Chappish!

It's from France, but it isn't Champagne. It also doesn't cost like Champagne. It is a cremante de Bourgogne, a sparkling chardonnay. It's quite good for the price, better than some sparkling wines costing half again or twice as much as this unpretentious offering. In the USA, this wine currently sells for about ten dollars a bottle. Pale gold in color, and bubbly, this wine has a nose of apples and lime with a whiff of yeast. The flavor follows the apples and bread profile typical of Champagne, but with a bit of pineapple in the background. There is a lack of the depth and resonance Champagne's mix of grape varietals gives, leaving this wine a bit one-dimensional, but it is tasty and well made. The finish is a trifle sour, but not unpleasantly so; think green apple skins, not vinegar. If you think of this as a white table wine that happens to sparkle, not a festive wine for special celebrations, you will find many things to pair it with. It's a natural...

This is an outstanding value, a well made, quite drinkable brut sparkling wine in the style of Champagne. It is from New Mexico, of all places, is made from chardonnay and pinot noir, and gets 24 months of bottle fermentation. The pale straw color and tiny bubbles are attractive in the glass. The nose is rather simple, tart apples and bread, and that combo is reiterated in the flavor. This wine is not complex but it is well harmonized, tasty and easy to like. The flavor on the finish lingers and is--once again--of a tart apples motif, with a mineral, wet stone hint. Serve this as you would any brut, as an aperitif or with hors-d'oeuvres, with shellfish, poultry or cream-sauced pasta, with egg dishes, or (brut is very versatile) with a seared steak. If you are fond of Champagne cocktails, such as the French 75,  ixnay on using the expensive stuff, for in a mixed drink Gruet will work quite well, while the greater sophistication of a costlier wine would be dilu...