The Heritage Club - December 2021
This month features 2 drastically different wines that are perfect for the holiday season. First, a sparkling french blanc de blanc wine that pairs perfectly with a great cheese on New Year's Eve. Secondly, a Napa Cabernet delivers on every note a Cab drinker looks for while being delivered more softly.
Les Alliés Blanc de Blancs Brut
Producer: Les Alliés
Region: Côte d'Or, Burgundy, France
Grape Varietal: 100% Chardonnay
Viticulture: Soil is predominately sedimentary composed of clay, marls, and limestone.
Serving Suggestion: Serve cold, around 40-45 degrees Fahrenheit.
Age: Drink now or save for a special occasion. Ideal as an aperitif with some great cheese.
Nose: Delicate nose with hints of yellow fruit and some dried fruit.
Tasting Notes: A dry and crisp sparkling wine with notes of ripe melon, lemon, and brioche. This wine features a long, refreshing finish.
WHY WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS WINE
Who doesn't love bubbles? This time of year, having bubbles on hand is essential. Whether for New Year's or your holiday celebration, this wine will stand out and be a crowd-pleaser. This particular bottle is a fantastic example of blanc de blanc (white of the whites). Meaning this wine is made from Chardonnay instead of Pinot Noir (Blanc de Noirs). Blanc de Blanc lends itself to more lemon and apple-driven notes, white this wine shows. You will be hard-pressed to find another sparkling wine of this high quality for this value price.
This wine is also classified as "Brut," meaning it is dry, but not as far down the dryness scale as Extra Brut or Brut Nature. Brut allows this wine to be more approachable for the casual wine drinker while packing enough acidity and dryness to satisfy the seasoned sparkling wine aficionado.
A key to enjoying this wine is in the service. This wine must be appropriately cold and served in a vessel that pushes all of the aromas to the nose. Serving this wine in your run-of-the-mill wide wine glass will truly change your experience with this wine. A more narrow funnel is required for proper enjoyment.
Acclaimed Cabernet Sauvignon 2019
Producer: Acclaimed via Precision Wine Co.
Region: Rutherford, Napa Valley, California
Winemaker: Trevor Sheehan
Grape Varietal: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
Viticulture: The Rutherford area is known for its unique terroir particularly with its Cabernet Sauvignon. The well-drained soil of this area has a composition of gravel, loam, and sand with volcanic deposits and marine sediments from the Franciscan Assemblage.
Age: Drink now or store properly for 10+ years.
Serving Suggestion: Serve slightly below room temperature (60-65) with grilled meat, steak is a classic pairing.
Tasting Notes: A dry wine with blackberry, cedar, and tobacco on the nose. The palate features black currant, dark cherry, and a hint of cedar shavings.
WHY WE’RE EXCITED ABOUT THIS WINE
As far as Napa Cabernet goes, this is one of the more easy-drinking varieties. While this wine is bold and features many of the tasting notes associated with Cabernet from Napa, the body is slightly lighter as is the tannic structure. This wine welcomes a lengthy decanting. Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa is notorious for really opening up when it gets time to react with the air and settle its structure.
The Rutherford region of Napa is one of the most well regarded. Having a wine of this quality, from this region is hard to come by, especially at this price point.
While this wine lacks the intensity of other Cab Sauvs from Napa, it allows for the notes to come through, but on a slightly softer palate. This Cab would be a perfect introductory Cabernet for the wine drinker who does not normally go for the highly concentrated, highly tannic, Napa Cabernet.