New Zealand Sparkling Wine Challenges Big Bubbles

While seeking out this tasting event, I was hijacked into another wine event at the same hotel, held at the same time.  It was a stroke of luck to encounter two wine tasting events for the effort of one.  Also luckily, I made it from the restaurant up to the pool area at the Sunset Marquis to sample Kim Crawford Fizz, a méthode traditionelle sparkling wine produced in New Zealand's Malborough region.

The wine was poured blind alongside four other notable bottles of bubbly (Veuve Cliquot, Taittinger, Gosset and Schramsberg.).  Blind tasting not being one of my strong suits, I'll skip the gruesome details of how my investigation fizzed out and concentrate on the attributes of what turned out to be wine number three.

Kim Crawford Fizz Méthod Traditionelle is part of their Small Parcels range.  The sparkling wine is produced in the same way Champagne is made - méthode champenoise - but the folks from the Champagne region have successfully restricted use of that term only to wines produced in Champagne.  So, elsewhere, it is known as the traditional method.

The wine is named after Felicity Nelson, Kim Crawford's winery host (pictured).  Her effervescent personality gave her the nickname "Fizz," and it's now on the label.

The winery's website describes the sourcing of the 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir grapes and how they display themselves in the wine.  "Chardonnay from the Castle Cliffs Vineyard in Marlborough's cool Awatere Valley provides elegance, minerality, and pure citrus flavors. The Brooklands and Hay Vineyards - in the heavy clay soils of Marlborough's Southern Valleys - provide depth, structure, and complexity for our Pinot Noir."

Bubbles are medium-sized and they dissipate quickly.  The nose shows a toasty grapefruit, apple  and tangerine aroma.  The mouthfeel is dry and full, and the fruit is embedded in a yeasty framework with a long finish. It's a clean and refreshing quaff.


Images by Allison Levine

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

A New Zealand Sparkling Wine Goes Head-To-Head With The Big Names

While seeking out this tasting event, I was hijacked into another wine event at the same hotel, held at the same time.   It was a stroke of luck to encounter two good wine tasting events for the effort of one.  Also luckily, I made it from the restaurant up to the pool area at the Sunset Marquis to sample Kim Crawford Fizz, a Méthode Traditionelle sparkling wine produced in New Zealand's Malborough region.

The wine was poured blind alongside four other notable bottles of bubbly (Veuve Cliquot, Taittinger, Gosset and Schramsberg.).  Blind tasting not being one of my strong suits, I'll skip the gruesome details of how my investigation fizzed out and concentrate on the attributes of what turned out to be wine number three.

Kim Crawford Fizz Method Traditionelle is part of their Small Parcels range.  The sparkling wine is produced in the same way Champagne is made - méthode champenoise - but the folks from the Champagne region have successfully restricted use of that term only to wines produced in Champagne. So, elsewhere, it is known as the traditional method.

The wine is named after Felicity Nelson, Kim Crawford's winery host (pictured).  Her effervescent personality gave her the nickname "Fizz," and it's now on the label.

The winery's website describes the sourcing of the 60% Chardonnay and 40% Pinot Noir grapes and how they display themselves in the wine. "Chardonnay from the Castle Cliffs Vineyard in Marlborough's cool Awatere Valley provides elegance, minerality, and pure citrus flavors. The Brooklands and Hay Vineyards - in the heavy clay soils of Marlborough's Southern Valleys - provide depth, structure, and complexity for our Pinot Noir."

Bubbles are medium-sized and they dissipate quickly. The nose shows a toasty grapefruit, apple and tangerine aroma. The mouthfeel is dry and full, and the fruit is embedded in a yeasty framework with a long finish. It's a clean and refreshing quaff.


Images by Allison Levine

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

CRAGGY RANGE SAUVIGNON BLANC TE MUNA ROAD VINYARD 2008

Hostile Grape at the M Resort in Las Vegas is where I got away from the casino floor for a bit and relaxed with a nice, refreshing Sauvignon Blanc.  It was well into the triple digits outside, so a cool and fresh wine was definitely the order of the day.  Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc was my choice.  It's a single vineyard wine.

Craggy Range SB is very easy to drink.  The straw color is fairly innocuous but the nose gives a good, healthy dose of that fine grassy aroma I like to find in a Sauvignon Blanc.  This effort, from Marlborough, New Zealand, shows that grassy note as the dominant feature in a very fresh nose.  Pineapple aromas also come through.  The taste is fruity with a nice acidity.  The acid seemed a bit restrained at first, but became more noticeable on the finish.  Pineapple flavor is joined by guava, with a grapefruit trailing edge as a parting shot.

I thought it might be a wee bit lackluster at first, but it became more complex as I drank it.  If you stay away from Sauvignon Blanc because it comes on too strong for your taste, this may be a great wine for you to try.

Brancott Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Another beautiful spring day in Los Angeles took me to Third and Fairfax for a jaunt through the Farmers Market.  I wound up a few steps to the north at Maggiano's for lunch.  I wasn't all that early.  Maybe the economy was to blame for the fact that nobody was in the bar.  There was plenty of light coming through the windows and a breeze through the doors, so it felt quite right.  I took a seat.

The bartender poured a few tastes for me and I decided to go with a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Brancott, from Marlborough.

The nose was predictably grassy and green, perfect for a nice springtime day.  There was lemon zest and a tropical aroma making a big play, too.  On the palate, the lemon came through in a wash of minerals for a clean and crisp taste.  It's not an expensive wine, just $7 per glass.

The plate held talapia topped with lobster and some grilled, marinated veggies on the side.  The pairing was very good.

KONO Sauvignon Blanc

Not very often does a waiter recommend a particular wine to me unsolicited.  I suppose I'm fairly decisive when asking for a wine, so they figure they don't need to chip in with their two cents worth.  I certainly would not have expected that sort of offering from a waiter at The Daily Grill, but that's exactly what I got at the Studio City location.

Chain restaurants generally have lackluster wine lists to begin with, and the help doesn't usually seem to care too much about your order anyway.  So when our waiter hesitated on my request for Rodney Strong Sauvignon Blanc, and instead suggested a New Zealand brand, he had my attention.  It was only $8, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  I'm glad I did.

KONO, it turns out, is a New Zealand company that sells both seafood and wine primarily to importers, wholesalers and the hospitality trade.  The weather was nice out in Southern California and I was really feeling the springtime.  This Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc played its role perfectly.

Giving a greenish-gold glow in the glass, the nose is grassy with a bit of melon rind in the background.  There is a scent of citrus, but not overwhelmingly so.  On the palate the citrus is a bit stronger.  I taste citrus orange zest and again a slight melon rind comes into play.  It's not so tart as to make the mouth pucker, yet the acidity makes this wine a natural for a food pairing.  I loved it with my BLT sandwich and the cole slaw that came on the side.  It's a very smooth quaff, perfect for a nice spring or summer day.