Our Latest Tasting at Webster’s – Check Out Our Notes

What a fun time we had last Friday night with our good friends, Lori and Scott Webster at their store, Webster’s Fine Stationers, in Altadena. Not only did we have three wonderful bubblies to try, Lori provided us with some amazing chocolates to go with them. And we had poetry from Aldonia Bailey and several of her friends and students.

But mostly, we had sparkling wine, aka bubblies. These were not champagnes because the wines are not from the Champagne region of France, and yes, we’re being a little anal about that. Well, heck, if you’re going to try to get it right. Anyway, all three of our bottles came from our local BevMo! (currently in the throes of another 5 cent sale – buy one, get the second for 5 cents). The only problem with that is BevMo! does tend to sell out rather quickly.

Campo Viejo Cava Brut Rosé

Type: Pink Bubbly
What makes it special:
Dry Spanish bubbles
Plays well with:
Cheese, meats, soups – it’s bubblyA brut rosé is a wine that has had a few hours of contact with the grape skins after the grapes were crushed at harvest. All grape juice is white – red and pink wines get their color from the skins of the red varieties. There can be more fruity aroma and flavors in a pink wine, but to keep it refreshing and light, the winemaker needs to press the juice before too much color is extracted from the skins.

The Campo Viejo has a dry nose, light fruit and good acids on the taste and finishes very nicely into bubbles at the back of the mouth.

Campo Viejo Brut Reserva

Type: White bubbly
What makes it special:
Spanish bubbly made in the traditional French style
Plays well with:
Anything – bubbly is the perfect drink because it goes with just about any food.Methode Champenoise is the process of making a sparkling wine in which the wine goes through a second fermentation under pressure (usually in the bottle) to create those little pinpoint bubbles we bubbly fanatics just love.

The Campo Viejo cava has a dry taste with a clean nose. Some bubblies can have yeast, bread or toast in the aroma. Not here. The flavor is bright with the just right balance of acids to taste crisp and refreshing. Serve it cold with anything you want – sweet, savory, spicy, fruity, salty – this wine can do it all.

Dolce Vita Prosecco

Type: Italian bubbly
What makes it special:
A traditional Italian party wine
Plays well with:
Just about anything, as well, but it did really nicely with the dark, rich chocolate.

This is a different prosecco than we’ve featured in the past. Most proseccos are sweet, with some being sweeter than others. This is a dry prosecco meaning there is no sweetness in the taste. It’s dry like a good French bubbly but not as complex. Nice acids and lightness in the bubbles unlike most sweet sparkling wines. A very good wine for the dollar and not typical of prosecco at all. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Please tell us what you think.

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