Bubbles and bittersweet don’t go together often
around these parts.
The mood’s a little downbeat around Vine HQ, even
after receiving samples of a new slate of Prosecco offerings from Zonin –
dubbed their “Dress Code” collection. There were three bottles – the “Black,” “White,”
and “Grey” – as you can see here:
Three bottles of Prosecco are usually a bit much
for the Sweet Partner in Crime and I to pop all at once, so we went with our usual
strategy. We called our trustworthy alleymates, Christine the Pie Queen and
Dinner Club Jeff, to help us polish off sample this bit of Italian
effervescence.
Only problem – this is likely the last Naked Vine
tasting with our nearest and dearest for quite some time. Jeff has a fabulous
opportunity with a new job in Seattle. Being the nature nuts that the two of
them are, the foot of Mount Rainier isn’t a bad place to call home. Alas, for
us, that means that the decade-old Tennessee Alley Drinking Club is going on
hiatus.
Since we all became acquainted through The Hanging
Chad and Jeff and Christine ended up buying a house almost directly behind us –
we’ve had lots of wonderful times and some on the other end of the spectrum
(like the one that involved a two-hour hot tub session and a passed-around
bottle of bourbon…).
In any case, the wines we had them over to try
were a new twist on Prosecco. I knew of the winery Zonin largely through their
production of inexpensive Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. I didn’t know that they were
also producing bubbly, but they are, under the label “Zonin1821.”
The twist with these particular Prosecco is that
they aren’t made entirely with Glera grapes. Most Prosecco are 100% Glera. The
regulations for Prosecco DOC (and if you’ve forgotten about those
classifications, you can
look here) allow up to 15% of other grape varietals in a blend. I think you
can see where this is going. All three versions retail for about $15-17.
With bottles in the fridge and antipasti on the
table at Vine HQ, C&J crossed the alley to pop some corks with us one more
time before departing for the Pacific time zone.
We started with The White – which is 91% Glera and 9% Pinot Bianco. Pinot Bianco is
Pinot Grigio’s slightly paler cousin, known best for producing full-bodied
whites in France’s Alsace region. In Italy, Pinot Bianco returns a fruitier,
somewhat sweeter product, and the result came through in this blend. This was
the sweetest of the three bottles, featuring flavors of apricot and tropical
fruit. On its own, not the best – but it was the best of the three for
brunchtime mimosas the next day.
Next came The
Grey – a blend of 87% Glera and 13% of that Italian classic, Pinot Grigio.
The result was a drier, more minerally wine, with some green apple and floral
notes. There was an odd finish to this one – a slight astringency that cut the
finish off very abruptly. Just to sip on, I thought it was a little better than
the White, since I tend to prefer drier bubblies. One interesting note – this was
an excellent pairing with some very difficult foods. We had olives and
marinated artichoke hearts on our little appetizer board, and in both cases,
the astringency of the finish faded when combined with the flavors of those
foods, resulting in a quite pleasant pairing. Perhaps something to file away
for future reference.
Finally, we made our way to The Black – a blend of 90% Glera and 10% Pinot Noir. No, this isn’t
a rosé by any stretch of the imagination. Juice from all grapes, whether red grapes
or white, is largely clear. The color comes from contact of the juice and the
grape skins. Thus, this wine ends up looking like a regular white wine, despite
the name. (By now, you likely noticed that “bianco,” “grigio” and “noir” translate
from Italian as “white,” “grey,” and “black” respectively…)
The Black was, by unanimous acclimation, the best
of the three. The pinot noir gave the wine some more structure and complexity –
bringing out notes of roses, green apple, and lavender. This was the first of
the three bottles to disappear completely. This would be a solid food wine for
almost any kind of light entrée – especially a simple presentation of fish or
sushi.
The tasting done, we merrily headed off into the
night for dinner at the York Street Café, site of one of the first meals we’d
shared. More laughter, food, and wine followed – typical for most times the
four of us ended up in the same room. Through the years, Jeff and Christine been
some of the best, most supportive “couple friends” that the SPinC and I could
have dreamed of.
We wish them all the luck and love in the world in
their new adventures.
We miss them already.
Sigh.
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