Bottom Of the Bottle:
So there IS flavour to Bubbly wine. Who knew. Its still hard to pick out and there isn't much in the way of complexity and depth but I most definitely see the usefulness of sparking wine for foods with heavy oil or creamy fats. I would definitely remind individuals to not drink the wine until after you are done with the bite of food as the bubbly will do away with the flavour and texture like paint thinner on paint.
The fancy cap gives this wine an extra day's life but it died right down by the third day. I like the strawberry flavour of this particular sparkling beverage but do yearn for more complexity. For the price, I can't really complain.
For more information on this wine, click "read more"
So there IS flavour to Bubbly wine. Who knew. Its still hard to pick out and there isn't much in the way of complexity and depth but I most definitely see the usefulness of sparking wine for foods with heavy oil or creamy fats. I would definitely remind individuals to not drink the wine until after you are done with the bite of food as the bubbly will do away with the flavour and texture like paint thinner on paint.
The fancy cap gives this wine an extra day's life but it died right down by the third day. I like the strawberry flavour of this particular sparkling beverage but do yearn for more complexity. For the price, I can't really complain.
For more information on this wine, click "read more"
Background:
Im going to be upfront and honest before indulging an opinion. I'm am not a fan of bubbling wine. As previous posts may have eluded to, I am an easily distracted individual and this trait carries over to the difficulty of tasting the flavours of sparkling wine when I am highly distracted by the carbonated bubbly and fizzy textures. It rarely works out and I usually walk away able only to describe the wine as bubbly. With that on the table, I originally bought this sparkling beverage for the wedding celebration of a good friend of mine. Through changed plans and tight schedules I couldn't get around to grabbing it from my fridge between the ceremony and reception so it was forgotten. Sitting there for over a week, and taking up valuable space in my fridge come grocery day, it started to erk me. Naturally, this is where I decided not to wait around for the next celebratory reason to open it and instead just open it now. So I made a celebration of it. I had just picked up my diploma today (after graduating over six months ago) and I grabbed with that all the foods I could think of that might pair well with sparking beverage. These together would be my reason to open the bottle.
The Basics:
This is a 750mL Sparkling Rose Wine from the Australian company [Yellow Tail] wines. It is referred to as "Pink Bubbles" on the bottle but no description of what wine varieties go into the wine, nor of a vintage is stated. It is 11.5% alcohol and contains a handy resealable top I have learned is called a "zork closure." All of this for 13.99$ from your local BCL.
From the Bottle's Back:
From the back of the bottle we have a small and succinct description of this wine being "fragrant, light and fresh with a soft finish."
The website is well set up to describe this bottle as "The perfect celebration, in pink!" it further speaks out describing the wine as "Wild Strawberries and a hint of cream drive this crisp sparkling wine with just a hint of blush in its colour, pretty in pink."
The Reviewer's Take:
From drinks.seriouseats.com "The rosé had a pale pink color in the glass with bubbles that were a little finer than the white version. It smelled a bit like strawberries, and had more fruity, berry flavors than the other bottle. It's still sweet, though. This wine was neither particularly offensive nor particularly interesting, so we'd likely try something else next time we're looking for wine in the supermarket aisle."
Dominicia Waters over at the Examiner gives her two cents as "consists of Semillon, Traminer, Shiraz, and Frontignac...features a Zork closure to help preserve the bubbles in the wine, which spill out upon opening. In the glass it's clarion pink. The nose is a medley of strawberries, cherries, cream, and peach; the sweet palate mirrors this bouquet, with a bright presentation of strawberry candy, cherries, a bit of sweet cinnamon, apricot, and pineapple. The bubbles seem injected in this wine...and they dissipate quickly in the glass. The finish is short, and there's trace of a bitter aftertaste. No tannins here...Should you try this wine? Definitely. It has its good points...If you're willing to overlook its shortcomings, you'll be pleased."
The Amateur's Awareness:
My passionate dislike for bubbly wine doesn't start at the tasting, it starts far before that, at opening the bottle. I do not fear many things in life but a cork rocketing towards my eye in the dark is one of them. Any recount of opening a corked bottle of sparkling beverage sadly takes place in the dark of night. A new years eve in the darkness of the yard. At the bottom of a hill after sledding. the beach at night...When i think back on it, I'm not sure I have personally opened a corked bubbly during the daytime. Strangely curious.
I was at first stumped on how to open the bottle. I had taken it outside to more easily do away with any bubble-over mess on the floor. Unfortunately it was dark outside and I had not turned the porch light on, nor had I read the directions on how to open the thing. When I finally figured it out, I was excited to find that it is a useful, handy resealable top. I kept resealing and then popping the top. I stopped when I noticed that through these several enchanting re-pops, I lost about a cup of bubbly to the porch through foam-over. This accepted, at least I did not give myself a black eye!!
Appearance:
There is plenty of fizz to this drink. It is definitely a pink that touches between soft pale girly pink and an electric candy pink.
Nose:
I smell fruits, but they are too muddled and overwhelmed by the carbonation which stings my nose when I breathe in deep. Letting the glass sit for a bit and the carbonation settle, I can pick up the softness of the fruits and can say that they aren't deep and dark nor are they citrus.
Palate:
I'm trying really hard here to taste something but on my first attempt all I'm getting is a dryly acidic alcohol. Its hard with such carbonation. A second attempt has me thinking strawberries, maybe a reminiscent flavour of strawberry kiwi juice There is a sweet, almost candy, aspect to it. A third and fourth review has me confident in these flavours, especially the light shortly lingered after taste which tastes exactly like strawberry juice.
Wine Food Pairing:.
I went to the store and grabbed the first three items I thought might go best with a sparkling wine. I picked up tempura batter because sparkling wine is suppose to go well with deep fry foods. I grabbed some laughing cow cheese which is soft, creamy and rich in flavour. Perfect cheese pairing for a wine like this. Then I thought perhaps some dark sea salt chocolate. This one I was iffy on. Salt is cut well by sparkling beverage and milk chocolate's creaminess can be cut by it but this was dark and bitter chocolate which might go a different way.
I ate the tempura as onion rings first. I took notice to a thick coat of oil on the tongue and back of the throat with a lingering onion taste afterwards. Then I added in the bubbly on the next ring and noticed just how quick and aggressively those bubbles attacked the thick greasy coat. They virtually lifted the grease away and you could feel and hear them at work. The flavour of the wine came through nicely as well. The onion after-flavour was doused down by the sparkling beverage's delicate after-taste.
Next in line was the laughing cow cheese. first was original. The creamy soft cheese with strong flavour took time to fully clear on its own and I felt the need to help it down. I then used the wine on the next bite and again the bubbles made a direction towards the creaminess and cleared away the palate and cheeks with a simple sip and swish at the end of enjoying the creamy cheese. Next was herb infused laughing cow. This had a stronger taste of garlic, onion and other herbs. The bubbly cleared this creaminess away and levelled the intensity of the herbs without effort.
Lastly was the questionable dark chocolate with sea salt. I'm not sure I would again enjoy sparkling beverage with sea salt dark chocolate. For sea salt milk chocolate the results might have been different because of the creaminess of a milk chocolate. For the dark chocolate I feel that the bitterness was accentuated by the wine and the wine's dryness was accentuated by the bitter chocolate. That and I love the after taste of bitter dark chocolate and the wine unfortunately disrupted this intrusively.
So, two for three ain't bad. Good pairing for deep fry and soft aromatic cheese. Not so good for darker bitter chocolate, even if it contains sea salt.
Update: on its second day, the wine still bubbled deliciously against a couple more wedges of the laughing cow cheese. The third day is when the fizz fizzled down. The bubbles were virtually non existent but there was the slightest bit of fizz to keep this drink semi-lively. The lack of fizzle didn't mean any greater flavour could shine through. The wine remained exactly what it was in flavour to begin with, only more flat. I tried this 3rd day of the bottle on a couple chips that were both salty and spicy with a little sweetness. It worked well. It bit through the salt and complemented the flavour of the chips but It would have went better in its prime with bubbles and fuller fizz. The fancy cap allows for an extra day of this bubbly goodness but don't think it will last in any quality to the third day or further.
Bottom Line:
So there IS flavour to Bubbly wine. Who knew. Its still hard to pick out and there isn't much in the way of complexity and depth but I most definitely see the usefulness of sparking wine for foods with heavy oil or creamy fats. I would definitely remind individuals to not drink the wine until after you are done with the bite of food as the bubbly will do away with the flavour and texture like paint thinner on paint. So enjoy the creamy texture and herbs of that cheese or the deep fried goodness and then drink a sip when you are ready to clear the slate. If you are bringing a wine-food pairing to some pot luck or party I would confidently endorse a sparkling wine and soft cheese duo.
One thing i do wonder, though I did appreciate the strawberry intrigue of this sparkling rose, is whether a white sparkling wine might not have been better for these particular foods.
The fancy cap gives this wine an extra day's life but it died right down by the third day. I like the strawberry flavour of this particular sparkling beverage but do yearn for more complexity. For the price, I can't really complain.
Im going to be upfront and honest before indulging an opinion. I'm am not a fan of bubbling wine. As previous posts may have eluded to, I am an easily distracted individual and this trait carries over to the difficulty of tasting the flavours of sparkling wine when I am highly distracted by the carbonated bubbly and fizzy textures. It rarely works out and I usually walk away able only to describe the wine as bubbly. With that on the table, I originally bought this sparkling beverage for the wedding celebration of a good friend of mine. Through changed plans and tight schedules I couldn't get around to grabbing it from my fridge between the ceremony and reception so it was forgotten. Sitting there for over a week, and taking up valuable space in my fridge come grocery day, it started to erk me. Naturally, this is where I decided not to wait around for the next celebratory reason to open it and instead just open it now. So I made a celebration of it. I had just picked up my diploma today (after graduating over six months ago) and I grabbed with that all the foods I could think of that might pair well with sparking beverage. These together would be my reason to open the bottle.
The Basics:
This is a 750mL Sparkling Rose Wine from the Australian company [Yellow Tail] wines. It is referred to as "Pink Bubbles" on the bottle but no description of what wine varieties go into the wine, nor of a vintage is stated. It is 11.5% alcohol and contains a handy resealable top I have learned is called a "zork closure." All of this for 13.99$ from your local BCL.
From the Bottle's Back:
From the back of the bottle we have a small and succinct description of this wine being "fragrant, light and fresh with a soft finish."
The website is well set up to describe this bottle as "The perfect celebration, in pink!" it further speaks out describing the wine as "Wild Strawberries and a hint of cream drive this crisp sparkling wine with just a hint of blush in its colour, pretty in pink."
The Reviewer's Take:
From drinks.seriouseats.com "The rosé had a pale pink color in the glass with bubbles that were a little finer than the white version. It smelled a bit like strawberries, and had more fruity, berry flavors than the other bottle. It's still sweet, though. This wine was neither particularly offensive nor particularly interesting, so we'd likely try something else next time we're looking for wine in the supermarket aisle."
Dominicia Waters over at the Examiner gives her two cents as "consists of Semillon, Traminer, Shiraz, and Frontignac...features a Zork closure to help preserve the bubbles in the wine, which spill out upon opening. In the glass it's clarion pink. The nose is a medley of strawberries, cherries, cream, and peach; the sweet palate mirrors this bouquet, with a bright presentation of strawberry candy, cherries, a bit of sweet cinnamon, apricot, and pineapple. The bubbles seem injected in this wine...and they dissipate quickly in the glass. The finish is short, and there's trace of a bitter aftertaste. No tannins here...Should you try this wine? Definitely. It has its good points...If you're willing to overlook its shortcomings, you'll be pleased."
The Amateur's Awareness:
My passionate dislike for bubbly wine doesn't start at the tasting, it starts far before that, at opening the bottle. I do not fear many things in life but a cork rocketing towards my eye in the dark is one of them. Any recount of opening a corked bottle of sparkling beverage sadly takes place in the dark of night. A new years eve in the darkness of the yard. At the bottom of a hill after sledding. the beach at night...When i think back on it, I'm not sure I have personally opened a corked bubbly during the daytime. Strangely curious.
I was at first stumped on how to open the bottle. I had taken it outside to more easily do away with any bubble-over mess on the floor. Unfortunately it was dark outside and I had not turned the porch light on, nor had I read the directions on how to open the thing. When I finally figured it out, I was excited to find that it is a useful, handy resealable top. I kept resealing and then popping the top. I stopped when I noticed that through these several enchanting re-pops, I lost about a cup of bubbly to the porch through foam-over. This accepted, at least I did not give myself a black eye!!
Appearance:
There is plenty of fizz to this drink. It is definitely a pink that touches between soft pale girly pink and an electric candy pink.
Nose:
I smell fruits, but they are too muddled and overwhelmed by the carbonation which stings my nose when I breathe in deep. Letting the glass sit for a bit and the carbonation settle, I can pick up the softness of the fruits and can say that they aren't deep and dark nor are they citrus.
Palate:
I'm trying really hard here to taste something but on my first attempt all I'm getting is a dryly acidic alcohol. Its hard with such carbonation. A second attempt has me thinking strawberries, maybe a reminiscent flavour of strawberry kiwi juice There is a sweet, almost candy, aspect to it. A third and fourth review has me confident in these flavours, especially the light shortly lingered after taste which tastes exactly like strawberry juice.
Wine Food Pairing:.
I went to the store and grabbed the first three items I thought might go best with a sparkling wine. I picked up tempura batter because sparkling wine is suppose to go well with deep fry foods. I grabbed some laughing cow cheese which is soft, creamy and rich in flavour. Perfect cheese pairing for a wine like this. Then I thought perhaps some dark sea salt chocolate. This one I was iffy on. Salt is cut well by sparkling beverage and milk chocolate's creaminess can be cut by it but this was dark and bitter chocolate which might go a different way.
I ate the tempura as onion rings first. I took notice to a thick coat of oil on the tongue and back of the throat with a lingering onion taste afterwards. Then I added in the bubbly on the next ring and noticed just how quick and aggressively those bubbles attacked the thick greasy coat. They virtually lifted the grease away and you could feel and hear them at work. The flavour of the wine came through nicely as well. The onion after-flavour was doused down by the sparkling beverage's delicate after-taste.
Next in line was the laughing cow cheese. first was original. The creamy soft cheese with strong flavour took time to fully clear on its own and I felt the need to help it down. I then used the wine on the next bite and again the bubbles made a direction towards the creaminess and cleared away the palate and cheeks with a simple sip and swish at the end of enjoying the creamy cheese. Next was herb infused laughing cow. This had a stronger taste of garlic, onion and other herbs. The bubbly cleared this creaminess away and levelled the intensity of the herbs without effort.
Lastly was the questionable dark chocolate with sea salt. I'm not sure I would again enjoy sparkling beverage with sea salt dark chocolate. For sea salt milk chocolate the results might have been different because of the creaminess of a milk chocolate. For the dark chocolate I feel that the bitterness was accentuated by the wine and the wine's dryness was accentuated by the bitter chocolate. That and I love the after taste of bitter dark chocolate and the wine unfortunately disrupted this intrusively.
So, two for three ain't bad. Good pairing for deep fry and soft aromatic cheese. Not so good for darker bitter chocolate, even if it contains sea salt.
Update: on its second day, the wine still bubbled deliciously against a couple more wedges of the laughing cow cheese. The third day is when the fizz fizzled down. The bubbles were virtually non existent but there was the slightest bit of fizz to keep this drink semi-lively. The lack of fizzle didn't mean any greater flavour could shine through. The wine remained exactly what it was in flavour to begin with, only more flat. I tried this 3rd day of the bottle on a couple chips that were both salty and spicy with a little sweetness. It worked well. It bit through the salt and complemented the flavour of the chips but It would have went better in its prime with bubbles and fuller fizz. The fancy cap allows for an extra day of this bubbly goodness but don't think it will last in any quality to the third day or further.
Bottom Line:
So there IS flavour to Bubbly wine. Who knew. Its still hard to pick out and there isn't much in the way of complexity and depth but I most definitely see the usefulness of sparking wine for foods with heavy oil or creamy fats. I would definitely remind individuals to not drink the wine until after you are done with the bite of food as the bubbly will do away with the flavour and texture like paint thinner on paint. So enjoy the creamy texture and herbs of that cheese or the deep fried goodness and then drink a sip when you are ready to clear the slate. If you are bringing a wine-food pairing to some pot luck or party I would confidently endorse a sparkling wine and soft cheese duo.
One thing i do wonder, though I did appreciate the strawberry intrigue of this sparkling rose, is whether a white sparkling wine might not have been better for these particular foods.
The fancy cap gives this wine an extra day's life but it died right down by the third day. I like the strawberry flavour of this particular sparkling beverage but do yearn for more complexity. For the price, I can't really complain.
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