OK, so let’s start with the nose, which is something akin to uncooked Bisquick mixed with water: it’s got a lovely, fresh biscuity biscuitness to it. It’s overlaid by fresh green apples, but time and time again, the biscuits come to the fore (and by biscuits, I don’t mean cookies, but rather proper American biscuits). Mmm biscuits.
Where was I? Right. Bead is exceptionally fine and vigorous (the fact that I can’t wash wineglasses worth a damn definitely helps: remember not to use soap and don’t be afraid of the odd bit of dust; it really does help with this kind of thing). The mousse is probably exceptional if you have proper flutes; I don’t at the moment, so what I’m getting is a bunch of random bubbling in a large red wine glass. Still, seriously, this is good looking stuff. The color is rather deeper than your typical sparkling wine, which means I’m suspecting some pinot noir in here as well… OK, I just cheated and looked at the back label and sure enough, this wine is 70% pinot (10% of that meunier). Check.
So how’s it taste? The fine bubble dominate at first, prickly and refreshing, and then it all goes a bit sour, fairly acidic, tasting largely of toast, sharp green apples, and fresh bread. Oh, yeah, and biscuits. Delicious biscuits. Mmmm.
This is a fairly exceptional New World sparkling wine; it reminds me of a somewhat less sweet Veuve Clicquot, brimming with yeasty breadiness and sharp, fresh apple-y acidity. I imagine what this wine really wants is minimally prepared seafood – OK, salt and pepper calamari would probably be great too – but all I have is the Chinese take-away from last night, so here’s hoping it’s a good match for cold nasi goreng as well. 🙂
I should probably also note that this is no longer made by M. de Brun, but by some faceless corporate winery. I don’t remember who this really is – Lion Nathan? I’ll have to research it further.
Bonus points: this is probably the most useless winery Web site I’ve ever seen. Check it out!
Daniel Le Brun
Price: $NZ32
Closure: Cork
Date tasted: December 2008