English sparkler beats Champagne???

Of course I adore Champagne, but I love lots of different bubblies.

Decanter reported that Nyetimber from the UK beat out Champagnes like Bollinger and Louis Roederer in a competition in Italy. The contest was organized by an Italian wine magazine, so I'm not sure Nyetimber's potential ad revenue to the publication would be influencing their choice of winner. Not that a magazine would ever consider ad dollars when granting ratings.

Anyway, the winemaker for Nyetimber said that "'We don't pretend we taste the same as Champagne".

I happen to be out on the North Fork today, and I had a chance to taste Lenz's 2000 RD Brut and 2003 RD Brut. (Disclosure: I worked a harvest at Lenz.) Given the vagaries of the weather on the east end, I think sparkling wines are one of the best products of the region. The early harvest time (before the autumn rains) is ideal for sparkling wine, and the winemakers out there have all the same tools (barrel-fermentation during first fermentation, sur lie aging) everyone else in the world has, so with proper care (and storage space), wineries have a chance to make a very delicious, special product.

Did the Lenz bubblies taste like Champagne? No. They were a little more aggressive compared to an elegant Champagne. Were they interesting? Yes. Nine years sur lie (for the 2000 Brut) displayed layers of smokiness and including 30% barrel-fermented Chardonnay in the cuvee gave the wines a pretty apricot aroma.The 2003 Brut was lean & focused, with more traditional tree fruit aromas and yeast. The 2003 is 100% Pinot Noir.

I'm not saying that every cold, wet, marginal wine growing region should switch all production to sparkling wines. But I'm certainly willing to taste it.

Lenz Winery, Gewürztraminer 2003 (North Fork of Long Island), $18 (for most recent release, 2006), 12% abv

Full disclosure: I worked the wet 2005 vintage at Lenz on the North Fork. More disclosure: I love Gewürztraminer.

Granted, I didn’t mean to hold on to this one for over six years. Gewürztraminer reaches high levels of sugar naturally, so they are characteristically high in alcohol and low in acid. Not a winning combination for aging a wine. Still, I find that wines from the North Fork are picked on the early side (especially when compared to a place with fabulous weather like California), and the fact that this wine is clocking in at 12% abv suggests that it’s part of that pick-early trend, so this wine is moderate on both alcohol and acid.

The Lenz Gewürztraminer is a medium gold, indicating its high levels of extract. Medium-intensity aromas of tropical fruit, spices, and the signature lycee turn into an oily mouthfeel with more tropical fruits on the palette. The acid is soft, as would be expected, and here the finish is somewhat clipped.

Overall it’s an unusual Gewürztraminer for its low alcohol and intensity if we’re going to compare it to Alsace and Germany. But that’s not at all a fair comparison.

So I say bravo for not being Chardonnay!

But back to aging Gewürztraminer: have you had any success? For how long would you hold one of these?