Tag Archives: Cava

Flute or Wineglass for Your Bubbles?

If you hang out with wine buffs, you know they’re always debating something. The current dispute: whether Champagne and sparkling wines should be served in an elegant Champagne flute, or a crystal wineglass.

It’s a first-world problem, for sure. I’ll state my position up front: I love my flutes. They’re  Me sniffing

fun, they’re elegant, and the wine’s subtle aromas travel right up to my nose when I drink from a flute. Some experts say the narrow opening makes it difficult to stick your nose down into the glass, but look at this photo – my schnoz fits just fine!

Would the bubbles tickle my nose and make me giggle if I drank bubbly from a wineglass? I think not.

But it seems I’m in the minority these days. A survey by Decanter.com concluded that almost 58 percent of readers prefer white wineglasses over flutes for their sparklers. The wider nose does give you more room for the all-important sniffing, and the larger surface area allows more bubbles to release their aromas simultaneously, so your sniff delivers more of a wallop – so they say.

Experts are weighing in, and some of the most prestigious Champagne producers and sommeliers are using wineglasses for their sparklers. I asked a Cleveland friend and wine authority, Gary Twining, CWE, SWE, for his take on the issue. Gary was characteristically diplomatic: “Medium-sized crystal glasses to enjoy Champagne and sparkling wines are certainly appropriate,” he said. “White wine glasses that taper inward at the rim to focus scents are perfectly fine, as are flutes made specifically for sparkling wine. Both hold enough to enhance the aroma and bouquet.”

Even Maximilian Riedel, CEO of the iconic glassmaker Riedel Crystal, told Decanter.com two years ago that his goal was to make flutes “obsolete.” But a quick look at Riedel’s website shows the company still sells flutes – with stems and without. (Holding a bubbly-filled flute in your paw? Now there’s a wineglass travesty, don’t you think?)

Popular history credits our favorite monk, Dom Perignon (b. 1638), with inventing the flute so he could “watch the dance of the sparkling atoms.” I’ll concede that, for older sparkling wines with more complex flavors and aromas, the flute might “restrict the development of the wine,” as one Glass of Bubbly writer put it. But how much? I tested the theory in the review below.

Now the trend seems to be toward different glasses for specific sparkling wines. A handy chart at WineFolly.com will keep you au courant: a flute, they say, is best for Crémant (sparkling wine produced in France, but not in the Champagne region), Cava (Spain’s version of quality sparkling wine) and Brut, Extra-Brut and Brut-Nature. A “tulip glass” works for Prosecco (Italian sparkling wine) and sparkling rosé, and the newer wide-tulip Champagne glass, the bubbles–specific chalice that most resembles a white-wine glass, is best for aged sparkling wine – vintage Champagne, Franciacorta and Gran Reserva Cava. It’s essentially a compromise, with a wider opening than a flute but less of a bowl at the core, so bubbles cluster in a sort of tunnel as they rise to the top.

You get all that? Don’t worry. Just keep drinking the best wine you can afford – sparkling or not – and try to buy glasses that will do it justice.

So, do you like your bubbles in a flute, or a white wine glass? Leave a comment below – the wine world wants to know where you stand!

Wine Lingo of the Day: Late-disgorged = a Champagne or sparkling wine that rested on its lees (the sediment that gathers in the neck of the bottle) longer than other sparkling wines produced by that winery. The extra time aging on the lees before the sediment is disgorged, or removed, is said to give the wine stronger, more complex flavors. Late-disgorged bottles are more expensive than earlier releases of the same wine, often costing at least twice as much.

Vino ‘View:  We can see why an earlier version of Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvée 2007, Late 

GF Cuvee

Disgorged, Carneros (12 percent alcohol, $37) was once poured for King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia of Spain. The glass made a difference: in a wineglass we tasted slightly less fruit, but a tart apple/melon peel taste emerged. The nose tingle didn’t happen, but the wine fizzed on our tongues, showing super acidity, and left a long celery finish. In the flute, the green apple aroma was stronger, leading to a sharper, banana and white pepper taste. It opened to a sweeter, more concentrated apple taste, a little yeasty, with a touch of taffy and a lot of silk – and plenty of fine, assertive bubbles. Made with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, this wine definitely is suitable for royalty! 

[The Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvée was received by BigSexyReds.com for review.]

Happy sipping,

Mary

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Aw, Nuts! Try These Wines for Pecan Day

In the final run up to a major holiday like Easter, it’s easy to overlook an obscure observance like Pecan Day – and we have an abundance of wine choices to accompany our pecan-encrusted trout, pecan pie or a few handfuls of roasted pecans.

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This is the day, back in 1775, when George Washington planted a pecan sapling at his Mount Vernon estate. The baby tree was a gift from Thomas Jefferson, who grew “America’s own nut” at Monticello.

Botanists tell us the pecan, named for an Algonquian word that means, “a nut requiring a stone to crack,” actually is a fruit related to hickory. This inch-long treat is my favorite nut and a nutritional powerhouse, packed with antioxidants, vitamin E, beta-carotene, vision-friendly lutein, and cancer-fighting ellagic acid. It’s a heart-healthy, brain-healthy snack – although, at just under 200 calories for 20 halves, it’s fairly fattening.

You always want to pair fatty foods with an acidic wine, so if you’re eating your pecans plain, without a sugary coating, they’ll go well with a chilled dry Rosé or Sauvignon Blanc. Pecans also are a slightly sweet nut and the wine’s brightness will bring out the pecans’ sweet notes.

If dinner is trout or chicken with a pecan crust, Champagne or Cava (sparkling wine from Spain) will pair nicely; and if you think you’d enjoy just the slightest sweetness to match the natural sweetness in the nut coating, try Prosecco, an Italian bubbly. But keep in mind, you can find sparkling wines at every sweetness level; if you’re eating candied pecans and want to drink a sparkler, look for one that’s a little sweeter.

Candied pecans, in fact, will pair with a lot of lively, acidic wines. Pinot Grigio, Riesling  and Albariño are all good choices. And if your pecans are super-spicy, flavored with Chipotle or other peppers, go for the gusto and open a bottle of Gewürztraminer.

Reds don’t generally pair will with pecans; the nuts are just too mild to make a good match. But if you insist on drinking red wine (and I usually do), reach for a lighter grape such as Pinot Noir, or, if you want a wine with a bit more attitude, a Garnacha.

And if you’re eating pecan pie – the real reason pecans were invented, I think – you’ll want a dessert wine because your wine should be as sweet as your dessert. Look for Tawny Porto or, maybe better, try some Vin Santo from Tuscany, Icewine from Canada, or Sauternes from France. For a more economical choice, look for a late-harvest Viognier (white) or Zinfandel (red).

Wine Lingo of the Day:  Fortified wine = this is a handy place to mention fortified wines, because some of the wines you’ll choose to accompany dessert will have been fortified. These are wines to which alcohol has been added to raise the alcohol level to 15 percent or higher. Fermentation ends, and the winemaker is left with a high-alcohol wine.

Cheers – and for those celebrating this weekend, have a wonderful Easter!

Mary