Seasons greetings from Canadian Wine Guy and myself to you and your family. And to those of you that celebrate it, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. As we head towards New Years people often look towards bubbles to celebrate the event. Champagne can literally only come from France, legally speaking but if you see Cuve or Brut this often refers to the process of making the bubbly similar to Champagne. I can only imagine how many French people or Champagne lovers are cringing right now. Sorry …
Well if your on a budget, there are lots of bargain based bubblies to be had. Look to Italian Proseccos or Spanish Cavas. Proseccos tend to be dry crisp, lightly carbonated in in my humble opinion are very food friendly.
This one is pale in color with a nice crisp nose. On the mid pallet the wine is crisp and dry, with some minerality. The bubbles are nice and light as is common with Proseccos. The wine is on the lighter side of medium in length on the finish leaving behind some mild citrus notes. The LCBO describe the style of this wine as light a fruity, and I would agree. This is definitely not an oustanding Prosecco, but not a bad one either. I would give it an 88 or so. For my money I would go with the last prosecco I rated Bottega over this one for similar money. As it is, I took the Bottega over to my family Christmas and before I knew it, it was all gone!
From the LCBO web site:
CARPENÈ MALVOLTI CUVÉE BRUT CONEGLIANO VALDOBBIADENE PROSECCO SUPERIORE VINTAGES 727438 | 750 mL bottle Price $ 15.95
Made in: Veneto, Italy By: Carpene Malvolti Spa
Release Date: Aug 31, 2013
Wine, Sparkling Wine, White 12.0% Alcohol/Vol. Style: Light & Fruity Sugar Content: 11 g/L
Tasting Note
Those who like their prosecco truly dry (count me in) should enjoy this bargain. The texture’s chalky (count me in again) and the flavour strongly hints at pear, sort of like a bone-dry perry cider. And there’s a note of mineral on the finish. Perfect as a stylish aperitif. Score – 91. (Beppi Crosariol, The Globe and Mail, Aug. 1, 2012)
