Type: Dry sparkling
What makes it special: Chardonnay
Plays well with: Almost everything
This Mendocino Count sparkling wine from the organic winery Terra Sávia is what’s known as a blanc de blancs or white of whites. That doesn’t mean it’s a white among whites or a quality designation. It just means that it’s a white wine from white wine grapes, or more specifically, chardonnay grapes.
Since all grape juice is technically white (or golden in color) no matter what color the skin is when ripe, you can make white wines from red grapes. And, in fact, in the Champagne region of France, that’s exactly what they did when they started making champagne. Much of the sparkling wine there is made from pinot noir grapes, which is then called blanc de noirs, meaning white of black grapes. We’ll just kind of stop it right there, because in this case, black means red, but it’s pinot noir, oh, never mind.
The Terra Sávia’s chardonnay grape gives this lovely little sparkling wine a nice golden color and a hint of a crisp apple in the nose. But don’t go expecting a sweet taste. This one is dry and slightly tart. The best part is that you get a hint of chalkiness in your mouth as the wine dissolves into bubbles at the top of the throat like a good sparkling wine should do.
And because this is a bubbly, it goes with everything. Seriously. We’ve yet to run across a bubbly that didn’t. So whether you’re craving a nice steak, some sauced up chicken or fish, or even a bowl of popcorn with butter and grated asiago cheese, this is a good one to uncork.