[full story below]
[Japanese suggested retail = 2,400 yen+tax]
We surveyed all of our winemakers this spring, asking each of them for their
two top recommendations for a good-value US sparkling wine producer. The
winner by a long shot came back as "Gruet," a bubbly we'd often
seen on the shelves in the US but had always assumed was French.
We were partially vindicated to find out that this was indeed made by a French family (the Gruets of Buxeuil, a small village in Champagne), but from a winery located in, of all places, the state of New Mexico. Legend has it that when the Gruet family was on holiday in New Mexico many decades ago, they found a site in the mountains outside of Albuquerque (at 4300 feet) that they felt would be perfect for growing Champagne's two main grapes, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and they basically ran with it from there.
Gruet have since become something of an underground sensation in the wine community for offering an extremely strong price/value ratio -- when purchased by the case, their very tasty Blanc de Noir comes in at less than 2,000 yen/bottle! We're focusing on the Blanc de Noir bottling to start, but have also imported small amounts of their regular Brut label as well as a few bottles of their 2002 vintage Blanc de Blanc. For those curious souls who'd like to try the whole range, we're also offering a limited number of 3-bottle taster packs during the initial launch.
Toast and surprise your friends, and yourself!
GR-NOIR Blanc de Noir (NV) 22,680/12-btls GR-BRUT Brut (NV) (Taster pack only) GR02BB 2002 Blanc de Blanc (Taster pack only) MIX133 Gruet Taster (3-pack) 6,930 1 x GRUET Blanc de Noir 1 x GRUET Brut 1 x 2002 GRUET Blanc de Blanc