Many people only think about bubbly wine for New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, and “special” occasions like weddings and anniversaries. By all means, open a bottle of fizzy wine on these occasions, but I think that opening the bottle of bubbly can make for a special occasion. There are many different types of sparkling wines out there, but my preference is for a dry champagne-style. If that’s not for you, however, check out the myriad other options available – I guarantee there are some out there that will work for you.
Here in VA, it’s hard to talk about sparkling wine without talking about Claude Thibaut. I’m a big fan, and when I hear that he’s doing a tasting at a wine shop I can get to, I make plans to be there. The last time we caught up with him, we found him pouring a limited release of a vintage (2008), extra brut sparkler: Cuvée D’État. He was really impressed with the vintage year and this particularly vineyard site, so he decided to do this special bottling. I liked it when I tasted it, and given my love of Thibaut-Jannison Winery sparklers, a bottle came home with me.
One of the foods that people talk about as a good pairing for sparkling wine is the egg. I love eggs – they taste great, are incredibly versatile, and they cook quickly. I also love mushrooms! Thanks to Grape Envy Guy’s near miraculous ability to pick out great recipes, we had a dinner of mushroom and feta frittata planned. In a perfect world, I would have opened a bottle of a lighter, but earthy, red wine. I didn’t have a wine like this in the house, however. (In fact, I’m not even sure what this wine might be – if you’ve got suggestions for us, please make them – we need some help). Given that I had to move on to plan B, I turned to the bottle of Cuvée D’État I had chilling in the fridge.
On the nose, I noted crisp, green apples with a hint of yeast. On the palate, I found apple, peach, and some floral notes (sorry, my floral identification isn’t great). As I spent more time with the wine, I also noted some Asian pear flavors. I really liked this wine. I also really like the frittata. Frittatas are a great, quick dinner (it’s like a quick quiche with no crust for those of you unfamiliar with the term), and we make a lot of them. This may be the best one we’ve ever made, and the sparkling wine made a simple dinner feel really special.
If I really want to look at the pairing critically, which I guess I do since I’m doing it, the wine would have worked better with the meal had the floral notes been a bit less pronounced, but good wine and good food make for a nice night, and sometimes bubbles and eggs are all you need (or at least all I need).
February 20, 2012 at 9:11 am
We’ve done sparkling wine with sushi before; this would have been a great wine for that. I wouldn’t say that the bubbly and the shroomy (sounds like characters from a Pauly Shore movie) were buds, but each was great on its own. The wine featured loads of apple and pear and such a killer yeasty nose. I’m a huge fan of Claude Thibault, and he probably agrees that a frittata is like a manlier quiche. Because it’s like a quiche with no pants on, and us manly men hate wearing pants. Oh God – now you’ll be picturing Claude Thibault walking around pantsless all day. You’re welcome!
February 20, 2012 at 7:08 pm
I so need the recipe! And on a separate note, Claude makes the best sparklers in the state. He doesn’t get the recognition he deserves on a global scale.
February 21, 2012 at 8:59 am
Brian, I have no sense at all about wine on a global scale, bit Claude-Thibaut serves as winemaker/consultant for all the best sparkling in VA (in my opinion), both those under his label as well as those form other wineries. There’s a reason he’s so in demand!