Here we have what I consider one of the most useless waste of grapes in the world of wine, a style I wish was never created, and, sadly, the most popular wine for older women who don't like chardonnay: almond-flavored sparkling wine.
To start, here's my theory about almond-flavored sparkling wine: any different brands that you come across all originated from the same winery from grapes grown way out in BFE, California... the same product is in every bottle. Take the two that I work with every day, Wilson Creek and Weibel, and this one that I'll be opening in a bit, the non-vintage Foothill Vineyards Almond Champagne Private Cuvée. Again, allow me to reiterate: Champagne is from France. This mangled wine doesn't even deserve to be in the same sport as a Cristal or Veuve. But I digress... look on the back label... each will say something like, "Produced and bottled by: (name of winery that sells it), Woodbridge, CA." You're telling me that there's at least three different wineries in Woodbridge that all produce this? I don't think so. Don't believe me? Look at the alcohol percentage on each one... they all clock in at 11%. So, three different wineries, all located in the same town, each produce a different almond-flavored sparkling wine and each just happens to have the exact same alcohol by volume? I have serious doubts about the provenance of all these wines.
And don't tell me that the almond flavoring used may be different in each wine, because I guarantee that it isn't. Hell, if I had some almond extract and a bottle of André Spumante I could probably make a product just as good if not better than anything on the market.
I don't know... is this stuff even popular outside of California? Could some of the readers confirm or deny this?
What's even worse is that the same product, under different names, has different prices depending on the brand you buy. Weibel is $5 cheaper than Wilson Creek, but do I sell more Weibel than Wilson Creek? Of course not. I probably sell 10 cases of Wilson Creek for every case of Weibel. The folks buying this wine want the bottle from the winery they've heard of and may have been to, even though the grapes all come from the same place, which is nowhere near where the Wilson Creek winery is located: Temecula.
And now allow me to begin the review:
I control the popping of the cork and it opens with a hiss like that of the serpent in the Garden of Eden... it bubbles with the consistency of Sprite. The aromas are split between bitter and candied almond. The mouthfeel is actually quite flat and it tastes like the mystery flavor in those packaged fruit snacks you got in your lunch in elementary school. Oh man, I loved Thunder Jets.
Not disagreeable in flavor per se, I see why people like it, but there is still so much wrong with gerrymandering the natural fruit of the vine.
Five minutes later, the bubbles are gone and the wine is flat.
Do I have a personal beef with this particular winery? Of course not. Is my beef with this particular style of fermented beverage? Oh my quite certainly. I'm hesitant to even call this stuff wine... aside from it's implications of being like Champagne, calling it wine would imply that it's on the same level as sauvignon blanc, pinot noir, etc... Stella Rosa has a better claim to being wine than this excuse for undistilled brandy. It's unnatural!
Oh, but if you do like this stuff, please do me a favor and break the cycle by buying the least expensive brand you can find. K thx bi.
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