually partners fairly well with dry (brut) cava or Champagne, but there is another more important reason.

This combination says so much about you; 

I like the fine things in life but I'm not snobby, 

I'm fun and impulsive but not cheap, 

I know how to treat myself and my friends but I don't spend ages in the kitchen, 

I know that laughter and friendship are more important than fancy meals,

I'm not impressed by labels but by content,

Have you ever had bubbly with chips?  try it tonight and let me know how it goes