Henkell Blanc De Blancs

French cuvee craft meets German artisanal production: experience four first-class wines in one excellent cuvee. Pure joie de vivre and the special feeling of elegance and freshness – with this fruity, tingling premium cuvee of four distinguished white grapes from renowned, traditional wine-growing regions.The grapes are gently pressed and carefully fermented at a low temperature to preserve their full-bodied taste. Following careful maturation, an exquisite premium cuvee is created from carefully chosen wines. This is the journey that results in a great sparkling wine with the typical delicately sweet aromas and a noble, finely beaded mousse.

COLOUR: Delicate yellow

MOUSSE: Finely beaded, lingering

BOUQUET: Delicate aroma of ripe apples, Williams pears and mirabelles

FLAVOUR: Fresh start, elegant floral fizz, complex and balanced with a silky feeling and lingering finish

GRAPE VARIETIES: Cuvée made of four selected, exclusively white wines, including Chardonnay, from traditional viniculture regions.

PRODUCTION METHOD: Méthode charmat in accordance with German sparkling-wine regulations

SERVING SUGGESTION: Perfect accompaniment to a pleasant picnic, with light snacks such as savoury canapés

ANALYSIS RESULTS: Alcohol: 11.5 %

abv Dosage: 28 g/l (dry)Contains sulphites

Rosé Imperial displays a pink color with amber highlights. Lively and intense, the bouquet exudes red fruits (wild strawberry, raspberry, cherry) with floral nuances of rose and a slight hint of pepper. On the palate, the wine shows a juicy intensity of berries (strawberry, raspberry, red currant) rounded out by the fleshiness and firmness of peach and the freshness of a subtle note of mint.

Tasting Panel: Lovely pink hue; fresh, fragrant, and smooth with notes of strawberry and apple; elegant and long.

Wine Spectator: Delicate verbena and candied pink grapefruit zest accents lead to macerated blackberry, toasted nut and saline notes in this balanced and creamy rosé, with well-cut acidity.

Wine & Spirits: This blend is mostly Pinot Noir and Meunier, including 10 percent red wine for color. Chardonnay accounts for 10 to 20 percent, including a portion of reserve wines that may be providing the oceanic, oyster-shell notes that bring to mind Champagne's Kimmeridgean limestone. This is broad and loose up front, with fruity scents of orange and pomegranate. Then the wine keeps buzzing with brisk acidity, tightening up and extending the flavors with energy. An impressive release of Imperial.

James Suckling: A complex and fresh nose with fresh berries, as well as berry pastry and biscuits. The palate has a fresh, crisp and lively feel with impressively upbeat berries. Drink now.

Decanter: Restrained red fruit nose. Long, rolling palate, fresh and crisp throughout, with abundant cranberry, sherbet lemon, green herb and ginger flavours.

The base wine is put into pressurized tanks for the prise de mousse; it ferments in these for 18 - 20 days, with the aid of selected yeasts, at controlled temperatures of between 14 and 16. Once the desired pressure has been obtained (around 6 bar) the wine is chilled to -4 in order to block the fermentation and encourage stabilization. It is then kept at a controlled temperature for at least one month, so as to favor its natural maturation in contact with the lees. At the end of this process, it is filtered and undergoes isobaric bottling.

A bright pale yellow color with green highlights, with a stream of many fine bubbles. Intense with notes of  tropical fruits and citrus. Creamy and smooth, very pleasant and well balanced.

White sparkling wine - white sparkling wine

Grapes: Pinot Nero, Riesling, Durello

Characteristics: light, fresh, dry

Recommended pairings: As an aperitif, appetizers, first courses, fish, cold white meats.

An unusual gin from the Black Forest in Germany, Monkey 47 contains a unique ingredient. No, not that! Cranberries! The 47 comes from the number of botanicals that go into this unique gin, and the fact it’s bottled at a healthy 47%. It seems that the botanicals speak for themselves, as the gin has received bucketfuls of critical acclaim. Some say less is more, not for Monkey 47!

Tasting Note

Nose: Oh there is a lot going on here… woody, vegetable smells under pin fresh grassy citrus notes and botanical sweetness, like a pine forest after the rain.

Palate: Predictably complex, this is a robust and powerful gin with plenty of spice, fruit and herb flavours. It’s very well structured, and difficult to unpick but a citrus fresh start segues into pine and wood notes for a drying finish.

Finish: Wooded and reassuringly heavy.

Overall: A unique gin, that is crying out to be made into a Martini. It’ll need an equally robust vermouth though.