Sometimes it pays to be early...

It was our turn to host family Christmas this year, and I declared this year we'd eat cold-cuts and sparkling wine. Stocking-up at Costco, I was not surprised to see the Roederer NV Brut was sold-out. My fiendish scheme this year thus was to buy one bottle of Roederer L'Ermitage 2000, one bottle of the Kirkland Champagne, and four bottles of Korbel (same price as that one bottle of L'Ermitage).

I did a leg of lamb this morning and opened the L'Ermitage first. Superb, as expected. Creamy mousse, very smooth, gently doughy with tangy, refreshing acidity, very clean fruit, fine perlage and a rich streak. Delicious; just enough left for the first family to arrive. Next open was the Kirkland Champagne, which was toastier but still crisp and mouth-filling, with good mousse and fine perlage. Again, clean fruit. Very nice at $20.

The early-birds got the good sparkling wine - everyone else quaffed the Korbel; vigorous mousse and energetic mousse, definitely the freckled kid-sister after the first two, but still pleasant.

Leg of lamb was marinated for an hour in a simple mixture of EVOO, crushed dried rosemary, black pepper, salt and crushed garlic. Simplicity all the way around and it was perfect.

Dana

Reply to
Dana Myers
Loading thread data ...

energetic perlage, I meant.

Reply to
Dana Myers

Aren't "perlage" and "mousse" synonyms?

M.

Reply to
Michael Pronay

I may be wrong, but I thought mousse is the 'foam' on the top of the wine, and perlage are the streams of bubbles that form in the wine.

Dana

Reply to
Dana Myers

Interesting, never heard before. What I have been told in Champagne ist that the foam at the top - typically at the rim - is called "couronne" (crown), and that a persisting couronne would be a sign of quality.

M.

Reply to
Michael Pronay

DrinksForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.