Rob's "Wine of the Week" Archives
So here is my wine review for the week of September 29th...
DOMAINE CHANDON VINTAGE BRUT SPARKLING WINE 1999
Description: Remember that with all champagne and sparkling wine, the opposite of standard wine rules apply to sweetness. Dry is sweet, Extra dry is exceptionally sweet. Conversely, Brut is dry and extra brut is exceptionally dry. By all standard definitions, a Brut sparkling wine is the “normal,” basic balance of sweetness and dryness.
Chandon makes a basic, non vintage Brut which is very good and be found at Sam’s club for only $15. Their vintage bottlings are more complex and remain aged in yeast for a minimum of 6 years.
How and when I drank it: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at the Domaine Chandon Winery in Yountville, CA.
How to get it: Domaine Chandon is a very popular, readily available mid-price-range sparkling wine carried at most Bevmos, a lot of grocery stores, some warehouse stores and at the Domaine Chandon winery in Yountsville. The vintage brut can be harder to find, but is available from the Chandon website.
How Much: The bottle is $45 from the winery.
My Thoughts: My experience has shown that a brand of champagne called “Pommery” is the most consistently balanced champagne year to year. Not too dry, not sweet, not too bubbly, but just right as a baseline champagne for people who don’t like or need complexity in their sparkling wines. This 1999 brut is a far more complex version of a balanced sparkling wine, as the flavors on both extremes are very pronounced. On one hand, the buttery toasty oak flavors come shining through at first drink, offset at the finish by fantastic mild sweet vanilla, honey, caramel flavors. It is not a sweet wine by any stretch of the imagination, but rather a fantastically blended sparkling wine with great balance and flavor. Very approachable, not fruity but exceptionally flavorful and drinkable. An excellent bottle.
Overall Score: This is an excellent sparkling wine that continues in the tradition of Schramsberg, Pommery, Veuve Cliquot and other fine sparkling wine producers who continue to highlight how monstrously overrated both Dom Perignon and Cristal are. This is a sparkling wine that can be served to anyone who loves a bubbly wine. For $45, an excellent value. 5 vines.
DOMAINE CHANDON VINTAGE BRUT SPARKLING WINE 1999= 
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