Don's Gillette's Wine Blog
Musings from our store's resident wine guru
Don has over thirty years experience in the wine industry. For the last eighteen years his attention has been focused on the growing local industry. Don has a large following of customers who search out his opinions (never in short supply!) on new releases and on what's currently most distinctive on our shelves. Others seek his insights on wineries and trends that are still under the radar. Read Don's full bio...
Email Don directly with your wine-related questions.
Bubbling Over
Several years ago our co-worker Brian Sypher abandoned NVWE to return to his spawning grounds in New York. His skill and familiarity with California wines netted him employment at Skurnik Imports. Skurnik has NY's hottest list of California "imports" (a portfolio managed by Bryan) and represents many wonderful small European estates.
Brian keeps in touch. He and We frequently swap secrets, and test one another's awareness of new vintners. He thinks he is as sharp as we are and, for old times sake, we don't shatter the illusion. One of his claims is that bottlings on his list of small Champagne Houses -- the Terry Theise Estate Selections -- are the equal of some famous and vastly pricier French Tete de Cuvees.
We are a "California only" wine store, yet have always kept French bubbly for the hotel guests who populate our neighborhood. Terry Theise's west coast agents hold a Champagne tasting near us each fall. Despite our need to load up for the Holidays, and Bryan's repeated urging, and my well-known passion for bubbly, and Denise's conviction that Bryan is not a chump, we have consistently missed the tasting. This year we finally got there.
Well -- Bryan was right. (They say that if you gave a monkey a typewriter and enough time he would eventually write Ulysses!) Sixty-four bottlings were poured and the average quality was brilliant. What to do? We put all our money on our four favorites. One from Billiot, one from Fleury and two from Chartogne-Taillet.
Three of these are at a price that is in line with our best California Sparklers. One could have a very pleasant time contrasting a top domestic offering from Schramsberg, Domaine Carneros, Iron Horse or Roederer with one of these Frenchies, and still keep the budget below that for a bottle of Dom, Krug or Cristal... hmmmmm.