You may recall, a few weeks back, my mentioning an interesting sparkling wine I came across at a tasting on Friday the 13th not too long ago. I found out where I could pick up this beauty of a bottle and finally dove in head first. As part of a Marble Porch day I held in celebration of my birthday (9 days down, 25 more to celebrate), this was one of two bottles of bubbly I opened, and it performed very much as it had the first time I enjoyed it. Here’s a few bits for you to quaff…

Jacques Pelvas Brut Rose NV, Provence, France

The short:

1. If you didn’t know what this varietal was off the bat, and had even a little experience tasting bubbly, you’d notice that the smell and taste were different than your standard brut. Lovely, light, but a fruit aroma you’re (pleasantly) not used to smelling or tasting from traditional sparkling wines. What’s in it? GRENACHE! Surprise!! I’ve yet to hear of a Grenache sparkling rose, but I really liked this one.
2. The label is pretty basic…nothing that would make it stand out among the rest on the shelf
3. So far, I can’t tell that these folks have any kind of actual physical presence…so unless I hear otherwise, I’ll just have to be happy with finding these bottles
4. The varietal isn’t as popular as others, but it’s even less common in the sparkling category, which automatically makes this a pretty deviant wine!

The judgement: 4 out of 5. I really enjoyed this wine. Good balance, easy sipper, and nice aroma to it. And the PRICE can’t be beat – $11 or $12. But be prepared to hunt for it. I picked up my bottle(s) at The Gourmet Corner in San Mateo, and it was worth the trip. I walked out with 2 bottles of this and 3 others to try out, and spent just barely over $70. Score! Make sure you pick up a couple of bottles, as I think you’ll find, much like me, that it’s easy to go through these. No joke, I’m probably going to pick up a minimum 6 bottles, possibly a case. Sante!

The nerdy notes:

• nose: light, hint of strawberry
• taste:  more of that strawberry, slight note of barely ripe cherry, and some kind of floral that I couldn’t put my finger on at the time of tasting. Nice mouthfeel and much more up my alley when it comes to sparkling. Good amount of bubble stream, too!

So, put Quixote on the list and learn all about the magic that surrounds you from a genius Viennese artist Hundertwasser and his own style of identifying how this building would come to be. (The story includes a lake that doesn’t belong and naturalism – what a wild man!) And now, my favorites from the tasting that day:

Panza 2006 Grenache-Mouvedre

The short:

1. The flavors and aromas are pretty common to these varietals, but still a lovely wine to consume;
2. The label doesn’t immediately remind me of anything else out there, and they have this whole line in screw caps for happy, immediate consumption. This line, however, isn’t the one with the outstanding label (see Quixote wine below)
3. The tasting room truly does stand out and provide a shine to this 2nd label for the company. There are some great stories here;
4. For this region, Grenache and Mouvedre are not typical varietals found here. And, it’s a shame to learn that this will be their last vintage of this blend with only 40 cases left at the time this was written. They tore these vines out to make room for more of one of their other varietals. To me, that’s a shame, as this is a blend that continues along the path of setting them apart from others in the valley…but, whatever!

The judgement: 3+ out of 5. Part of me enjoying this wine is that it’s not what’s regularly on the Napa Valley menu, and the rest of me is enjoying it because it’s their expression of Rhone (region in France) blending. And “mama” likey the Rhones.

The nerdy notes:

• Nose: deep cherry, nice oak, deep dark fruit
• Taste: moderate depth of dark red fruits, nice finish, hint of anise on the back end

P.S. I’ll be providing a 24-hour follow-up to this, so stay tuned!

Quixote 2005 Petite Syrah

The short:

1. You’ll see in my Nerdy Notes section a mention of nachos and peppers. This is kind of speaking to a slight green and pepper note, but it’s not obvious. It actually took some time, swirling and digging to stumble across it, and it was there  and gone in a flash;
2. Love the label, especially considering it was designed by the same man that designed the building during an airplane trip back from visiting the site where Quixote would be built. It definitely stands out! Also, this main line of wines is also ALL in screw cap – folks, that signals to me that these are to be consumed within 5 years or less;
3. Again, the tasting room is just one element of many that makes this winery and it’s wines stand out. Well done;
4. Petite Syrah is around the area, but not in the TOP-top of what people think of when they think Napa Valley wines. At least, I don’t think so. Would love feedback on this from folks out there.

The judgement: 4 out of 5. Yeah baby. I was really happy with this bottle, and am ready to head back to the winery to get a bottle of this!

The nerdy notes:

• Nose: slightly poopy upfront, big jammy fruit, currant, meaty, and nachos w/ jalepeno peppers, slight black pepper note
• Taste: jammy raspberry/blackberry combo, meaty, nice mouthfeel and body
• Extra-nerdy: These folks boast organic farming and plentiful cover crops for their 28 acres of estate grapes!