NV Segura Viudas BRUT ROSÉ (Spain)

Our guests the Murphys brought this over, and it got polished off before I could take notes, so these impressions are from memory.

Very nice pink color and lots of fine, persistent bubbles.  Great, fresh aromas of crisp, cool strawberries and bread.  Very lively, fruity, and clean in the mouth, with really good balance.  Very refreshing.

I was surprised how good this was, probably because of my own prejudices. When I was a wholesale wine rep in NYC in the early 80s, the most popular wine in my line was Freixenet (in the jet black bottle), and at that point Freixenet and the competing brands of Spanish sparklers were pretty characterless.

Spec's website lists this for $8 and change, making it a FANTASTIC VALUE.

Two good value sparkling wines

Lucien Albrecht CREMANT D'ALSACE BRUT ROSE (Alsace, France) -- Gorgeous pinkish-salmon color. Amazingly effervescent, with tons of tightly bunched bubbles that persist and persist. Lots of dry raspberries and steely minerals on the nose. Crisp and dry, with loads of clean, refreshing fruit. This was around $20 at Spec's on Smith. With Champagne prices going up and up, I have been looking more and more to Cremant d'Alsace and Cremant de Bourgogne when I need sparkling wine. They are made by the same method as Champagne, and I would put a good Cremant up against any of the big Champagne house non-vintage wines any day.

Capasaldo PROSECCO (Veneto, Italy) -- While not as bubbly as the Cremant, this Italian sparkler had stunning apply/pear fruit and a refreshing mouthfeel. This was a gift, so I'm not sure where to get it, but from a quick Google search it looks to retail for $15 or so.

Easter wines

Sorry -- I know I'm behind, but here are the wines we popped open for our Easter dinner (with truncated, from-memory notes).

NV Pierre Sparr CREMANT D'ALSACE Reserve Brut -- To my mind, in general, sparkling wines from Alsace are the best values in the market for bubbly. They're generally $15-$20, and have as much character as non-vintage Champagne costing twice as much or more (although because of the different varietals used in Alsace the flavor profile is a bit different). They tend to be more flavorful than the Spanish cavas as well. This one was decent, but not a great example -- crisp, citrusy fruit, bone dry, but I detected just a note of beginning oxidation. Lucien Albrecht and Rene Mure are other producers to look for in Houston.

2006 Jean-Max Roger SANCERRE "Cuvee Les Caillottes" (Loire Valley, France) -- Lean, very herbal and crisp. A tad underripe for my palate. Bone dry and refreshing, however.

2001 Delectus MERLOT "Stanton Vineyard" (Napa Valley, Cal.) -- Yes, I have often repeated the famous Merlot line from Sideways, but this wine (which our guests the Murphys brought over) floored me. Superb, rich, chocolately dark fruit on the nose. Full, and still sporting some nice tannic structure. Lots of concentration and length, but with good balance. Can even stand a few more years in a cool cellar.

2006 Linne Calodo "NEMESIS" 82% Syrah, 14% Mourvedre, 4% Grenache (Paso Robles, Cal.) -- Big disappointment for such a cult winery. Overripe and massive, but plainly out of balance, with hot, hot alcohol burning from entry to finish, obliterating the flavors.

Rene Mure Cremant d'Alsace (degorgement 12.03.04)

Cremant d'Alsace is sparkling wine from Alsace, made in the same way that Champagne is made ("methode champenois"), but from varietals indigenous to Alsace -- Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Sylvaner, etc.) -- rather than the main Champagne varietals Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. This is a beautiful, character-filled example. Great, intense nose of tangerines, peaches, stones, and freshly-baked bread. Rich, full-bodied appley, peach, brioche flavors, with great length and nice balancing acidity. The best Cremant I've had to date. 90. Was about $16 at Richard's on San Felipe.

A Sunday of Good and Great Wines

Had a superb bunch of wines Sunday. Started off at our friends the Murphys' new house, where they uncorked a . . .

1990 Dom Perignon -- a perfectly preserved, gorgeous, deeply flavored champagne. Nose of freshly baked Parisian baguettes. Tremendous depth a flavor and great balance, with a long finish. Haven't had a champagne this good since the mid 1980s!

Thence on to our house for fresh mozzarella/backyard basil/heirloom tomato salad, citrus-marinated skirt steaks, and Liz's not-so-Waspy potato salad, accompanied by . . .

2003 Domaine La Hitaire "Hors Saison" Côtes de Gascogne blanc -- A Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon blend from southwest France near Bordeaux. Deep gold color. Fresh, grassy, grapy, nose, and good balance. Very pleasant.

1998 Domaine Le Galantin Bandol -- Deep ruby, showing some brick at the rim. Unbelievable fragrance of incense, earth, spicy raspberries and plums, roasted meat and dried herbs. Great depth, length and balance. Bought 6 of these in 2000; this was my last one and was showing better than ever. Sad to see it go.

2002 Turkey Flat Vineyards "The Turk" (Barossa Valley, Australia) -- A very good wine (blend of Shiraz, Grenache, Cabernet & Mourvèdre), but I thought it paled by comparison with the preceding Bandol. Nice earthy, jammy nose, but with some lemony acidity showing up. Good fruit in the mouth, but clearly acidified a bit, which somewhat shortened the finish.

2000 Alvear Pedro Ximénez -- A superb and unbelievably rich dessert wine from the Andalusia region of Spain. Intense and warmly alcoholic nose of maple syrup, raisins, and honey. Rich and viscous in the mouth, but with excellent balance and great length. Sweet but not cloying at all. (Still a few half bottles of this left at Copperfield's on Westpark!)

I'm not going to grade these, since, as you can tell from the fact that this roster was consumed by only 4 people, my critical faculties were taking the day off.