WTN: Sekt in the city

In New York for the weekend and after a wonderful lunch of cassoulet at a nice bistro in East Village, I dropped in at Chambers St. Wines to pick up some bottles they had for me. There was a tasting of sparkling wines taking place then, and I wasn't impressed by most of them - for me the majority were forgettable. A NV Chartogne-Taillet Brut St. Anne was quite nice with a savoury yeasty nose showing some fresh-baked bread, earth and truffle over citrus fruits. Green apple, lemon cream and some biscuit notes on the palate with good acidity and a long finish. Enjoyable, but the price was a deterrent.

The last wine really stood out for me though. A 2002 Christoph Von Nell Riesling Sekt Halbtrocken (Kaseler Dominikaneiberg) from the Ruwer was poured and this showed a nose that seemed more like Riesling than sparkling wine. Bright floral, petrol, green apple and citrus zest aromas with lighter yeasty notes underneath. Light bodied in the mouth with clean, focused citrus fruit and pear flavours over minerals and really lively acidity and fine bubbles underneath. Finished without any sweetness - refreshing, very enjoyable and really good value at $16 - even though I ended up showing some restraint for once and passing, probably thanks to the bottles I was already going to be lugging back.

[David M. Bueker]

Ba-dum.

I was at Chambers and had the same wines. Actually I really enjoyed the champagnes; while the Chartogne-Tallet was nice, I found the Margaine Brut Rose to be just delightful. And I would agree on the Sekt except for one minor point: the carbonation seemed seriously lacking. Maybe the bottle had been open for too long, but I had more spritz from a riesling kabinett that I opened a few nights back! It was a good thing that my bag was full, or I would have left with a bottle of the Sekt as well.

.. And I would agree on the Sekt except for one minor point: the carbonation seemed seriously lacking. Maybe the bottle had been open for too long, but I had more spritz from a riesling kabinett that I opened a few nights back! ..

The CO2 is less integrated / more volatile / larger bubbles in Charmat Method / Tank Method / Cuvee Close than under secondary bottle fermentation. And more so if the CO2 in injected.

I actually prefer not to see the CO2 streaming up in the glass. All that effort into creating a wine with embedded CO2 and to see it come out of solution quickly seems a waste. I prefer to notice the CO2 on the palate rather than the eye.