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Produced from 100% Chardonnay, the non-vintage Blanc de Blancs is crisp and lively, with a froth of tiny beads that never seem to run out of gas. Following the practice at Champagne Gruet, the non-vintage selection includes some reserve wine in the blend to add complexity and to help maintain a consistent house style. With a brut-level of dosage (i.e. dry but not bone dry), the wine is medium-bodied and delicate, with aromas of green apples and lemon zest opening up to flavors of fresh apple and pineapple. If drinking more sparkling wine is one of your New Year resolutions, why not with one of Wine Spectator’s 100 top wine values for 2020!
One doesn’t need to know much about the French to grasp how remarkable it was for a Frenchman, the proud owner of a Champagne house, to look across the high desert near Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, about 150 miles south of Albuquerque, and imagine vineyards producing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir for sparkling wine. Such foresight would have been remarkable in any winemaker; after all, while New Mexico did have a burgeoning wine industry in the 19th century, it had been entirely wiped out for three quarters of a century and was just getting restarted in 1983, when Gilbert Gruet and his family stopped to taste some local wines while touring the southwest on vacation. Where most people would have seen barren desert, M. Gruet saw potential: in the 4,000 foot elevation, where cold nights can extend the growing season; in the lack of humidity that causes mildew and requires winemakers to spray their vineyards with fungicides; and in the dry, sandy soils that would provide not only excellent drainage (and therefore, “stress” the vines) but protection from such pests as the dreaded phylloxera. In 1984, Gruet’s children, Laurent and Nathalie, relocated to New Mexico, planted a vineyard, and by 1989 released the first Gruet Brut N.V., and Gruet Brut Blanc de Noirs N.V. to great acclaim.
Today Gruet produces over 100,000 cases of sparkling wine per year at the winery in Albuquerque from the grapes grown near Truth or Consequences in the south. These wines are produced according to the Methode Champenoise, a traditional and natural process of making sparkling wine. When the fermentation of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines is complete, the blends of the two grapes are assembled. Just before bottling, a little yeast and sugar is added to the wine so that a second fermentation occurs inside each bottle. Because the bottles are capped tight, the carbon dioxide has no place to go and the wine is transformed into a magical elixir – so light, delicate and bubbly. Unlike still wines, sparkling wines are difficult to produce in a small-scale, artisan kind of way. The process is labor intensive and requires more expensive equipment and a lot more time as the wine must be aged in bottle for at least 2 years before release. Nevertheless, Gruet Winery stands out for producing award-winning bubbly at bargain prices.
| Country | USA |
| Region | America |
| Appellation(s) | America |
| Winery | Gruet |
| Vintage | NV |
| Color | Sparkling |
| Varietal(s) | 100% Chardonnay |
| Closure | Cork |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Bottle Size | 9.0 x 32.5 |
| Case Size | 38.0 x 28.5 x 35.0 |
| Alcohol | 12.0% |
| Product Code | GR-BLANC |
| UPC | 701253008880 |
88 points – Wine Spectator; one of Wine Spectator’s 100 top wine values for 2020.
Fine-beads froth in the glass. Aromas of green apples, lemon zest and brioche open up to flavors of fresh apple, apricot and pineapple. Refreshing acidity gives the wine structure and lingers in the finish.
After a gentle pressing, the must fermented in stainless steel tanks. After the 2nd fermentation in the bottle, the wine aged sur lie for 24 months before disgorging.