Nantucket Wine Festival 2004
Champagnes

The Nantucket Wine Festival was the perfect spot for sampling bubbly wines. Here are the Champagnes and Sparkling Wines we tasted during our trip!

Gosset Gosset is the oldest wine house in the Champagne region of France, dating back to 1584. They stay away from malolactic fermentation, preferring the crisp natural flavors. They still disgorge and riddle by hand.

We started wtih the Grand Millesime '96, around $90/bottle. This blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is a lovely balanced bubbly with light, fresh citrus flavors and a long lasting finish. Flavors of nuts and honey mix in with the floral aroma.

Next, the Gosset Brut Rose Champagne, non vintage. This runs around $70/bottle. This had luscious berry, cherry, and nut flavors. This is a combination of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, along with the lesser known Bouzy and Ambonnay red wines.

Westport Rivers Westport Rivers is the local Massachusetts winery with award winning sparkling wines.

They were pouring the '99 Brut Cuvee, just released. At only $20, this had a creamy, pear flavor to it, and a gentle finish.

Chandon Chandon in Napa Valley is the American incarnation of the classic French Champagne house. They brought their standard "Chandon" Riche as well as their new "Etoile" Rose.

The Riche is a sweeter wine, categorized as "extra dry" in the world of sparkling wines. Many Americans claim not to want sweet wines - equating that with White Zinfandel. However, Wayne Donaldson explained "we don't say sweet - we say fruity" - and when people try it, they really like it. It was indeed fruity, light and honeyed, and only runs $17.

The Etoile Rose blends Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier into a classic wine with great balance. This was luscious and fruity, with strawberry and currant flavors. It runs $30.

We chatted about it with Wayne about sparkling Shiraz - something that is extremely popular in Wayne's native Australia. He said that Chandon is indeed looking into sparkling red wines, including a sparkling Pinot Noir. We look forward to trying those!

Nicholas Feuilette One of the most well known Champagne houses is that of Nicholas Feuilette. We began with the 1995 vintage brut premier, a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. At $65, this was light and fresh, with light fruit flavors and a hint of yeast. The Brut Premier Cru is $30 and toasty, fresh and juicy, with a nice finish. The brut rose premier cru is also fresh tasting, with a light, gentle fruit flavor and yeast aromas, very well balanced. This is around $32/bottle.

We asked the rep if sales had suffered as a result of anti-French sentiment in the US. He explained that "Champagne is kind of unique - you cannot produce Champagne except in Champagne." Those who appreciate the quality of Feuilette continued to buy, and sales stayed steady.

The rep ably kept up with two-fisted pouring, serving other visitors while answering our questions.

The next Champagne, the Blanc de Blanc, was light and smooth, quite refreshing. He explained this was the style of the house, to be light, fruity and enjoyable. They age this for 3 years on the lees. We asked if this fruity style was geared towards the US palate. He repleid that theses Champagnes are not made explicitly for the US audience - but are well suited for it.

Moet et Chandon The classic Champagne house of Moet et Chandon brought their two sweetest wines to the festival - the White Star and the Nectar Imperial. The White Star is well known in the US - it is in fact specifically formulated for the sweet American palate and is only sold in the US. The Nectar Imperial is the sweet Champagne sold in the rest of the world, and Moet et Chandon is now trying to introduce that in the US as well.

We asked why they chose only to bring their high-sugar sparklers to the festival, instead of also showcasing their other quality wines. The rep explained, "That's what they like", continuing, "you've got to do what the consumer wants".

The White Star was fruity, light and smooth. The Nectar Imperial was smooth and gentle, with honey aromas - the perfect dessert wine.

We talked about how generations of wine drinkers had lost their ability to pronounce the winery's name because of that one Queen song, "Killer Queen". In the song, they sing "Moh-ay and Chandon". Actually, Moet was a Dutch person, so his name should be pronounced "Moh-et".

Moet's rose is also doing extremely well - he explained that the wines fly off the shelves as quickly as they can make them!

Gloria Ferrer

Bob Iantosca was pouring the Gloria Ferrer sparklies. This comes from Sonoma, California. He explained that most years have enough grapes to qualify for vintage labelling, but as they aim for the same flavor year to year, they leave the bottles as non-vintage to make that clear to consumers. If they put years on the bottles, and for example the 1997 got high ratings, drinkers might say "Oh I won't buy the 1998, it's a different year" even though the winery's main aim is to keep those wines tasting the same each year. The Blanc de Noir is 92% Pinot Noir, and is fruity, with light, gentle flavors. Flavors include strawberry and vanilla, and the bottle is only around $12.

The Sonoma Brut is light and gentle, with more of a pear / green apple flavor to it.

The 1995 Royal Cuvee Brut was nice and rich, with great citrus flavors of lemon and lime. This being a vintage, they aim to bring out the distinctive flavors of the year, rather than matching the house style.

Bob explained that having a winery that made both sparkling and still wines was a great advantage. They didn't "have to" use grapes if they didn't want to. The best grapes went into the sparkling wines - and anything with a non-blending flavor would make its own still wines.

Howard Helmer - Omelet Guy

We've seen Howard Helmer several years now. He's been on TV and won awards for his super-fast omelet making technique. He was on the Viking cooking stage, making omelets of all shapes and sizes.

The one we really enjoyed was his Dessert Omelet. This had a wild combination fo strawberries, pecan, banana, and maraschino cherry. After mixing these with the eggs, he topped it with confectionary sugar and apricot brandy - a full third cup. Soon it was flaming!

Helmer suggested this be served with sour cream on the side, and pecans as a decoration.

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