This is the twelfth entry in our Days of Wine and Music series. This week we expose our taste buds (nothing wrong with that) to another Sammarinese wine, with more than a passing connection to music (more on that later in the series). This one is a sparkling with some pretty series bubbles.
Everybody loves bubbles, except those that are artificially created through financial chicanery, of course. And bubbles in the wine are especially welcome during the hot—and humid—weeks of summer. They’re just so damned refreshing!
The wine featured this week is called Cavaliere Spumante Tre Extra Dry. From the “Spumante,” you might think it is Italian, but if you read the introduction to this entry, you will know it is from San Marino. This is a blanc de blancs, which is almost always made with 100% Chardonnay, as this wine is. There is some skin contact (nothing wrong with that, either!) during the production process, which gives this bubbly a degree of complexity, and the effervescence is long-lasting and pleasant. Some lees exposure adds to the mouthfeel. The alcohol is 12% by volume. The “Extra Dry” label may be a bit misleading, as we found it to have a very appealing sweetness.
Cavalieri Spumante Tre Extra Dry is made using the Charmat process, named after Eugene Charmat, a Bordeaux boy who left his mark on the bubbly business when he developed his method of production in the first half of the 20th Century.
In addition to its aromas and flavors, this line of wines is noted for its bottle aesthetics, especially its impressive label art, so a brief comment about its visual and tactile appeals is in order. In “Message in a Bottle: The Psychology of Wine Labels,”1 Casey Warrener explores the semiotics of wine bottles. The black label, the silver foil, and the relative heft of the bottle communicate exclusivity.
1winecompanion.com.au
For more information: https://www.sammarinese.org/
Drinking Japan 