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Tag: 100% pinot noir

  • We Toast October 2022 with Victorine de Chastenay Cremant de Bourgogne Brut Rose

    This month our toast will be with a bottle of Victorine de Chastenay Cremant de Bourgogne Brut Rose. This was an easy choice since we found it in a favorite wine shop Formaggio South End. This shop offers the best of so many food options, including a small but well-curated wine selection.

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    This bottle was in the cooler, chilled and ready for an impromptu celebration. It was 100% pinot noir, a favorite with us. It was a pinot noir from Burgundy, one of our favorite sources for this grape. The back label had what we considered a seal of approval, the logo of Skurnik Wines & Spirits, an importer we trust! Since this bottle made it through all those selection gateways and was priced at $22.95, we knew it would be a great value.

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    Skurnik Wine and Spirits wrote that great value was their reason for importing this wine.

    "Not all Crémant de Bourgogne are created equal. We at Skurnik have searched for years for a Crémant de Bourgogne that can deliver the quality and value that the Skurnik name has come to represent. With Victorine de Chastenay, they have found that rare combination. Long an afterthought for many producers in Burgundy, these delicious sparklers come from fruit in the Côtes de Nuits and Côtes De Beaune in Burgundy (a welcome contrast to most Crémant de Bourgognes that are made from fruit in the Mâconnais, Beaujolais, and Côte Chalonnaise). From the complex and refreshing Brut Blanc to the 100% Pinot Noir Brut Rosé, these wines are made completely in tank to preserve the minerality and freshness of the Côte d’Or fruit and are aged on the lees for 20 months before release (the minimum for the appellation is 12 months!). It is rare to find Crémants of such pedigree and quality at a value price and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have you try them."

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    We purchase our bottle at Formaggio South End for $22.95.

    Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

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    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • September’s Toast with Champagne Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs

    This month we are chilling a bottle of Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs. It's an organic, biodynamic, grower Champagne from a small producer. You may have noticed that we toast with a lot of wines similar to this one. Like many of you, there are flavor profiles, business philosophies, importers, and regional terroirs that we prefer over others. This wine checks a lot of boxes on our preference list.

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    Humboldt Importers describe this wine maker well, "Located in the Cote des Bar in the Aube region to the southeast of the Marne, the Barbichon family have been growing Champagne grapes for 4 generations. Today Robert Barbichon produces a range of elegant, stylish Champagnes with bright mineral-driven fruit and just a hint of toast."

    And (here's the part we especially like) Humboldt Importers characterize the Blanc de Noirs Brut NV as, "Crafted of pure Pinot Noir, it exhibits a creamy nose filled with bright white fruit, chalk/mineral notes and a crisp, elegant finish. 100% Pinot Noir from the Cote des Bar."

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    One of the fun things about this bottle is that it's a "Transatlantic Bubbles Selection." This is a new import category to us. But reading about their love of sparkling wine and the places where their selections are served makes us open to other wines from their portfolio. 

    They say:

    "Transatlantic Bubbles LLC. specializes in finding and importing grower-producer Champagnes that offer superior quality at a better cost to the customer. We are a trusted supplier in the growing niche market for recoltant-manipulant Champagne."

    We're looking forward to raising our glasses to the extension of this lovely summer that we have declared, "… will not end until October 15th, at the earliest!"

    We purchased our bottle of Champagne Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs Brut at City Liquors in Cambridge for ~ $45.

    IMG_4250UPDATE: (09.02.17) We had such high hopes for this Champagne and, well … at the risk of stooping to a cliché, "It exceeded our highest expectations!" We chilled the wine to ~ 55ºF and began tasting while enjoying some thinly sliced pork loin, pepper-flavored boursin, Jasper Hill Moses Sleeper (cows milk cheese inspired by French Brie), figs, and local cherry tomatoes – why skimp?

    This combination added to the enjoyment of the Barbichon Blanc De Noirs Brut which only improved as it warmed.

    Penny was haunted by a flavor she was experiencing tasted in the fruit of this wine. Then she realized it was like the charred, caramelized pineapple served with our Jamaican jerk chicken wings plate at Little Donkey. I liked the wine's yeasty character and hints of chalk.

    We both agreed that the full, rich, round, "elegant finish" remained throughout our meal. And, the best news, we saved some more of this lovely bottle of bubbles for today. 

    We are buying another bottle the next time we find this little gem! 

    Cheers!

    Related Posts:

    Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post: Join Us as We Toast …

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    Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

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    The Food Lover's Guide to Wine

    The New Wine Lover's Companion

    The Wine Bible

     

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Screengrab from Transatlantic Bubbles LLC