the winegetter

2010 Melini Chianti and N.V. Seguras Viudas Brut Reserva

As I indicated last Thursday, we had these two magnum bottles to accompany our Thanksgiving festivities.

I have written about the Melini chianti previously, you can check out the review here. All of what I said back then held true, and the nice acidity in the wine helped with the rich sauces and dishes on our table.

We started the day (around 1pm) by popping the NV Segura Viudas Brut Reserva, a cava that we had bought at a previous Costco run. I think the bottle was $12. Cava is the Spanish equivalent of a sparkling wine. According to the producer of this particular sparkler, it is a non-vintage blend of Macabeo (50%), Parellada (35%) and Xarel-lo (15%) grapes (YAY, great for our Wine Century Club application – see more here -, three more grapes to tick off!!) and was made in the traditional method of making champagne.

I love magnum wine bottles, but I love champagne magnum bottles even more: Because of the pressure in the bottle, the glass has to be much thicker and sturdier which makes these bottles look even more humongous. Add the pop when opening a champagne bottle, and everything is in the right place. Our friends’ kids loved how the fog came out of the bottle after opening (they called it smoke), and I couldn’t wait to try the wine. One more caveat: As much as I like champagne bottles, I am not the biggest fan of sparkling wines. I drink them, I can enjoy them, but they don’t do as much for me as for others (cough, cough, thedrunkencyclist, cough).

But to this one. There was not much of a nose going on, quite low on aromas. But on the palate, this one really hit all the right notes: apple and citrus, refreshing and balanced with nice acidity. One of my biggest problems with a lot of sparkling wines is that the bubbles are offensive to me, which was not the case with this one at all. Really pleasant. It was so good that Nina opted to drink it straight, without the helping of crème de cassis that I offered her. And that says a lot, because who can resist a Kir Royal? :) But seriously, even without that “helper” this one is really good for its price. I have had champagne that cost a lot more and was not better…

We used the crème de cassis pictured below, a gift from my exchange partner in France. We go back to 7th grade, and he is like a brother to me. So I did not want to open this cassis without a proper reason. And this Thanksgiving seemed just right. In Dijon, Burgundy, where I spent my school exchanges, crème de cassis, a red currant liqueur is added to either white wine to make a Kir, or sparkling wine (usually a crémant de Bourgogne) to make Kir Royal. The result is startlingly good in either case, and has become one of my go tos when in Burgundy. It is a great aperitif, sweet and acidic, fruity and zesty. Just right. If you get a chance, pick up a bottle at your booze store and add about 1/4 or a 1/5 to your dry chardonnay or sparkling wine. Be warned: It is addictive.

Edmond Briottet Creme de Cassis