Washington State produces many excellent wines from many different grape varieties. There is much debate as to which red wine Washington does best. Some say Syrah, others Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon, and others red Bordeaux-style blends.

This month’s wine tasting dinner featured Bordeaux-style red blends from Washington State, all from the 2008 vintage. It was another fabulous evening of great wines, the company of wonderful friends, and LaGayle’s (Mom’s) excellent food. All six wines paired extremely well with our dinner of tomato basil soup, mile high salad (mixed greens, pecans, dried cranberries, blue cheese, and toasted walnuts with a green onion/Tabasco vinaigrette dressing), prime rib with beef demi-glace, braised kale, garlic mashed sweet potatoes, and German chocolate dessert.

The wines in this tasting, all of which sell for over $30, are premium quality Bordeaux-style blends. The consensus favorite was the 2008 Rasa Vineyards Creative Impulse. Once again, we were “wow-ed” by this wine. This was the second time I gave it a Quality rating of 5 stars (out of 5). In fact, it was our Wine Peeps’ Best Washington Wine of 2011. The first time we tasted it at the winery, so I was glad that the rating I gave it then was validated in this blind tasting. If you have not yet tried any Rasa Vineyards wines, you definitely need to seek them out.

Rounding out the top four wines and receiving Quality ratings of 4.5 stars were the 2008 Long Shadows Pirouette, the 2008 Quilceda Creek Palengat Red Wine, and the 2008 Soos Creek Champoux Vineyard Red Wine. As you will see from the quality ratings below, we felt that all six wines were excellent. In my opinion, you cannot go wrong with any of these.

From 1st to last in the group consensus rankings:

2008 Rasa Vineyards Creative Impulse (DuBrul Vineyard, Yakima Valley, Washington): 69% Cabernet Sauvignon and 31% Merlot. Deep, dark purplish red. Outstanding nose with gorgeous aromas of black cherry, black currant, leather, vanilla, and white pepper. More black cherry, black currant, vanilla, and white pepper as well as cocoa notes come through on the palate. Full-bodied with lively acidity and silky, smooth tannins. Well-balanced with good complexity and a finish that goes on forever. An absolutely amazing wine. Wow!
Quality: 5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $95; Available elsewhere, $95 to $100

2008 Long Shadows Pirouette (Columbia Valley, Washington): 63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 22% Merlot, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Petit Verdot. Dark purple. Nice nose with red and black fruit and clove aromas. More red and black fruit as well as smoked meat and a touch of black pepper come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced with good complexity and a long, lingering finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $50; Available elsewhere, $53 to $57

2008 Quilceda Creek Palengat Red Wine (Palengat Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills, Washington): 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 14% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot, and 3% Petit Verdot. Dark purplish red. Aromatic with blackberry, black plum, cassis, and cherry cola on the nose. More black fruit as well as pencil lead and spice come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high, smooth tannins. Well-balanced with a very long finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $85; Available elsewhere, $85 to $156

2008 Soos Creek Champoux Vineyard Red Wine (Champoux Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills, Washington): 77% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, and 6% Merlot. Dark purplish red. Nice nose with chocolate, licorice, and black fruit aromas and flavors. Full-bodied with lively acidity and extremely smooth tannins. Well-balanced with a long, lingering finish.
Quality: 4.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $33; Available elsewhere, $30 to $36

2008 Andrew Will Sorella (Champoux Vineyard, Horse Heaven Hills, Washington): 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, and 14% Cabernet Franc. Deep, dark red. Aromatic with black cherry, toast, and pencil lead aromas. More black fruit, oak, and a hint of leather come through on the palate. Full-bodied with lively acidity and high tannins. Well-balanced with a long, slightly bitter finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 1 bang for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $68; Available elsewhere, $60 to $90

2008 Saviah Cellars Une Vallée Red Wine (Walla Walla Valley, Washington): 56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, and 6% Cabernet Franc. Deep, dark red in color. Nice nose with blackberry jam, baking spice, and licorice aromas. Fruit-forward with blackberry, plum, and spice on the palate. Full-bodied with crisp acidity and medium to high tannins. Well-balanced with a long finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Winery, $32; Available elsewhere, $27 to $40

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is oaky.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Oaky is a tasting term usually applied to wines too heavily influenced by oak flavor, which smell and taste more of wood than fruit, and may be aggressively tannic and dry.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Ms. Robinson’s definition is fairly straightforward on this one. Oaky is a tasting term used for wines that have too much oak flavor. Heavy aromas and flavors of wood, smoke, butter, and/or vanilla can indicate that a wine is oaky.

Oregon ranks third in the number of wineries and fourth in wine production in the United States. In its relatively short 40-year history, the Oregon wine industry has evolved into a world-class wine region. Today, Oregon boasts over 400 wineries and 16 AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas). With those AVA’s found in both warm and cool climates, Oregon winemakers are able to produce wines from over 70 different grape varieties.

Recently, I had the opportunity to spend three days in Oregon wine country on a media tour hosted by the Oregon Wine Board. We had the pleasure to meet winemakers, visit vineyards, dine at local restaurants, and stay in luxurious accommodations. While I had visited Oregon and written about Oregon wines on a number of occasions, it was a great opportunity to immerse myself in all things Oregon wine and get to know so many key players in the Oregon wine industry. For details about the media tour itself, check out this article by Karl Klooster in the Yamhill Valley News-Register.

As regular readers know, I’ve historically been somewhat of a skeptic when it comes to Oregon wine. Too often, I had found their wines, predominately their beloved Pinot Noir, to be overhyped and overpriced. However, I am happy to report that this visit allowed me to experience some truly wonderful Pinot as well as appreciate the exceptional people, beautiful scenery, and diversity of wines in Oregon wine country.

I’d like to share with you several key takeaways from the visit:

• Pinot Noir is still the Queen, and She Ages Gracefully – Pinot Noir is the variety that propelled Oregon onto the worldwide wine stage and is still what many people think of when it comes to Oregon wine. We had the opportunity to taste several “older” Pinots from the 1985, 1998, and 1999 vintages, and they are aging quite gracefully.
• Beyond Pinot Noir – Sometimes thought of as a one-trick pony, Oregon wine is much more than just Pinot Noir. If you haven’t had the opportunity, I highly encourage you to seek out Oregon sparkling wine and Oregon Chardonnay.
• Outside the Willamette Valley – For many, Oregon wine is synonymous with the Willamette Valley. However, there are exciting things happening elsewhere in the state, including the Columbia Gorge and Southern Oregon. And, I would be remiss without mentioning that a number of the best Walla Walla Valley vineyards are actually on the Oregon side of the AVA.
• A Leader in Sustainable Viticulture – Oregon has long been committed to sustainable winegrowing and earth-friendly practices. A significant number of the state’s vineyards are certified sustainable, organic, or biodynamic. And now, Oregon Certified Sustainable Wine (OCSW) has been launched as a unifying platform to make identifying those wines easy for consumers.

Also, I would like to give a special mention to two outstanding venues that I highly recommend should your travels take you to Oregon wine country: Nora’s Table in Hood River (amazing food and an Oregon-focused wine list) and The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg (luxurious accommodations and impeccable customer service).

In their efforts to more actively promote their wine industry, the Oregon Wine Board is putting on a large-scale event in Portland the last weekend of April called Unwine’d, Celebrate Oregon Wine. The concept is similar to Seattle’s annual Taste Washington event. We are making plans to attend Unwine’d, and I encourage those of you who live in the Pacific Northwest to consider attending as well. They expect about 100 Oregon wineries to be pouring their wines, and a dozen different restaurants will serve small bites. This event serves as a kickoff for Oregon Wine Month in May.

Expect to see more coverage of Oregon wines here on Wine Peeps in the future.

Cheers!

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2010 Mercer Estates Pinot Gris from the Columbia Valley of Washington State.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

The Mercer and Hogue families founded Mercer Estates, located in Prosser, Washington, in 2006. Rob and Brenda Mercer of Mercer Canyons in the Horse Heaven Hills and Ron and Barb Harle of Hogue Ranches in the Yakima Valley lead the partnership. Both families have long histories in the Washington wine industry. Mercer Estates’ vineyards are located in the Horse Heaven Hills and the Yakima Valley. David Forsyth, who has over 25 years experience working in the Columbia Valley, leads the winemaking team for Mercer Estates.

“A nose full of ripe honeydew melon and pear continues on the palate complimented by racy green apple and nice minerality. A slight herbal note, reminiscent of fresh mown hay, adds complexity to the flavor profile. The mouth is broad and filling with good acidity and a refreshing finish; pairs well with seafood, especially mussels or clams.” –Winemaker David Forsyth

2010 Mercer Estates Pinot Gris (Columbia Valley, Washington State): 100% Pinot Gris. Pale straw yellow. Pleasant nose with lime and floral aromas. Lime and peach as well as a touch of minerality come through on the palate. Dry and light to medium-bodied with very crisp acidity and a long, refreshing finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $12.99; Available elsewhere, $12 to $15

Brian Carter has over thirty years of winemaking experience in California and Washington. He arrived in Washington State in 1980 to be winemaker for Paul Thomas Winery and has since founded Apex Winery and served as consulting winemaker for a number of other wineries. He officially opened his own namesake winery, Brian Carter Cellars, in Woodinville in 2006. Brian Carter focuses on European-style blends. He admittedly buys more fruit than he needs to craft his primary Brian Carter wines in order to give him the most flexibility during blending. The leftovers go into his value-priced Abracadabra blend.

Recently, we had the opportunity to taste a number of Brian Carter wines in a blind samples tasting. While we thought all 10 wines were good and would recommend all of them, we especially enjoyed the 2006 Solesce Red Wine. Solesce is Brian Carter’s signature Bordeaux-style blend. As far as QPR goes, though, it is hard to beat the 2009 Abracadabra Red Wine and the 2009 Opulento Dessert Wine.

If you are in the Woodinville area, you should definitely visit Brian Carter’s little yellow tasting room near Purple Café in the Hollywood Schoolhouse District. And even if you aren’t able to visit, be sure to try some of their wines.

2006 Brian Carter Cellars Solesce Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 59% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc, 6% Petit Verdot, and 5% Malbec. Deep, dark red. Nice nose with creosote, earth, and spice aromas. Red and black fruits, earth, and a hint of mint come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity and medium to high, dry tannins. Well-balanced with a long, smooth finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $50; Available elsewhere, $42

2009 Brian Carter Cellars Abracadabra Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 19% Sangiovese, 17% Merlot, 13% Syrah, 11% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre, 9% Tempranillo, 7% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Cabernet Franc, 3% Cinsault, and 2% Counoise. Deep, purplish red. Aromatic with bright red fruit, spice, and creosote on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $15; Available elsewhere, $15

2009 Brian Carter Cellars Opulento Dessert Wine (Yakima Valley, Washington): 60% Touriga Nacional, 37% Souzao, and 3% Tinto Cao. Dark purple. Aromatic with cherry, raspberry, chocolate, and a touch of honey on the nose and palate. Medium sweet and medium to full-bodied with medium tannins and a long, smooth finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $19 [375 ml]; Available elsewhere, $17 to $19

2007 Brian Carter Cellars Tuttorosso Red Wine (Yakima Valley, Washington): 71% Sangiovese, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 11% Syrah. Deep red in color. Aromatic with candied apple aromas. Red and black fruits, spice, and a touch of coffee come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity, medium to high tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $24; Available elsewhere, $25 to $30

2008 Brian Carter Cellars Byzance Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 50% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 19% Mourvedre, 6% Counoise, and 3% Cinsault. Dark, purplish red. Nice nose with earth, red fruit, and compost aromas. Cherry, raspberry, and spice rack flavors on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $30; Available elsewhere, $24 to $30

2007 Brian Carter Cellars Le Coursier Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 54% Merlot, 24% Cabernet Sauvignon, 9% Malbec, 9% Cabernet Franc, and 4% Petit Verdot. Deep, dark red. Aromatic with earth and black fruit on the nose. Blackberry, black cherry, smoked meat, and earth come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $30; Available elsewhere, $25 to $29

2010 Brian Carter Cellars Oriana White Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 46% Viognier, 37% Roussanne, and 17% Riesling. Pale, greenish straw yellow. Nice nose with fresh aromas of apricot, pear, honeysuckle, and the ocean. Orange blossoms and citrus notes come through on the palate. Dry and medium-bodied with crisp acidity and a long, refreshing finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $20; Available elsewhere, $18 to $20

2007 Brian Carter Cellars Trentenaire Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 56% Petit Verdot, 19% Merlot, 14% Malbec, 6% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep, dark red. Aromas of oak and candied red and black fruit. Fruit-forward with candied red fruits and spice on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $39; Available elsewhere, $33

2009 Singolo Sangiovese (Columbia Valley, Washington): Medium-deep red. Aromatic with strawberry, black cherry, and a touch of leather on the nose. More black cherry and leather come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with crisp acidity, medium tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: NA
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $NA

2008 Brian Carter Cellars Corrida Red Wine (Columbia Valley, Washington): 66% Tempranillo, 17% Merlot, 11% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 6% Garnacha. Deep ruby red. Moderately aromatic with red fruit, leather, and a hint of game on both the nose and palate. Medium-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a medium to long finish.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $30; Available elsewhere, $25 to $30

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is fortified.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Fortified wines are those which have been subject to fortification and therefore include sherry, port, Madeira, vermouth, Malaga, mantilla, Marsala, liqueur Muscat, Liqueur Tokay, and several strictly local specialties. Fortification is the practice of adding spirits, usually grape spirit, to wine to ensure microbiological stability, thereby adding alcoholic strength and precluding any further fermentation.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Fortified wines have had alcohol added to stop fermentation and increase its alcoholic strength (some to as high as 20 percent). The most common fortified wines are port and sherry.

It is cookie season! This is the time of year when Girl Scout Cookies are sold. Many of us have an assortment of these cookies that we’ve purchased from daughters of friends and from young ladies selling them outside grocery stores and coffee shops. The other day a friend mentioned enjoying a Girl Scout Cookie with her wine, so we thought—why not? We decided to feature the popular Thin Mints in this month’s challenging wine pairing. Thin Mints account for 25% of all Girl Scout Cookies that are sold so there is a good chance that you have a box in your pantry, if you haven’t eaten them all yet.

As you probably know by now, my favorite reference book for pairing information is What to Drink with What You Eat by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. After looking up wines that pair well with chocolate and wines that pair well with mint, I then compared the two lists and selected two wines that appear on both lists—Cabernet Sauvignon and Moscato d’Asti. When possible, we enjoy trying very different wines in these challenges. And this time, we not only had a red wine versus a white wine but also a still wine versus a dessert. Since we were featuring inexpensive cookies rather than a gourmet entrée, we chose value-priced wines. The unanimous choice for the best pairing with the Thin Mints was the Cabernet Sauvignon. In fact, all four of us believed that the Thin Mints actually enhanced the taste of this particular Cab. On the other hand, while we love Moscato d’Asti, we found it to be too sweet with the Thin Mints.

We’d love for you to share in the comments what you would have paired with these cookies. And, as always, we welcome your suggestions for challenging wine pairings for us to try in the future.

Bon Appétit!

2010 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon (Columbia Valley, Washington): Dark purplish red. Lots of oak, smoke, and burnt toast on the nose. Dark chocolate, smoke, black plum, black cherry, and a hint of coffee come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium to high tannins and a medium to long finish.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington) $10.99; Available elsewhere, $8 to $12

2010 Villa Rosa Moscato d’Asti (Moscato d’Asti DOCG, Piedmont, Italy): Pale, greenish straw yellow. Aromatic with white peach and floral notes on the nose. White peach, apricot, and a touch of honey come through on the palate. Semi-sparkling and sweet, almost syrupy. Medium-bodied with lively acidity and a long finish.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Fred Meyer (Seattle, Washington) $11.79; Available elsewhere, $10 to $12

Would you like a quick suggestion for a good wine to drink tonight (or this weekend) that won’t break your budget and is widely available? Many of our readers have said this is something they would like, so here is this week’s selection, the 2008 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot from the Columbia Valley of Washington State.

Our selection criteria include:

• A very good Quality rating of >=3.5 stars (out of 5)
• A price tag of <=$15
• Must be widely available

Columbia Crest, located in Paterson, Washington, has been one of our favorite sources of value wines for many years. Last year, Juan Munoz Oca took over as head winemaker from Ray Einberger. Einberger had been at the helm since 2002 when he took the reins from Doug Gore who had been the winemaker since Columbia Crest was founded in 1983. The Columbia Crest winemaking team has produced more 90+ scoring bottles of wine than any other winery in the world. For those of us who live in Washington State, it is nice to have such a consistent, affordable producer in our own backyard.

“Aromas of vanilla bean, coffee bean, and mocha introduce this classic Merlot. Dark chocolate covered cherries, caramel and nutmeg flavors meld with silky tannins and create a long and elegant finish.” –Winemaker Juan Munoz Oca

2008 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Merlot (Columbia Valley, Washington): 90% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 5% Cabernet Franc. Deep, dark red. Nose is a bit tight at first and then aromas of black plum, earth, and cocoa emerge. More black fruit, earth, and cocoa as well as a hint of smoked meat and black pepper come through on the palate. Medium to full-bodied with lively acidity, medium, dry tannins, and a long finish.
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $12; Available elsewhere, $7 to $14

Peter Rosback is one of the most well-known and well-respected winemakers in the Pacific Northwest. Rosback got his start in winemaking in 1985 as a home winemaker experimenting with Pinot Noir. In 1986, he began making Old Vine Zinfandel from The Pines Vineyard. Rosback entered the wine business commercially in 1994 when he and David O’Reilly founded Sineann (pronounced “shuh-nayn”) Winery. O’Reilly went on to start his own Owen Roe Winery, and Rosback has continued with Sineann. Today, Sineann produces between 10,000 and 12,000 cases annually.

Sineann is located in Newberg, Oregon, in the heart of Pinot Noir country. We recently had the opportunity to taste three Oregon Pinot Noirs from Sineann in a blind samples tasting, the 2009 Oregon Pinot Noir, the 2010 Yates Conwill Vineyard Pinot Noir, and the 2010 Resonance Vineyard Pinot Noir. We would recommend all three of these Pinots, but we thought that the Oregon and Yates Conwill Pinots definitely stood out. Both were excellent.

I highly encourage you to visit Sineann the next time you are in the Willamette Valley. Their portfolio of wines includes much more than just Pinot. Almost all of the wines are single-vineyard designated from vineyards in Oregon, Washington, California, and even New Zealand. All of Sineann’s wines are sealed with glass closures, with the exception of the Sauvignon Blanc that is closed with a screwcap. Sineann produces a number of wines worth checking out if you see them on the shelf at your local wine shop or on a restaurant wine list.

2009 Sineann Pinot Noir (Oregon): Deep ruby red. Gorgeous nose with aromas of cinnamon, clove, and red fruit. More red fruit and spice comes through on the palate. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity and smooth tannins. Well-balanced with good complexity and a long finish. A great food wine.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 5 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $30; Available elsewhere, $26 to $35

2010 Sineann Yates Conwill Vineyard Pinot Noir (Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon): Deep ruby red. Nice nose with molasses and cinnamon aromas. Strawberry, plum, and spice come through on the palate. Medium-bodied with crisp acidity and medium tannins. Well-balanced with a long, smooth finish.
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $42; Available elsewhere, $34 to $42

2010 Sineann Resonance Vineyard Pinot Noir (Yamhill-Carlton, Oregon): Medium-deep ruby red. Aromatic with raspberry and barnyard notes on the nose. Red fruits and minerality come through on the palate. Medium-bodied with lively acidity, medium tannins, and a medium to long, chalky finish.
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 1 bang for your buck (out of 5)
Where to buy: Received as sample, suggested retail $42; Available elsewhere, $34 to $50

This week’s Wine Word of the Week is sparkling.

Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
Sparkling wine is wine which bubbles when poured into a glass, an important and growing category of wine. The bubbles form because a certain amount of carbon dioxide has been held under pressure dissolved in the wine until the bottle is unstoppered. Sparkling wine may vary in as many respects as still wine: it can be any wine colour…; it can be any degree of sweetness…; it can vary in alcoholic strength…; and it can come from anywhere in the world where wine is produced.

Layman’s terms from Kori:
Sparkling wine is the generic name for “bubbly.” The most well-known sparkling wine in the world is Champagne but it can only be called Champagne if it is produced in the Champagne region of France.