Tag: neal rosenthal

Toasting November with a Special Wine: Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs in a Special Place

November is a month to give thanks, so we are going to toast it with a Champagne: Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs at Select Oyster Bar.

We recently had another reason to celebrate, so we shared a half bottle of Guy Larmandier Blanc de Blancs over lunch. It reminded us that this is one of the few all Chardonnay Champagnes that we have on our favorites list. It's from one of our favorite importers, Neal Rosenthal. And, it made the beautifully curated wine list at one of our favorite places, Select Oyster Bar. That certainly qualified it for a place in this year of favorites.

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! This year we have selected a favorite wine for our monthly toast.

We hope you'll join our Sparkling Resolution. You don't have to buy a bottle. You can go to your favorite place with a good wine list and enjoy a glass of sparkle over lunch or dinner or share a bottle or half bottle as we will today.

We'll toast all the people along the way, from grapevine to glass, who dedicate themselves to bringing great wine our way!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino

November 1, 2018
December Sparkles with Chateau de l’Eperonniere, Crémant de Loire

We’re celebrating the arrival of December with an exceptional sparkler. Chateau de l’Eperonniere, Crémant de Loire 2009 is from the vineyards of Mathieu Tijou, the latest in his family to carry on the tradition of winemaking.

Mathieu Tijou (Foreground), Neal Rosenthal (background left)

As with his father, Mathieu has continued to work with importer Neal Rosenthal, a name you will know well from reading our BostonZest wine posts. Through the years, we have come to trust and rely on wines that display the Rosenthal name. And, this Crémant reinforces that claim.

Penny thinks, “this Cremant is addictive!”

Ed says, “very balanced, and food friendly.”

We had it with Neals Yard Dairy Berkswell (sheeps milk cheese), Landaff (cows milk cheese/aged at Jasper Hill), Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Sardinian parchment crackers.

Penny says, “when you sip, it’s sweet and tart at the same time – usually I taste one followed by other.”

One of our sparkling wine/champagne mottos is to “drink slowly and sip through the temperatures,” to experience all the wine has to offer. That advise certainly applies here.

If you’re a Crémant fan, we think you’ll be impressed with this wine. If you’ve never tried a Crémant, this would be a memorable introduction to the sparkler.

Here’s to December! May it be as wonderful as our bottle of Chateau de l’Eperonniere, Crémant de Loire.

Discover more about Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

We purchased our bottle of Chateau de l’Eperonniere, Crémant de Loire 2009 at Bauer Wine & Spirits.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Image of Mathieu Tijou & Neal Rosenthal courtesy of www.madrose.com

December 1, 2014
Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Our May Sparkler

This time, our Sparkler of the Month is a Champagne, Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut NV to be specific. Happy new month!

Those of you who follow our sparkling wine posts may have noticed that we seldom choose a 100% Chardonnay wine. But, we did take this recommendation at Gordon’s because it was from one of our favorite importers, Neal Rosenthal.

We took this gem from our wine rack to Provincetown to sit and sip by the sea. Note that this is a Grand Cru Champagne from the Village of Cramant. It is not a Crémant from another part of France.

And, it lived up to our expectations! It’s a blanc de blancs that is playing in a different key. Penny couldn’t place the fruit she was tasting, so she looked up reviews and then asked Ed what he thought it was. His answer was one shared by experts, pear!

This is a celebration wine, a bit more expensive ($59.99) than some of our selections, but anytime we’re in Provincetown, we want to celebrate! We sipped this bottle over a couple of days and Ed thought it got better when it had more time in the glass and longer to breath. He reminds you not to serve it too cold.

And, we’ve learned, if you’re going to have a blanc de blancs, make it one from a great importer like Neal Rosenthal.

Here’s More About Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino

May 1, 2014
Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Our May Sparkler

This time, our Sparkler of the Month is a Champagne, Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut NV to be specific. Happy new month!

Those of you who follow our sparkling wine posts may have noticed that we seldom choose a 100% Chardonnay wine. But, we did take this recommendation at Gordon’s because it was from one of our favorite importers, Neal Rosenthal.

We took this gem from our wine rack to Provincetown to sit and sip by the sea. Note that this is a Grand Cru Champagne from the Village of Cramant. It is not a Crémant from another part of France.

And, it lived up to our expectations! It’s a blanc de blancs that is playing in a different key. Penny couldn’t place the fruit she was tasting, so she looked up reviews and then asked Ed what he thought it was. His answer was one shared by experts, pear!

This is a celebration wine, a bit more expensive ($59.99) than some of our selections, but anytime we’re in Provincetown, we want to celebrate! We sipped this bottle over a couple of days and Ed thought it got better when it had more time in the glass and longer to breath. He reminds you not to serve it too cold.

And, we’ve learned, if you’re going to have a blanc de blancs, make it one from a great importer like Neal Rosenthal.

Here’s More About Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino

May 1, 2014
Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs, Our May Sparkler

This time, our Sparkler of the Month is a Champagne, Guy Larmandier, Cramant Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut NV to be specific. Happy new month!

Those of you who follow our sparkling wine posts may have noticed that we seldom choose a 100% Chardonnay wine. But, we did take this recommendation at Gordon’s because it was from one of our favorite importers, Neal Rosenthal.

We took this gem from our wine rack to Provincetown to sit and sip by the sea. Note that this is a Grand Cru Champagne from the Village of Cramant. It is not a Crémant from another part of France.

And, it lived up to our expectations! It’s a blanc de blancs that is playing in a different key. Penny couldn’t place the fruit she was tasting, so she looked up reviews and then asked Ed what he thought it was. His answer was one shared by experts, pear!

This is a celebration wine, a bit more expensive ($59.99) than some of our selections, but anytime we’re in Provincetown, we want to celebrate! We sipped this bottle over a couple of days and Ed thought it got better when it had more time in the glass and longer to breath. He reminds you not to serve it too cold.

And, we’ve learned, if you’re going to have a blanc de blancs, make it one from a great importer like Neal Rosenthal.

Here’s More About Our Sparkling Resolution

And, Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014 Penny Cherubino

May 1, 2014
Cuvée L’Astrée Rosé de Loire at Island Creek Oyster Bar

Last week, at Island Creek Oyster Bar, we enjoyed a great rosé wine by the glass. Frankly, we didn’t think we liked Cabernet Franc. Then, the 2010 Chateau Soucherie Cuvee L’Astrée Rosé de Loire opened our eyes, our noses, our palates.

This wine, a selection of Neal Rosenthal, one of our favorite importers, was a great partner for our oysters, lobster roe noodles with Brussels sprout leaves, braised short ribs, grilled lobster, trumpet mushrooms and pecorino. And, Virginia Striped Bass with pearl pasta, shiitake mushrooms, sweet and sour peppers, spring onion cream, and grilled ramps.

This pretty, pink glass of luscious had the backbone to face this line up of flavors and stand up to all of them. It's going be added to our next wine order. We have a feeling it will be one of our roof deck wines of the year.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

March 28, 2012
Benvenuto March with Prosecco from Bisson & Rosenthal

We’re welcoming March with a bottle of prosecco– always a safe bet, but with Rosenthal on the label it’s nearly a sure thing! We once advised a friend, who was uneasy about the thought of ordering wine at an upcoming business dinner, to just ask the restaurant for a Neal Rosenthal wine. She got a Standing O!

The terms, “artisan, traditional, and natural” are more than words on a label, they’re part of this wine merchant’s philosophy. When Rosenthal talks about Enoteca Bisson and Pierluigi Lugano’s care and passion as a grower and producer of distinctive wines, you can begin to appreciate the vision and effort that goes into his prosecco.

Vino Frizzante Prosecco (Glera in Italy) 2010 Bisson is produced in a “bone-dry style.” That would normally be enough for me to take a pass on a sparkler, but one sip and I was intrigued.

Bisson Prosecco uses a Crown Cap (also called a “Spark Cap”)

Yes, it was dry but not in an overwhelming way. We both could taste the fruit– concentrated pear? Penny compared the wine’s body to that of a Bollinger Champagne!

When we returned to buy another bottle from Howie Rubin at Bauer Wine & Spirits, he wasn’t surprised, “I find it’s got a little more chalkiness, more like real Champagne.” Rubin pointed to, “…the yeast in the nose. It could be the limestone in the soil, it could be more Champagne-like soil.”

Whatever it is, we’ve added our applause and another bottle to our wine rack. There’s a lot of prosecco out there. “Leave it to Neal Rosenthal to give us something that’s a little drier, a little more complex, a little deeper in flavor,” said Rubin. “It sets it apart from all the rest.”

Links:

Vino Frizzante Prosecco 2010 Bisson, Rosenthal Wine Merchant, NY at Bauer Wine & Spirits

Here's More About: Our Sparkling Resolution

Check Out: Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here's, The Food Lover's Guide to Wine the latest addition to our wine reference wish list. We heard a great interview and review of this book over on Taste of the Past.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

March 1, 2012