Château Tamagne, Brut, 2013, Russia
Russian wine makers are not the Russian government and with that in mind they shouldn’t be tarnished as is the government is. This sparkling wine is dry with good length and flavours of apple, pear, citrus and hints of pineapple. It’s a good sparkling that is very easy to drink.
Italian prosecco is pretty popular in the UK and there are some good sparkling examples and some bad, this one from La Marca is a good one.
Its light, fizzy with high acidity but with a sweet under note. Theres not much aroma but you get flavours of apple, pear, citrus with a creaminess that elevates this prosecco above many others.
At £14 a bottle its a bit pricey but its rather good.
From North East Italy this Pinot Noir shows that italy isn’t just about Prosecco.
Its not go a lot of flavour, there are hints of lemon, peach, brioche and dryness that makes it easy drinking but it feels more grown up. Good structure but not Champagne quality.
Its subtle in many ways and it went well with a starter of smoked salmon and with a cheese board. Well worth trying out although may be not worth a case of it.
Jako Wine, Brut, Pinot Noir, Sparkling, Italy
This Italian sparkling DOCG wine from La Montina is made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.Its a very well crafted wine, very small bubbles, its dry and fresh with ripe fruit rather than a heavy dollop yeasty notes that you would get from Champagne.
We had it with Oysters and dressed crab, the acidity and flavour complimented the food and I did prefer it to Champagne. Well worth the £25 a bottle if you want something as good as the french can produce.
La Montine, Millestimato Brut Sparkling, 2012, Franciaorta DOCG, Italy
Domaine Huet know how to make a great Loire Cremant. At £30 a bottle it should be great, is it?
Made with Chenin Blanc this has lots of small bubbles and subtle aromas of lemon and blossom with pear in there. These feed into the taste with hints of green apple and a bit pineapple in the background. Its classy i’ll give it that. £30 is a little steep though.
Domaine Huet, Vouvray Petillant, 2014, Loire Valley, France
Majestic wine do have some crackers and this Cremant Blanc de Blancs from Domaine Papillon-Lavoignat in Burgundy shows off a cracker. Made in the traditional method with possible Aligote with Chardonnay. Its dry, fresh and fruit driven. delightful pale lemon it colour with pear, apple and lemon notes and creamy after note popping in there. Allow it to warm up a little to get the flavours as they are reasonable subtle. At £14 on a mix 6 at Majestic its a “spot on the money” excellent sparkling.
Domaine Papillon-Lavoignat, Cremant Blanc de Blancs, Burgundy, France
So many countries can make great wine and that includes Greece and this Brut sparkling from Chrysostomou Mousaios in northern Greece, unfortunately is not a great wine. Its not terrible but the oak is very overpowering.
Made with the Assyriko grape the colour is lovely rich straw, there’s honey and citrus aromas. Its a dense, rich in flavour of stone fruit and nuts but the oaky, smoke flavours much are too much. It needs to be much more refined, drinkable but that’s the best I can say.
Chrysostomou Mousaios, Brut sparkling wine from Greece
Purchase on holiday when we visit the Loire Valley, this Sparkling wine is made with 100% Chenin and in the traditional method. Thats the plus points.
Its far more acidic and green than I remember it on holiday, lots of citrus and green apple in there but it was too much on its own, with a bit of smoked salmon it was better. Its not undrinkable but compared to the Luxembourg Sparkling we had first it was no where near that in quality.
At Eur6 a bottle its best left or make it the 3rd or 4th bottle to open at a party.
la Prevote, Touraine, Brut, Loire Valley, France
This Crémant d’Alsace from Le Clos Château Isenbourg, is great example of a sparking regional wine. This has aromas of green apple and grass and additional flavours of lime and melon. Theres an underlying bready flavour that is very subtle and with the fine bubbles make a refreshing change to the overhyped and full on bread flavours champagnes.
With the high acidity pair with seafood, creamy cheeses or enjoy in the garden on a summers day. At Eur10 a bottle great value, great wine.
Le Clos Château Isenbourg, Comtes d’Isenbourg, Crémant d’Alsace, Brut, France
Crémant de Luxembourg Brut is not something you get in the supermarket, let alone one from an excellent producer such as Schmit-Fohl .
This is made with Chardonnay and Auxerrois, its dry and has some green apple and brioche aromas, the flavours are light but refreshing with apple, grass and brioche flavours. There are loads of small, fine bubbles that show off the quality of the wine.
At £13 a bottle this is a great price and a great wine.
Schmit-Fohl, Crémant de Luxembourg, Brut
Schmit-Fohl, Crémant de Luxembourg, Brut