If ever further proof were needed that the festive season was nearly upon us, with the nights drawing in at a rapid pace, this month’s wine club enabled everyone to try a selection of sparkling wines….and maybe to find a few to get the festivities started!
Sparkling wines come from a number of regions worldwide and have many different labels, depending on the region and style of production. We were able to try many of them including champagnes, Prosecco, Cremants and English sparkling wines.
Our first wine was a Cintila Extra Dry Peninsula de Setubal NV, a wine made from Portuguese grapes, providing a wonderful buttery, creamy taste. This was well received by everyone and considered excellent value for money! Further details of how much all the wines were and where you can buy them in the Wine Archive.
We then tasted a Prosecco from Tesco (from their Finest range). A good example of a well known wine from the Italian galera grape, produced in the northern region of Italy. Some found this a little light on taste, others loved it! It would be a good cocktail mixer if you needed sparkling wine!
Next we tried Castel Faglia Franciacorta NV. Another Italian wine from the Lombardy region. This has a lively acidity with some fresh almond and aromatic aromas. Again, a lovely wine on its own or with a starter such as smoked salmon.
We moved on to an English sparkling wine next called Prince Charmat Sparkling Brut. We tried the white but you can also get a rose. This wine comes predominantly Chardonnay grapes collected across the South of England and then produced in West Sussex. This was very crisp with lovely fruit notes of apples and peach.
The next wine we tried was a little more well known and definitely comparable to Champagne. Another English wine, Simpsons Chalklands Classic Cuvee. A great wine with notes of caramelised pears and citrus on the nose and to taste. Just a really enjoyable wine from the UK!
We then looked at a wine from the North of France, Cave de Turckheim Cremant d’Alsace. Most of this wine is kept by the French for local consumption but 10% finds it’s way out of the Alsace region and is definitely worth a try if you’ve not had it before.
To finish we compared a fine Champagne called Champagne Collet, Brut Vintage 2008 with another Champagne from Aldi, Champagne Veuve Monsigny Brut NV. With the first wine a little more than twice the price of the second, we were keen to see if we really could “taste the difference!” In the end it was concluded that BOTH wines were excellent. The Collet would be a brilliant alternative to some of the more well known Champagnes and the Monsigny was exceptionally good value for money!
