NYTimes: Gruet Sparkling

Nice to see the locals get some love in the NYTimes:

NYTimes:Gruet

Followed 'em from the very start...I did I did.
Tom

Nice to see the locals get some love in the NYTimes:

NYTimes:Gruet

Followed 'em from the very start...I did I did.
Tom

No doubt, Tom. Thanks for the link. That grand facade is unfamiliar to me. The tasting room in ABQ that I recall was set in a strip mall not far from I-25. Is that no longer the case? (It was probably 8-10 years ago) While I like Gruet's wines, their pricing has crept upward. Locally, I can get Gruet Brut for $16 while I can get Roederer Estate's basic bubbly for $19. They are no longer the screaming bargain they once were, in other words.

Mark Lipton

All the other sparkler producers that are as well distributed as Gruet seem to be well-financed offshoots of existing houses. Good to know that's it's possible to work one's way up even in the luxe world of Champagne-style wines.

Walt

No doubt, Tom. Thanks for the link. That grand facade is unfamiliar to me. The tasting room in ABQ that I recall was set in a strip mall not far from I-25. Is that no longer the case? (It was probably 8-10 years ago) While I like Gruet's wines, their pricing has crept upward. Locally, I can get Gruet Brut for $16 while I can get Roederer Estate's basic bubbly for $19. They are no longer the screaming bargain they once were, in other words.
Mark Lipton

Mark,
The wnry has been located for some 10 yrs or so. I don't recall that tasting room you mentioned, but I usually just
encountered their wines at tasting, so never looked them up.
I think there has been some price creep, but we can get the basic Brut for around $12.
Tom

The last bottle of Gruet NV I bought... a couple of months ago... was 14.95. Still a pretty good deal for what you get. Most other sparklers at that price are only fit for mimosas.

Glenn

I'm a big fan of Gruet.

No doubt, Tom. Thanks for the link. That grand facade is unfamiliar to me. The tasting room in ABQ that I recall was set in a strip mall not far from I-25. Is that no longer the case? (It was probably 8-10 years ago) While I like Gruet's wines, their pricing has crept upward. Locally, I can get Gruet Brut for $16 while I can get Roederer Estate's basic bubbly for $19. They are no longer the screaming bargain they once were, in other words.
Mark Lipton

Mark,
The wnry has been located for some 10 yrs or so. I don't recall that tasting room you mentioned, but I usually just
encountered their wines at tasting, so never looked them up.
I think there has been some price creep, but we can get the basic Brut for around $12.
Tom

I visited Gruet in 2005 when I was in Albuquerque. The winery is on a service road that runs parallel to I-25 and in my recollection matches the picture from the article, though there was a small vineyard in front of the building (the bulk of the grapes are trucked in from vineyards in southern New Mexico). There was a tasting room just inside the entrance of the building, and the winery was behind that. It's well worth a tour.

When I'm asked to recommend a good, inexpensive bubbly I always tell people to look for Gruet.