Wine & Spirits - August 2019 - 41

YEAR'S BEST SUMMER SPARKLERS
92 | Schramsberg

$92/1.5L

2012 North Coast Brut Rosé ^ Coppery
pink, this is a floral, strawberry-scented
rosé focused on pinot noir from Sonoma
County. There's dynamic freshness in the
wine's lemony acidity and the scents of
strawberry leaves and bread dough. Those
elements contrast sweeter notes of white
peach and Rainier cherries. It's clean and
lasting, refreshing in the end. (W&S 12/18;
949 cases) -J.G.
513494

91 | Iron Horse

$110

2010 Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Brut LD ^ This is a meaty vintage of LD, Iron
Horse's late-disgorged reserve. With a lot
of bass reverb to the flavors, it's savory and
clean, the wine's crunchy fruit shadowed by a
note of tobacco and pale smoke. The depth of
the wine will parallel the flavors of a roasted
lobster tail; it's also structured enough to
serve with roasted veal. (W&S 10/18; 525
cases) -J.G.
516832

91 | Iron Horse

$45

2014 Green Valley of Russian River Valley
Russian Cuvée ^ The Sterling family originally
created this wine to mark the ReaganGorbachev summit in 1985, blending a cuvée
with a rich dosage that nods to the preference
in the Russian market for the sweeter side of
Brut. That sweetness comes across as juicy
Bosc pear and tangerine, balancing the leesy
fruit-skin flavors that keep the wine smoky
and savory in the end. It's rich, layered and
ready to enjoy on its own. (1,200 cases) -J.G.
514721

91 | Mumm Napa

$70

2011 Napa Valley DVX ^ Named for Guy
Devaux, the founding winemaker at Mumm
Napa, this is a 50/50 blend of the firm's top
pinot noir and chardonnay; a third of it ferments and ages in French oak barrels. The
cool 2011 vintage created an unusually fresh
Napa Valley sparkler, with crisp apple flavors
and springtime scents of lilies of the valley.
It developed firm, leesy depths through long
bottle age, the wine ready to take on Dungeness crab this winter. (W&S 12/18; 1,300
cases) -J.G.
516653

91 | Scharffenberger

$20

Mendocino County Excellence Brut (Best
Buy) ^ A fresh new release from Scharffenberger, Roederer Estate's sister winery in
Anderson Valley, this feels clean and sunny,
with green melon, raw almond and green tea
notes that last. It's refreshing and comfortably balanced, the best wine from Scharffenberger we've tasted in many years. -J.G.
514595

91 | Schramsberg

$185

2000 North Coast Late Disgorged J.
Schram ^ This blend is primarily chardonnay
(80 percent), focused on Carneros in Napa
Valley (60 percent). Long aging on the lees
has built its deep golden color, gentled the
bubbles and enhanced the generous richness
of the wine. Scents of ginger and golden
raisins meet tangy orange-pith flavors,
combining a sense of ripeness with complex
oxidation. The wine needs something rich,
like sable in beurre blanc. (W&S 12/18; 290
cases) -J.G.
516410

91 | Schramsberg

$160

2010 North Coast J. Schram Rosé ^ The
Davies family sourced most of this wine from
Napa-Carneros, including parcels in Sonoma,
Mendocino and Marin as well. Chardonnay
(78 percent of the blend) accentuates the
wine's creamy richness while pinot noir
lends bright flavor details-fresh raspberry
and the gentle spice of peach skin. While the
fruit feels generous, it has clean lines that
make this an elegant aperitif, or a match for
Dungeness crab. (W&S 6/19) -J.G.

514495

91 | Schramsberg

$46

2015 North Coast Brut Rosé ^ A vinous rosé
with creamy red-fruit flavors of pinot noir,
this is clean and lasting. The bubbles tame
the touches of sweetness, so it feels fresh and
sparkly. Serve it as you would a light pinot, as
an elegant match for roast fish, like sea bass
with chanterelles. (W&S 12/18) -J.G.
516698

91 | Thomas George

$50

2014 Russian River Valley Starr Ridge
Vineyard Cooper Block Sparkling Blanc
de Blancs ^ This is the first vintage of Thomas
George's blanc de blancs, a wine John Wilson
made from the 3.5-acre Cooper Block,
planted in 1997. With its bold chardonnay
flavors of chamomile and lemon verbena,
this holds some floral freshness layered over
the broad, toasty richness of yeast autolysis.
It's bright and brisk in the end, a cool, creamy
blanc de blancs for pan-roasted sand dabs.
(292 cases) -J.G.
516651

90 | Roederer Estate

$27

90 | Roederer Estate

$31

90 | Scharffenberger

$26

Anderson Valley Brut ^ Pretty red fruit introduces this wine, with hints of rose and cranberry (it's 40 percent pinot noir, the balance
chardonnay). The flavors are bright and
juicy, edged with a little baking spice, then
ending on gentle notes of tart lemon and
white flowers. An elegant start to a dinner
party. -J.G.
516652
Anderson Valley Brut Rosé ^ A small addition of skin-macerated pinot noir points up
the red fruit in this wine, with scents of watermelon and flavors of spiced plum. It's creamy
and soft, a sparkler to serve with chicken liver
mousse. -J.G.
516654
Mendocino County Excellence Brut Rosé ^
While this wine feels gentle, its briskness
brightens its scents of strawberries and nasturtiums. It's pinot noir at the cusp of ripeness, holding a floral green note that would
take on duck rillettes. (2,890 cases) -J.G.
514496

90 | Schramsberg

$120

2009 North Coast J. Schram Brut ^ This is
Schramsberg's top selection of chardonnay
(86 percent of the blend). A quarter of it fermented in oak, which seems to point up the
wine's gingery spice. With scents of orange
blossoms and notes of tangerine, this is leesy
and ripe, a rich style to pour with salmon
roe in puff pastry shells. (W&S 12/18; 2,370
cases) -J.G.
516614

88 | Chandon

$19

88 | Mumm Napa

$23

California Brut (Best Buy) ^ Big and broad
and toasty, with fully ripe white-tree-fruit
flavors on display, this is a soft, frothy
sparkler to toast with this summer. -P.J.C.
516713
Napa Valley Blanc de Blancs (Best Buy) ^
This wine's gentle sweetness will work with
the creamy richness of an almond-based
dessert, which its flavors parallel. It's gentle,
honeyed and rich, a balanced sparkler for
toasts. -J.G.

NEW JERSEY
514583

90 | William Heritage

$40

2015 Outer Coastal Plain Brut Rosé ^ Lively
and fresh, with some luxurious bready
notes and ripe red-apple flavors, this toasty
blend of chardonnay and pinot noir offers a
satisfying breadth of flavor. Chill it for softshelled crab. (W&S 12/18; 105 cases) -P.J.C.

WINE & SPIRITS

AUGUST 2019

https://shop.schramsberg.com/SHOP.AMS?LEVEL=MID&CAT=ROSE

Wine & Spirits - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - August 2019