Champagne has a well-deserved reputation for sparkling wine: it is, quite simply, the premier region for fine quality sparkling wine in the world. The Champenoise have rightly and righteously guarded both their appellation and their reputation, and they’ll talk about that at the drop of a hat.
What they’d rather not talk about, though, is the success of sparkling wines from other regions in France---most notably, Crèmant d’Alsace.
[Note: To be made in the traditional method of secondary fermentation in the bottle---the “Champagne Method” or “Methode Traditionelle”--- outside Champagne, a wine must be labeled Crèmant.]
To be sure, there are many other sparkling wines from the different regions of France: Bourgogne, the Rhone/Provence, Jura, Bordeaux, and large amounts from the Val du Loire. But Alsace, with a short sparkling history dating back only to the 1970s, has done the finest job of creating popular high-quality Crèmant. So well, in fact, that now Crèmant accounts for 22% of total production of Alsace!
Although little known in the U.S.---to the point of being a best-kept-secret-of-sparkling-wine---Crèmant d’Alsace is hugely popular in France itself, and accounts for a sizable portion of sparkling wine sales.
That’s for a simple reason: the quality/value ratio is unbeatable.
Lucien Albrecht Crèmant d’Alsace Brut Blanc de Blancs NV
If you’re going to try a Crèmant d’Alsace---and you should---you might as well go for one of the best and a pioneer of the category, Lucien Albrecht Brut Blanc de Blancs.
Made from 100% Pinot Blanc, early harvested for high acidity levels, and using only the free run juice, Albrecht Crèmant d’Alsace leans more toward the expression of fruit purity rather than the sometimes excessive toast and weak coffee and hazelnut of the Champenoise style. It has an elegant, fine bead, creamy soft mouth feel, light straw color, an intense, fresh, piercing intensity of fruit, a lean structure, and a delicate but persistent finish.
The Albrecht family of Alsace dates back through eighteen generations to 1425. Yet ancient as the house is, it is still more than capable of innovation. It was the father of the current proprietor and winemaker, Jean, who developed the style of the Crèmant at Domaine Albrecht---and he did it so effectively that in 2004 Albrecht stunned both their neighbors and the country by winning an unprecedented four Gold Medals of excellence at the 14th Concours National de Crèmant de France
!
[Domaine Albrecht also produces a lovely bottle of pink perfection with its Brut Rosè, made from 100% Pinot Noir; it is well worth trying.]
Since we’re still in the throes of winter, Domaine Lucien Albrecht Crèmant Brut would be superb with creamy sauces and chowders, delightful with all that Dungeness Crab that’s being harvested, and absolutely unbeatable with anything fried. Try some General Tso’s chicken with Crèmant and you’ll be in serious bliss. And to show just how decadent you can be, try Crèmant with Cheetos! The crackly kind, heavy with artificial cheese flavor that you have to lick off your deep orange fingertips when you’re through. Trust me on this one.
So while it is true that only Champagne can call itself Champagne, as they so often and so proudly say, it is also true that only Crèmant d’Alsace can call itself Crèmant d’Alsace! And nowadays, amongst aficionados of fine sparkling wine that’s a popular name to be called.
Maison Lucien Albrecht Cremant Brut has an SRP of $19.99.
Excerpted from Examiner.com: Crèmant d’Alsace: what Champagne would rather not talk about - National French Wine | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/french-wine-in- ... z1Bzq1ctRR