Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut
Champagne, France
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This is Perrier Jouët’s flagship wine from 30 to 40 vineyards in Champagne’s three main districts: Côtes de Blancs for Chardonnay, Montagne de Reims for Pinot Noir and the Vallée de la Marne for Pinot Meunier. With 40% each Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier you would think this would be a full-bodied, ample champagne but it isn’t. The Pinots add a creamy texture, but the wine emphasizes fresh raciness because of Chardonnay’s intensity from grand cru vineyards in Crámant. The result is a fresh but complex wine with intriguing counterpoints on the palate of red fruit from Pinots combined with the intense apple of Chardonnay so together the flavors shimmer on the palate.

Taittinger Brut La Française
Champagne, France
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Brut La Française uses Chardonnay to give a floral, apple perfume and finesse while Pinot Noir adds depth and resonance to the flavor. A pale silvery color and a fine bead lead to a fresh, persistent bouquet of flowers, citrus fruits, accented by a subtle yeastiness and breadth. Finesse and delicacy are further highlighted by the fact that only the first pressing of the grapes is used for La Française. Known as la cuvée, this first pressing contains the finest juice of the grapes and marks the serious commitment of the house to quality as does aging the wine on its lees for three to four years after the second fermentation is over.

G.H. Mumm Brut Rosé
Champagne, France
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G.H. Mumm first made its Rosé in 1957. Mumm blends 12% to 14% red wine from one of the most famous Pinot Noir villages, the delightfully named Bouzy but also red wine from Ambonnay, Verzenay and Verzy, all on the Montagne de Reims. These red wines are added to the traditional white wines made from a high proportion of Pinot Noir and Meunier as well as about 22% Chardonnay. The wines after their second fermentation are aged for 42 months before disgorging and a lowish dosage of only 1%.
The result is one of sophisticated, dry depth on the nose and palate.

Piper-Heidsieck Brut
Champagne, France
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This Brut Cuvée is nearly entirely a Blancs de Noirs, or a white wine made from blue-black grapes – Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. In order to add complexity and nuance, reserve wines from earlier vintages are added to the blend composed of over 50 lots of wine. The second fermentation adds its bubbles and aging adds depth. Bright pale yellow in color from the Pinot Noir and Meunier, this is full, plush, and ample in weight, suggesting honeyed apples on the nose, but remaining dry and crisp on the palate all the way through the long finish. Minerals and spice mingle on the finish along with citrus pith giving a fresh savory note to the finish.

Bollinger Special Cuvée
Champagne, France
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Bollinger’s fame rests on its magnificent depth and complex flavor and bouquet. Bollinger uses Pinot Noir from Aÿ, Bouzy and Verzenay for 60% of the blend. There is a little Pinot Meunier, the balance Chardonnay from Crámant, Cuis, and other premier and grand crus. Only the first pressing is used at Bollinger, the second and third pressings being sold off. After fermentation in stainless steel and small oak casks, the wines are blended with 5% to 10% reserve wines kept for five to ten years in magnums to insure freshness. Aged for a minimum of three years before disgorging, Special Cuvée emerges full-bodied but taut and firm, with an almost salty biscuit note.

Charles-Heidsieck Brut Réserve
Champagne, France
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This Champagne was disgorged in 2004, after four years on the lees, far above the minimum required by French law. With its classic blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay, this is a beautifully complex, sophisticated Champagne for connoisseur and collector. The bouquet is fresh and vivid with complex aromas of ginger, white flowers, wheat thins, minerals that are framed by those lovely aroma notes of freshly baked bread. These follow on to the plate that is very dry and bracing, with intense, almost salty tones of mineral. Named in October 2009 by Decanter Magazine’s World Wine Awards as Trophy Winner for best non-vintaged Brut Champagne.

Nicolas Feuillatte Blue Label Brut
Champagne, France
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From the largest cooperative in Champagne – the Centre Vinicole (with over 5,000 small grower members) – the Nicolas Feuillatte label is used only for premier cru rated grapes from 150 sites throughout the major areas of the region. The Brut is a blend of 40% each of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier – for structure and depth of fruit intensity – with the balance Chardonnay for elegant raciness. This is then aged three years on its lees before disgorging, imparting depth, character, and nuance showing a rich almond note.

Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2006
North Coast, California
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Schramsberg wines have become increasingly complex over the years, raising the wines to new heights of depth and finesse. The 2006 Blanc de Blancs is the latest in a long line of Chardonnay based sparklers as the very first Schramsberg was the 1965 Blanc de Blancs and was the US’s first all chardonnay sparkling wine. The 2006 has small portions of barrel-fermented wine that went through malo-lactic fermentation added to the main cuvée of stainless steel fermented wine to add complexity of texture, aromatics and flavor. The increased use of vineyard sources from Napa, Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin also adds to the layers of flavor. The result is fresh, crisp, and delicate on the palate with subtle yeasty notes from its two years on the lees, this is a lovely opening aperitif to an important holiday meal.

Domaine Carneros Brut 2005
Carneros, Napa
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This is a fine example of how great 2005 is throughout Napa. This cool, long growing year produced brilliant wines from fresh yet complex Cabernet Sauvignons to sparkling wines made from the early harvested Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. From their recently certified organic vineyards in cool, foggy Carneros at Napa’s southern end, Domaine Carneros Brut 2005 is refined, subtle, and complex sparkling wine. A focused intensity is allied with finesse and elegant freshness. There’s a slight majority of Pinot Noir in this cuvée but it’s the Chardonnay that shows its brilliant apple and spice shimmering in both the aroma and flavor. The three years spent on its lees shows in the counterpoint of savory bready, brioche notes that add real depth of complexity to the wine. This is the finest vintaged Brut made by Domaine Carneros.

Korbel Natural 2006
Sonoma County
Moderate

‘Natural’ indicates this is the driest sparkling wine made by Korbel, drier than Brut. The wine is crisp, delicately dry, with a fine flavor persistence. Fruit for this top-of-the line Korbel comes from vineyards throughout Russian River Valley and Sonoma County. This cuvée is composed of 70% Pinot Noir and 30% Chardonnay drawn from almost 2000 acres. The beading bubbles are small, the mousse creamy, both of which complement the citrusy, tangy, fresh flavors of apple and mineral, with accents of brioche. Very pale in color, this is a sparkler to serve with your smoked salmon appetizers.

Martini & Rossi Sparkling Rosé
Italy
Moderate

This is the first sparkling rosé made by Martini & Rossi, the noted Italian winery. Made from a blend of white and red grapes from Italy’s Piedmont and Veneto, Moscato and Malvasia are blended for floral, spicy tones, with the addition of Brachetto for the pink color and spice. Pale peach in color, this opens with accents of elderflower and gardenia. On the palate, there are fresh strawberry and peach notes, becoming drier on the mid-palate and finish. This echoes the fruit as well as spice and white flowers. Enjoy throughout brunch or with slightly salty hors d’oeuvres or cheese at dinner’s end.

Ceretto Moscato d’Asti 2008
Piedmont, Italy
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Moscato d’Asti is the finest Muscat sparkling dessert wine in the world. With its ravishing bouquet of flowers and spice, it’s a natural with prosciutto-wrapped melon. From the rocky soils of the great Santo Stefano vineyard in the Piedmont, the Ceretto family produces a great Moscato, with its fine spritz, and racy, nuanced aromatics of spice and flowers. With a low alcohol content of just over 5% by volume and its moderate sweetness, this is a perfect way to start Sunday brunch.