Sometimes finding a wine is all about fate.
My first post this year was about my wine plans for 2012, and I mentioned that I wanted to “drink and review at least two bottles of sparkling wine a month because bubbly is fun and brings such happiness into life.” Craig with Two Guys from Napa suggested I find a bottle of Gruet, saying it was an impressive sparkling wine, particularly at that price point. I was intrigued and put the sparkler on my “to try” list.
Gruet Brut
Then, as I was catching up on Facebook after being in Jamaica for the week, I saw that Dezel from My Vine Spot posted good things about the Gruet rose. This second mention was definitely enough to raise my eyebrows even higher and pique my interest even further.
As if the two blogger recommendations weren’t enough to convince me to try the bubbly, though, two non-wine friends who don’t know each other mentioned Gruet’s sparkling wine separately as a must try. To have the wine suggested four times in less than a month meant I had to immediately grab a bottle of New Mexico’s finest bubbly.
The Gruet Brut (winery) was a medium golden yellow with a lot of small, persistent bubbles. On the nose there were limes and toast. In the mouth, there were limes, granny smith apples, and toast. The wine had good acidity and a medium body.
Is this worth a glass after work? Definitely! If you see this wine in the store, grab it; you won’t be disappointed. At $14, this sparkling wine lived up to all the hype…so run, don’t walk, to the store to buy a bottle. It was simple, elegant, and refreshing. Hubby made turkey curry and couscous for dinner, which wasn’t the best pairing because the bubbles increased the dish’s spiciness, but I think with a different pairing, it would be a food-friendly bubbly. All in all, I spent Saturday evening knitting and enjoying this bubbly, and I see more bottles of Gruet in my future.
***This month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday (WBW #74) theme is value sparkling wine. The challenge was to pick a sparkling wine from any appellation, made from any grape, that sells for $25 or less a bottle (€20, £16). Special thanks to Winecast for hosting!***
Price: $14
Purchased at Whole Foods Market
Overall: 4 Corks
Phew.
I was nervous that I would suggest something and you would find it horrendous. Glad that I’m one for one.
(crap…that means it’s all downhill from here)
Hope you and hubby had a nice Valentine’s Day.
Craig…you can recommend wine any time, although, I admit now I probably won’t even raise an eyebrow if you recommend something a little out of the ordinary. So, don’t use that to get me to drink pepper wine or something like that 😉
Seriously, thanks for the recommendation. I’m glad I tried it, and I feel like you let me in on a well kept secret.
Hope you guys had a nice Valentine’s Day as well!
A semi-sparkling wine with about half the carbonation of a typical sparkling wine, Moscato d’Asti is light and crisp and relatively low in alcohol, about 5 to 7 percent.