Ben's Bubbly: Wrap-Up

Ben - 1 year

Each of the past 52 weeks, my wife and I have opened a bottle of sparkling wine in honor of our son Ben's first year. The wines helped us celebrate moments from bringing our baby home to him running around and beginning to talk. We've taken him on plane rides and road trips. He's attended two weddings and is eagerly awaiting the arrival of a few new friends. We've had quite an adventure celebrating a year of firsts: the first time he rolled over, the first time he sat up, his first tooth, his first steps, his first signed word, his first spoken word, his first solid food, his first scratch, first day of school. I bet I could continue that list ad infinitum.

During this adventure, we drank 54 different sparkling wines (doubling up Mother's Day week and Valentine's Day) from 11 different countries. Here are a few statistics from this little endeavor:

Colorado vs. Virginia with Terroirist.com (Viognier edition)

Last month, I found myself in Washington, D.C. for a work trip. On one of my free nights, I got together with David White, founder of Terroirist.com, and some members of his local tasting group for a Colorado vs. Virginia wine blind tasting. We opened 28 different bottles of wine from Colorado and Virginia, with a few ringers thrown in. We started the festivities with a flight of viogniers (12) followed by a slightly larger flight (16) of red blends. Today, I will post the results from the Viognier flight. Check back tomorrow for the red blend results.

All wines were wrapped in foil and randomly numbered. We poured two at a time, in no particular order (I've listed them here sequential for clarity). The group discussed each wine as they were tasted, but the identities were not revealed until all wines in a flight were tasted and voted on. The results revealed that while both regions have some work to do to be consider "world-class," they both produce some pretty good wine right now. The notes that follow are my own, though I do note the wines that were determined to be the best as voted on by the group. While I did take brief notes during the tasting, I somehow managed to not write down the vintages for the wines. C'est la vie!

Ben's Bubbly: The Jumping Grape

Well, with my family in town and four different Christmases to attend I am finally getting around to this week's (well, last week's wine) bubbly write-up. Ben enjoyed having the grandparents, aunts and uncles around all week, but that is for next week's post! If Ben knew that I was posting almost a week late, he would probably throw a mini temper tantrum. That, after all, is his new thing of the week. He is quite fascinated by the TV remote control, but when we try to take the thing away from him he throws the biggest hissy fit. He screams and glares at you. We've tried coaxing him with other remote controls, but the TV remote is the only one he wants. This makes watching TV a bit difficult when he keeps his little fingers pressed down on the channel up button. The only way to get it away from him is to really stoke his interest in something else. We are hoping that this little temper control problem is only just a phase, but we shall see...

The Jumping Grape, Sparkling Red Wine, Padthaway, South Australia

Most sparkling wine is white, although some is pink. A few Australian wineries are trying to make a new trend with sparkling red wines (yes, I know Italy produces some sweet red bubbly). Unfortunately, I am not a fan. This blend of 80% shiraz and 20% cabernet sauvignon would be a very nice still wine, but it was not to be. The base wine for this bubbly was aged five years in oak, and you could taste every year. Lush red raspberries are accented by sweet vanilla and a hint of cracked black pepper on both the nose and the palate. I like Aussie shiraz and I like sparkling wine, but I do not like the outcome when they combine forces. I am hopeful that next week's (New Year's Eve's) bubbly will more than make up for this disappointing bottle. 12.5% abv Purchased $16. Average

Ben's Bubbly: Taltarni Brut Taché

It is a few days late, but I didn't forget about Ben's Bubbly this week. Traveling and the holidays can really mess up your schedule. I was in Napa last week (more on that visit in the coming weeks) and in Grand Junction a few days after getting back. A lot happens when you're out of town with a baby at home. A day after leaving, I got a call from my wife telling me that our teething boy had not one but four teeth coming in on top! He looks like such a little person now with his toothy grin.

Taltarni Brut Taché, Victoria and Tasmania, Australia
This Australian sparkler is made from the same traditional varieties as Champagne (52% pinot noir, 42% chardonnay and 6% pinot meunier). Fermented as a white wine, when the bottle was disgorged it was stained (Taché is French for stained) with red wine. The final result is an orangeish copper color. It has a bouquet of fresh strawberries and cherries. The palate has the same fruit combined with a slight yeastiness. This is a simple, yet entirely pleasant and refreshing wine. 13% abv Purchased $17 Good/Very Good

Ben's Bubbly: d'Arenberg The Peppermint Paddock Sparkling Chambourcin

This week Ben met some of his future friends. Three of my wife's co-workers had babies within five months of Ben's arrival and this weekend was the first time all of the little ones "met" each other. We had planned on going to a park and lining the future class of 2029 up on a blanket, but the rain and cold weather forced us to meet at a McDonald's PlayPlace so that a big sister could be entertained. The infant crew includes a 6-month old, a 4-month old, a 2-month old and our 6-week old. It was amazing to see the differences that only a few months can make! And as much as Ben has grown these past few weeks, the changes are only going to more noticeable. Before we know it, he is going to be running laps around us and then take the car for a spin. :( Until then, we are still going to be enjoying our weekly bubbly.

d'Arenberg, The Peppermint Paddock, Sparkling Chambourcin, McLaren Vale

This is a not-so-typical sparkling wine from a not-so-typical grape. Chambourcin is a French-American hybrid known for lacking the unpleasant hybrid flavors. I never thought that a French-American hybrid would be found in Australia, but I can see why now. This deep dark purple bubbly coats the glass as you swirl. It might surprise people by being dry, fruity and losing its fizz after a short time in the glass. It smells like a bowl full of freshly picked red and blue fruit that hasn't been washed. This little bit of woodsiness adds some complexity, but this wine is mostly about fruit. After sipping on it for a while, it felt like I was munching on mocha dusted Bing cherries. This is a fun and good wine, but a bit pricey for the novelty. 13.5% abv Purchased $32. Good (tasted 5/12/11)

You're the expert on what you like...

All too often consumers depend on scores given by The Wine Advocate, The Wine Spectator or The Wine Enthusiast for choosing which wines they purchase. How often do these consumers know if their palates match those of the reviewers? How often do high scores and even higher prices create an unconscious (or even conscious) bias in the consumers' evaluation of wine? Many people, including myself, often fall to the peer pressure of thinking a wine that is more expensive or from a more highly-regarded region is better than the wine they actually like best. Critics often argue that this bias is removed when tasting wines blind. In some ways this is true. But the palate of Robert Parker is quite different from that of John Doe. Wine critics are experts at tasting the potential of what wines may achieve in 20 years time. They too have excellent memories and can pick out certain wines in tastings that they know ought to receive high scores solely based on their geography and price point. Well, how do "regular" wine consumers compare to the experts? Which wines do normal people prefer?

To investigate this question, I assembled 13 friends, family and colleagues to taste two flights of wine. Each flight consisted of a few local Colorado Wines and two top international wines. I joined in on the tasting, but offered minimal input and did not score or formally review the wines. The first flight consisted of two Colorado Rieslings plus one from Germany and one from Australia. The second flight consisted of three Colorado Cabernet Francs, one from Italy and a Cabernet Franc-dominated blend from Bordeaux. Participants were each asked to taste, compare, discuss and rank individual preferences for each flight. Each person was asked to rank the wines (1-4 for Riesling and 1-5 for Cabernet Franc) and the rankings were summed. The wine with the lowest total score (highest average ranking) was determined the best in category.

In the Riesling flight, the tasters clearly preferred a little sweetness in their Rieslings. This is not surprising as most everyday drinkers of Riesling expect to find some residual sugar. The results for the Riesling flight are as follows:

1. Loosen Bros., Dr. L Riesling 2008, Mosel, Germany
2. Boulder Creek Winery, Gen Y Rielsing 2009, Grand Valley, Colorado
3. Settembre Cellars, Riesling 2009, Grand Valley, Colorado
4. Grosset, Polish Hill Riesling 2008, Clare Valley, Australia

The participants identified the balance of the sweetness and acidity as positives and the marked acidity and petrol characteristics as negatives. In a what many wine enthusiasts would consider a surprise, the Grosset, one of Australia's finest Rieslings, came in last and was only deemed the favorite Riesling by one taster.

On to the Cabernet Francs, the "judges" had their choice of four 100% Cabernet Francs and one 58% Cabernet Franc/42% Merlot blend. As a varietal that most participants were not used to drinking, the earthy flavors were new to a few drinkers. The results for the Cabernet Franc flight are as follow:

1. Creekside Cellars, 2007 Cabernet Franc, Grand Valley AVA, Colorado
2. Canyon Wind Cellars, 2007 Cabernet Franc, Grand Valley AVA, Colorado
3. Dithyramb Winery, 2008 Cabernet Franc, Grand Valley AVA, Colorado
4. Château Angélus, 2003, Saint-Émilion Premier grand cru classé B, France
5. Blason, 2008 Cabernet Franc, Friuli Isonzo DOC, Italy


In an exceptional surprise, the Colorado offerings took the top three places and beat out one of the top Right Bank Bordeaux from a very good year! Perhaps the Angélus and the Grosset need a few more years before their potential is met. But the average consumer is not going to buy a bottle and let it sit for 10 years before drinking. With the wines that are on the shelf and ready to drink right now, Colorado holds its own with some of the best wines and wine regions in the world. Let this be a lesson to the casual wine drinker; price and region may not be as important as you thought. Follow your palate and you might be pleasantly surprised at where you end up! You are the expert on what you like. Drink what you like and give Colorado Wine a try!

For what it is worth, my own favorites of the night were Boulder Creek's Gen Y (followed by the Polish Hill) and the Château Angélus (followed closely by the Creekside Cellars and Canyon Wind Cellars).