Tag: France

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Classy Crémants

Crémant de Loire Rose (France)

Bubbly’s take…

An exquisite supermarket find! This is one of those remarkable Crémants that you simply cannot get enough of. On a casual night in, we drank it while making dinner, we drank it as an apéritif, we drank it with dinner and we even drank it after. This wine opens with a fullsome flavour, reminiscent of strawberries. Even if you are not keen on particularly fruity wines, this one is backed by drier sherbet notes, being quintessential of many Crémants. Certainly worth sampling for fans of Rosé and Crémant alike!

Would go well with…

As a Rosé Crémant, we think this is a fairly versatile wine but perhaps being better suited to fish or vegetarian dishes. Incidentally, while we’ve almost certainly blogged this recipe before, we made a delicious French honey-mustard tarte that made a superb pairing, as a pre-pizza snackette, with this enchanting wine:

Where to buy…

Sainsbury’s

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Timeless Champagnes

Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé

Bubbly’s take…

Our first Champagne of 2022! This is a marvellous sparkling rosé, which you definitely won’t want to waste on a New Year’s Eve. The Billacart-Salmon bursts from bottle to flute with a lively froth and in a welcoming shade of ripe peach.

This Champagne brings a complex but well-balanced flavour to the palate. It is dry but certainly not acrid. It is a pleasure to drink yet not easily taken for granted. It is an enchanting though also versatile wine.

Would go well with…

Seafood – we’re thinking lobster linguine! It would be equally decadent with some nice soft cheeses. Alternatively, if you’re after a jazzy apéritif then the Billacart-Salmon is also a winner!

Where to buy…

Vivino

Categories
Classy Crémants

Vouvray Domaine du Petit Coteau

Bubbly’s take…

This is a remarkable Crémant and testimony to the Champagne-matching qualities of this species of sparkling. It is a dry yet smooth wine that comes out of the bottle with an eager fizz. We would, perhaps, best describe this Crémant as ‘pleasantly sour’, with some undercurrents of lemon. In summary, we feel this multi-faceted Crémant is an excellent sparkling and also a meaningful substitute for Champagne.

Would go well with…

Well, we had this with a Turkish meze and it paired just fine. If you are thinking of something more traditional, then we think it would also go well with a cheese board.

Where to buy…

Nicolas

Categories
Timeless Champagnes

Carré-Perseval Champagne Brut

Bubbly’s take…

We think this Champagne is a real winner! We discovered this by happenstance one Friday night in Sainsbury’s. This wine comes out of the bottle with a lovely platinum shade, with a very slight hint of rosé. It is a three-grape variety made from Chardonnary, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. With a light yet floral bouquet, and rich in flavours of well-ripened apples, we found this Champagne to be very animated and easy to enjoy.

When appropriately chilled, the Carré-Perseval is sublime and we believe it would make an excellent (and also very well-priced) choice for summer garden parties! We were so surprised by the quality, versality and value this remarkable wine offers that we had to award it the Joker – a wildcard find!

Would go well with…

We enjoyed this Champagne with a vegetarian pizza but we think it would also make a very pleasing apéritif.

Where to buy…

Sainsbury’s

Categories
Classy Crémants

Château de Mauny Brut Crémant de Loire

Bubbly’s take…

This Crémant is rich in flavours of apple and pear. It is reassuringly dry but very refreshing when served chilled. The Château de Mauny is also very well-priced so we think this one makes a solid choice for both seasoned fans of Crémant or anyone curious in this excellent class of sparkling wine.

Would go well with…

We enjoyed this Crémant with a delicious blue cheese gnocchi; you can find the recipe here – it’s really quick and easy! As expected, the Château de Mauny provides a superb counterbalance to both sharp and savoury flavours.

Where to buy…

Oddbins

Categories
Timeless Champagnes

Baron Albert L’Universelle Brut Champagne

Bubbly’s take…

We loved this Champagne! This one comes from a relatively young and family-run vineyard, which cultivates a floroushing variety of Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. We think they’ve made a classic. The Baron Albert comes out of the bottle with a pale and inviting shade. We feel this is a drier Champagne but with indulgent flavours of citrus fruits and apples. That said, this wine is certainly not too tart and it has some depth to it – even after the first flute, we found it blossomed with other characterful notes.

In our opinion, this Champagne is everything one comes to expect from a bottle of bubbles. It is clean, crisp and refreshing, it has dry and thought-provoking flavours, and it is free of any impure or bitter aftertaste. Being very reasonably priced, we feel the Baron Albert combines a superb ‘all-rounder’ Champagne with excellent value.

Would go well with…

We enjoyed this with home-made vegetarian pizza and we thought it made for a great pairing. We also had this with Pad Thai and vegetable tempura, and found it provided for a solid reconciliation of different sweet, spiced and savoury flavours.

Where to buy…

Le Bon Vin

Categories
Classy Crémants

Benjamin Darnault Vigneron’s Wife Crémant de Bourgogne (France)

Bubbly’s take…

We loved this Crémant! As you’ll see, the Vigneron’s Wife comes in a very classic bottle and pours with a buzzing froth. It is rich in flavours of apple and watermelon, and has a lovely tart bouquet. We think this Crémant would be a real party-pleaser at dinner parties. Delicious, sassy and punchy… what more could one want from a Crémant?

Would go well with…

So, we enjoyed this with dinner – cod served over jasmine rice – and the Vigneron’s Wife took centre stage. But we think this excellent Crémant is also sufficiently potent to pair with stronger dishes. (Also, goes well with a Friday evening and Disney+.)

Where to buy…

Naked Wines

Categories
Timeless Champagnes

Denis Chaput Champagne Mésogée Brut

Bubbly’s take…

This was a refreshing find. The Denis Chaput pours with a soft fizz. It is a remarkably wholesome sparkling, with a reassuringly dry taste. That being said, it’s certainly not a bitter wine and we found a remarkable flavour of fresh apples.

Would go well with…

This is a pleasant ‘go-to’ Champagne so we think it is a fairly flexible wine. However, we remember uncorking this with a takeaway and it held its own alongside a mild curry and vegetable pakora!

Where to buy…

Naked Wines

Categories
Timeless Champagnes Uncategorized

Ayala Champagne Brut Majeur

Bubbly’s take…

A little more demure, the Ayala house have been making Champagne for over 160 years (- you can read more here). With such experience in viticulture, we sampled the Brut Majeur with gusto. When we come to think of Champagne, we tend to think of it as a quintessentially dry wine. And this Champagne certainly fulfilled our expectations. It has a reassuringly dry, crisp and rich flavour. This is also quite a direct and uncomplicated wine with a refreshing little punch. That being said, the Brut Majeur is a varietal, being produced from a few different grapes, hence we feel it is certainly not a bland Champagne.

Would go well with…

We had this with a delicious Thai takeaway. At first, it seemed an unlikely pairing however we found the Brut Majeur complemented many of the refined flavours (of lemongrass, nut and tamarind) that are manifest in Thai cuisine.

Where to buy…

The Drink Shop

Categories
Timeless Champagnes

Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial

Bubbly’s take…

This Brut is both a wonderful Champagne and a wonderful Rosé! We received this at Christmas in one of those big, elaborate boxes hence we had high expectations, particulary as the esteemed Moët & Chandon house now counts Louis Vutton amongst its corporate siblings. What really surprised us about this wine is it presents a great pairing of a sublime Rosé with a crisp Champagne. We’ve found few wines that can reconcile a wholesome Rosé with a dry sparkling. It’s a characterful and charming Champagne, and one we’re eager to try again soon.

Would go well with…

Canapés, cheese, shortbread, petit fours and other nice nibbles.

Where to buy…

The Drink Shop