WTN: NV Brut Reserve Ch. D'Arville Crémant de Loire Famille Biotteau Freres Loire Valley France.
We slept very well during our cruise, especially after I told Janet a little bit about the book I was currently reading. For some reason, any discussion of Teddy Roosevelt usually sends her off after a sentence or two, but one night she was still asking question ten minutes into TR's exploration of the River of Doubt. Another two minutes of dodging insects and hostile native did the trick for Janet, but TR's vigor woke me up. I read a bit of Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, the only book in my personal traveling library still unread.
To help me cope with the deep despair Ishiguro inspired, I sipped a private label sparkler bottled for the Seven Seas cruise line: NV Brut Reserve Ch. D'Arville Crémant de Loire Famille Biotteau Freres Loire Valley France. Pale yellow color, clear hue, fine, generous mousse, good to very good fruity aromas with some yeasty notes, firm acidic attack that weakened and became more enjoyable after five minutes in the glass, long finish, leaving a somewhat bitter impression – or perhaps that was Ishiguro weaving his spell. No EGA. 2*.
Notes: Epicurious: Crémant de Loire AC. [kray-MAHN deh LWAHR]
An appellaton covering the Anjou, Saumur, and Touraine districts in the Loire Valley. It produces dry sparkling wines using the Méthode Champenoise. Chenin Blanc is the primary grape, but Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Gamay, and Pineau d'Aunis are also used. Although there's a plentitude of sparkling wine produced in these districts, the quality standards for Crémant de Loire AC are higher. For example, this appellation requires lower yields, a higher proportion of free-run juice, and longer aging periods (1 year versus 9 months for most others in the area). These higher standards are translating into better sparking wines, which are generally softer and fruitier than those from the ACs of Anjou Mousseux or Saumur Mousseux.