Monthly Archives: October 2023

Virginia Sparkling Showdown: 2023 Edition

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Sparkling wine is one of the fastest-growing segments of the wine market. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of Americans enjoying sparkling wine has risen by 30%. Currently, the US is tied with the UK for volume of sparkling wine imported.

A big part of this growth is driven by changing views of when sparkling wine should be consumed. Sparkling is moving away from its traditional role as a ‘special event’ wine to something wine lovers should casually enjoy.

I have nothing against lower-cost sparklings such as Cava, Pét-Nats, Prosecco, and various charmat-style wines which are helping drive this trend. But Champagne-style sparklings are still my favorite, much to my wallet’s dismay.

While Champagne is the world’s most famous sparkling region, Virginia has a number of excellent ‘traditional-method’ sparklings as well. A few years back I hosted a blind tasting and Virginia-based Claude Thibaut’s Xtra Brut was picked our favorite. Last year a Trump Blanc de Blanc was favored over a comparable champagne during a France vs Virginia lineup.

Tasting & Scoring Methodology

This time around I expanded the number of options. A group of friends & I blind tasted 9 wines in 3 flights. One flight represented some of the best of Virginia, a second represented Champagne, and the third was mixed-flight with sparklings from Argentina, California, and the UK.

All of these wines were 100% chardonnay, with the exception of the champagnes which blended with pinot noir and perhaps pinot meunier (blanc de blanc brut champagnes in my price point were hard to find, although I tried keeping the participating champagnes chardonnay-heavy). All were Brut (0-12 grams of added sugar per liter) or Extra Brut (0-6 grams). Lastly, everything we tried was made in the traditional method.

All the flights were bagged blind, although they stayed in their respective regional groups. We picked the favorite of each round to move to a ‘finalist round’. We didn’t know which group we were tasting until the unveiling.

My fellow blind tasters were a mixture of wine industry professionals and local wine enthusiasts, so we had a strong contingent of tasters. Many had only limited exposure to Virginia wine.

We didn’t have a fancy scoring system. The goal was to pick a ‘favorite’ every round, as opposed to rating them and determining the ‘best’.

The contenders:

  1. 2018 “Under the Wire” Alder Springs Vineyard (Mendocino California, $64 per Vivino)
  2. 2019 Alma4 (Mendoza Argentina, $26 per Wine.com)
  3. 2018 Gusbourne Brut Reserve (England, $70 per Wine.com)
  4. 2018 Blanc de Blancs “Zero” Midland Wine (Shenandoah Valley Virginia, $45 at Commonwealth Crush)
  5. NV Thibaut-Janisson Xtra Brut (Virginia, $36 per Timeless Wines)
  6. 2016 Trump Sparkling Reserve (Monticello Virginia, $75 at Trump Winery)
  7. De Saint-Gall Blanc De Blancs Grand Cru Brut Champagne (Champagne France, $45 at Total Wine)
  8. Bernard Brémont Grand Cru ‘Cuvee Prestige’ Champagne (Champagne France, $62 at Total Wine)
  9. Taittinger La Francaise Brut Champagne (Champagne France, $56 at Total Wine)

Flight #1: International Round

  • Bottle #1: 2018 “Under the Wire” Alder Springs Vineyard
  • Bottle #2: 2019 Alma4
  • Bottle #3: 2018 Gusbourne Brut Reserve (Round Winner)

The thing that struck me in this round is none had the full-on toastiness that I’m accustomed to in sparklings. There was some cream in them, but the nose and palate of these three wines didn’t line up with what I was expecting.

Bottle #1/Alder Springs: Lemony; bubbles were short-lived. Lighter on the palate. Many commented it had an outstanding nose but the finish left them wanting. Some noted an herbal note to this nose, maybe some greenness.

Bottle #2/Alma4: Fresh, “Smells like a floral white”. Not toasty at all; if anything I found yeast on the nose. Others noted it had a grassy nose, maybe even bell pepper. Nothing really stood out in this wine.

Bottle #3/Gusbourne Brut Reserve: Someone noted it may have spent some extra time in oak. Many complimented its balance and structure. Notes of lemon curd and citrus were mentioned, or more generically ‘orchard fruit’.

  • Guest #1: 3/1/2. Thought the nose started off as sweet but that blew off.
  • Guest #2: 3/1/2. Felt #2 would be a generic crowd pleaser.
  • Guest #3: 3/1/2
  • Guest #4: 3/1/2.
  • Guest #5: 3/1/2. Thought #1 was aggressive, while #3 was creamy & lemony.
  • Guest #6: 3/1/2 Felt #3 was the most ‘familiar’ for someone who likes traditional-method sparklings, and enjoyed its balance.
  • Guest #7: 3/1/2

Flight #2: Virgina Round

  • Bottle #4: 2018 Blanc de Blancs “Zero” Midland Wine
  • Bottle #5: NV Thibaut-Janisson Xtra Brut
  • Bottle #6: 2016 Trump Sparkling Reserve (Round Winner)

This round was easily better than our previous one, with only #3 being comparable.

The result was almost a toss-up between the Thibaut-Janisson and the Trump Reserve, but I gave the win to Trump Winery as it had more 1st place votes.

That said, T-J was consistently nearly everyone’s favorite runner-up. The T-J was more crowd-friendly, while the robustness of the Trump Reserve was a turn-off for some people. Ironically, the Trump wine had the most 1st place votes and tied for most 3rd place votes in our flight of 3 wines, while votes for the T-J Brut were more evenly distributed.

Even though the Midland wine came in 3rd in this round we universally enjoyed it. If anything, many of us put the Midland ahead of many others of the evenings.

I did a quiz at the end of the night on which flight corresponded to which region before revealing the wines. Many felt this was the Champagne round, which is one of the greatest compliments I can think of.

Bottle #4/Midland “Zero”: Some brioche notes, although they didn’t linger. Stone fruit with only a little apple; more nectarine or pear. Notes of lemon zest, apricot were mentioned. The only real negative was people felt the bubbles fizzled out quickly.

Bottle #5/Thibaut-Janisson X-Brut: There was an herbal note on the nose although the brioche was still there. Notes of straw; maybe a bit reductive. Very palate-friendly and an overall crowd-pleaser of a wine (note: at $36 this was arguably the best value of the night).

Bottle #6/Trump Sparkling Reserve: This was a complex, ‘mature’ wine with very consistent bubbles. Creamy & silky, but with intensity. Probably the most intense wine of the entire evening. The main negative is it arguably had too much going on for guests who preferred something easier-drinking.

  • Guest #1: 5/4/6. Liked the nose of 4 but voted for 5 because of the caramel notes.
  • Guest #2: 5/4/6. Felt #6 had notes of apple tart and the best nose of the bunch. #5 was yeastier on the nose but very drinkable.
  • Guest #3: 4/5/6. #6 had great structure but felt it got tired, while #4 aged well in the glass.
  • Guest #4: 6/5/4. Loved the nose of #4 but the palate didn’t keep up. Felt #6 was ‘big’ and needed food.
  • Guest #5: 6/4/5. Thought #6 “Is what sparkling should be”.
  • Guest #6: 6/5/4. On #6, “I want to get to know this wine better”. Felt #5 was a great crowd-pleaser.
  • Guest #7: 6/5/4. Thought #6 was complex; agreed #5 was a crowd pleaser.

Flight #3: Champagne Round

  • Bottle #7: NV De Saint-Gall Blanc De Blancs Grand Cru Brut Champagne
  • Bottle #8: NV Bernard Brémont Grand Cru ‘Cuvee Prestige’ Champagne (Round Winner)
  • Bottle #9: NV Taittinger La Francaise Brut Champagne

Unfortunately, we had our first wine with a flaw – #9/Taittinger had something off about it. So really this was a competition between #7 and #8. All of the wines had a familiar brioche note to them.

Bottle #7/NV De Saint-Gall Blanc De Blancs Grand Cru Brut Champagne: I said it reminded me of a sparkling cider; someone else mentioned crab apple. Yeasty. Slightly bitter finish. Many commented the finish was on the shorter side.

Bottle #8/NV Bernard Brémont Grand Cru ‘Cuvee Prestige’ Champagne: Notes of apple; someone mentioned apple sauce. Good structure and mouthfeel. Fine bubbles. Bright. Notes of lemon initially but that moved to apple. Great mousse (the foam that forms after a sparkling wine or champagne has been poured out of the bottle). Super creamy and great aromatics.

Bottle #9/NV Taittinger La Francaise Brut Champagne: Not sure what happened here, but it seemed corked. Bland; short-lived on the palate. Some white flower notes. Olive on the nose.

  • Guest #1: 8/7/9. #8 had all the great things that #6 had, but was more complex.
  • Guest #2: 8/7/9
  • Guest #3: 8/7/9. Felt #8 had great mouthfeel.
  • Guest #4: 8/7/9
  • Guest #5: 8/9/7
  • Guest #6: 8/7/9. Felt #8 was comforting and familiar in the way a sparkling wine should be.
  • Guest #7: 8/7/9. #8 hit all the marks.

Finalist Round

  • Bottle #3: 2018 Gusbourne Brut Reserve (2nd place)
  • Bottle #6: 2016 Trump Sparkling Reserve (Overall Winner)
  • Bottle #8: NV Bernard Brémont Grand Cru ‘Cuvee Prestige’ Champagne (3rd place)

We all loved this round. The three wines before us were outstanding; picking a favorite was entirely a measure of personal preference and mood.

All of the participants praised #8/Brémont for its great texture and balance. #6/Trump was ‘bigger’ and more complex. #3 could easily have fooled us for being from Champagne.

I asked everyone to guess which round represented which region, and the votes were all over the place. Several people (including the wine industry professionals amongst us) felt the 2nd round (Virginia) was our Champagne round. Only one out of seven of us correctly identified the region each round came from.

It was a very close race between Gusbourne and Trump for favorite of the day, but Trump won out. Trump had more 1st place votes than Gusbourne, although they were nearly neck-in neck.

Assigning 1 ‘point’ for 3rd place, 2 points for 2nd place, and 3 points for 1st place, the scores were 16 points for Trump, 15 points for Gusbourne, and 11 points for Brémont. It was far closer than many of my other comparisons and a tribute to the quality of these wines.

  • Guest #1: 8/3/6
  • Guest #2: 6/3/8
  • Guest #3: 3/6/8.
  • Guest #4: 8/6/3. Toss-up between #6 and #8, depending on my mood for balance vs. complexity.
  • Guest #5: 3/6/8
  • Guest #6: 6/3/8
  • Guest #7: 6/3/8

Lessons Learned:

As a Virginia wine aficionado I was incredibly pleased so many people thought our Virginia flight was actually from Champagne. I’m confident the top 3 wines of the evening made it into the final round, although we easily could have added the Thibaut-Janisson Xtra Brut in there.

The quality of the British sparkling was something of a surprise but probably shouldn’t have been. Sparkling wine grown in the UK has the same soil qualities as Champagne, plus they are somewhat cooler so the acidity is prominent.

Not coincidentally, the finalist wines were also the most expensive, and the winning Trump wine was the oldest (which probably contributed to its complexity). I guess you really do get what you pay for (although I do need to give the Virgina T-J Xtra Brut special mention for being arguably the best value of the evening).

Also not coincidentally, both Thibaut-Janisson and the Trump sparkling have French roots. Patricia Kluge of Kluge Estate (now Trump Winery) started the trend for high-end Virginia sparklings by inviting French winemaker Claude Thibaut to Virginia as a consultant. Claude later went on to co-found Thibaut-Janisson.

Today, Jonathan Wheeler is Trump’s winemaker and he’s taken their sparkling program to new heights. During my previous blind tasting using a Trump wine, I wrote that “Trump sparkling can go toe-to-toe with anything”. Here, it proved it.

It’s not just my opinion either. The 2023 San Francisco Wine Chronical competition selected the 2016 Sparkling Reserve as Best in Class in the Brut category. The 2015 Blanc de Noir won the overall Sparkling Sweepstakes in the 2021 competition. Nearly year after year, a Trump sparkling is selected for the Virginia Governor’s Case (top 12 wines in the state).

Yes – their sparkling is just that good.

Next up…reds maybe? Perhaps a Governors Cup winners round?