Unity

The BFC middleweight belt has been unified.

Anne and Arnaud Goisot's Cremant de Bourgogne NV easily handled the Alsatian Cremant and now, after months of tulmult, there is once again a single title-holder in the Bubbledome.

Flinty, pure and nervy. This bottle is more vinous than the last, with some red fruit evident mid-palate. The wine has stunning precision and elegant balance. The brilliant, briny, stony finish eliminated any doubt about victory.

Given this costs a mere $15, it's hard to imagine anything other than a long and illustrious championship reign.

K&L Wines has more in stock. Those guys should offer me a job.

2008 In Review: BFC

The New Year is a time for reflection, remembrance and top 10 lists. Best of's. Worst of's. Year in reviews.

None of which I care about.

But I did want to take the opportunity to reset the Championship Ladder in the Bubbledome and this seemed a good way to do it.

As many of you know, the biggest news out of BFC this year was bad. The back-alley, midget wrestling scandal remains a black mark on the sport. And while the World Cage Match was a huge commercial success, it served mostly to confuse the Championship Ladder. I even asked around at the Lab. No one was really sure who currently holds the Champion's Belt.

After the Greek shocked the world by coming out of the cage victorious, it was throttled in its first match against a Frenchie from Alsace. Meanwhile, a brilliant Burgundy sparkler won the last official match in the Dome. So who's the Champ?

A New Year's bout has been scheduled to unify the Championship. Goisot le Bourgogne versus Becker the Alsatian.

And there's even bigger news ahead for BFC in the Bubbledome. The sport's sanctioning body has approved a new Heavyweight Division. This weight class will pit Grand Marque Champagnes (the big, famous estates) against Artisanal Champagnes from Grower-Producers. Head to head.

I personally lobbied long and hard against this. Stripped of their massive marketing budgets, wine from the Big Houses is practically defenseless. But bloodsport is good for ratings and my efforts were defeated.

2009 will be big in the Dome. I can't wait to review it next year. Make some cool lists.

BFC 8: A New, Improved Definition of Small

This was never really a fair fight. A tiny, family-owned vineyard's base wine versus a slightly larger, but still small, family-owned vineyard's reserve cuvée.

Ployez-Jacquemart produces 6000 cases a year. Gaston Chiquet is comparably huge with 16,700. Compare this to Moët & Chandon's 2,000,000 or Veuve Clicquot's more than a million cases produced annually. This was a TRUE battle of Little Guys.

And both wines impressed. One a classic expression of Champagne. The other, an intriguing old-school, throw-back. The clear winner... was the crowd.

Ployez-Jacquemart Brut, NV. As they like to say in Champagnese, "This one is 50% Pinot Noir, 50% Chardonnay and the rest Pinot Meunier." They grow red grapes organically on a couple of small parcels near the village of Ludes, and source Chardonnay from grand cru villages elsewhere. Their wines never see malolactic fermentation and are always at the low end dosage-wise. This had a lightly yeasty nose of white wafer and honeyed lemon. It is elegant Champagne, linear, well-balanced and chalky. Fresh lemony apple fruit with layers of strawberry and red currant. And a zippy, stainless-steel and mineral finish.

Gaston Chiquet's Cuvée de Réserve. This is old-school Champagne. Intentionally crafted in an antique, oxidized style. This was disgorged April 2004 and is one-third each Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier. It's half 1995, half 1996 (1996 was a biggie, and 1995 didn't suck). The Réserve spends 7 years on its lees. The nose was baked apple, ripe fig, saffron and toffee. This was a big, sensual wine, achey with lees and finished with a brilliant, saline minerality.

Jack Purcells versus satin toe shoes. How do you score a contest like that? Good thing it was only an exhibition.

BFC 8, After the Scandal

Things have been quiet in the Bubbledome since the embarrassment of the Little Bottle wrestling incident (I've been informed by staff that "little bottle" is the politically correct term). And while the local authorities continue their investigation into those unfortunate, back-alley events, all at the Lab feel it's time we pick up, try to move forward. We can only hope the stain will fade over time.

If you are new to BFC, you can catch up by reading THIS. And THIS. Or just cleverly figure it out from context.

In an effort to restore the Bubbledome to its illustrious, pre-scandal grandeur, the BFC Organizing Committee has decided on a bold course of action for BFC 8. The Bubbledome will play host to a Light Heavyweight Exhibition Match featuring two non-vintage Bruts from Champagne.

The real French deal in the Bubbledome.

Ployez-Jacquemart Brut versus Gaston Chiquet's Cuvée de Réserve .

I know you won't want to miss seeing these big boys get after it.


(blurry gloves: © Sailorman | Dreamstime.com)

Dark Days at the Bubbledome

I am shocked and horrified.

It seems that some of the exuberance of the Bubbledome has spilled into a back alley behind the Lab. In said alley, several members of the staff -- all of whom are now on official "administrative" leave -- have apparently been running unsanctioned, Dome-style competitions.

These grotesque battles pit 375 ml "demis" against each other in what is being called "Midget BFC."

Like you, I am appalled. This is highly insensitive and completely inappropriate, and all participants will be dealt with harshly.

It is worth noting, however, that the competitors were of a fairly high quality.

I found these notes on the ground after the local authorities completed their raid:

Fleury, Carte Rouge Brut, NV. First whiffs are wet leaves (oxidation), spiced apple, lemon and a trace of toffee. After 20 minutes reveals itself to be a moving target. Now nutty with a clear aroma of caramel apple. Cherry and green apple fruit with bright tangerine acid on the attack, a creamy texture mid-palate and a zippy, acid return on the finish.

versus Camile Saves, Premier Cru Brut, NV. Classic autolytics. Yeasty biscuits with an almond-y undertone. Elegant, with a vinous depth reaching down to a subtle mineral floor. Great red fruit fruit tang and sweet chalk on the finish.

A nice showing by both little guys.

Wonder who won?

BFC 6: A Crushing Victory for the Cremant

The Greek Brut survived the cage only to be trounced by a Bubbly Alsatian (that wine vocabulary can so easily substitute as pro-wrestling lingo is, I think, quite remarkable).

The "B" de Becker, Cremant d'Alsace, Extra Brut, NV, is from the Domaine Jean Becker in the hilltop village of Zellenberg. The three Becker siblings, who run the vineyards and winery together, trace their wine-making lineage back to the early 17th century. The "B" is a blend of Pinot, Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc. It's $18 at K&L Wines.

It has a beautiful nose of white flowers and tropical fruits including that faintly banana smell you sometimes get from new oak. And I'd swear there's an elusive fusel aroma as well. The palate is breathtakingly austere. Beautifully balanced, with a chalky minerality and a crisp, pencil-lead finish. The label looks like the page of a brochure from one of those wretched village museums, musée d'histoire de la ville, but the wine is quite elegant.

Next up in the Bubbledome, champion versus challenger. Two Cremants go toe to toe.

One unrelated note: It would seem that democracy has caught on more quickly at the Lab than in some parts of the Middle East (without naming names). After getting to vote on the Dome contest, the staff now votes on almost everything. They all voted the photo above as the worst in Lab history. When I tried to point out that a constant and direct democracy wasn't very practical, they voted that I leave the cafeteria.

BFC#5: A Lightning Bolt from Zeus!

Stunned.

No other way to describe it. We were stunned. All of us. None could believe that we'd all voted for a sparkling wine made from an antique grape we'd never heard of. Moschofilero? When the blindfolds came off -- we have a slightly unorthodox approach to blind tasting at the Lab, more like waterboarding really -- every jaw dropped. There before us, an international smörgåsbord of sparkling wines, and we had all picked the Greek as our favorite.

Tselepos Amalia Brut, NV. Nose was musty and graphitic with faint hint of apple. Elegant and balanced on the palate with nervy acid, delicate, honeyed orchard fruit and a clean, crisp stony finish.

So Amalia will be back to take on Goisot in the Bubbledome.

The rest of the competition, in order of finish:

Gruet Brut, NV. Strongly effervescent. The cork took out a chunk of ceiling plaster. Fruity nose of white flower and melon. In the mouth, a little flabby but not without some energetic acid.

Toso Brut, NV. Weird. And not in a good way. Tropical fruit and honeysuckle and a faint, almost Rieslingesque petrol quality. Less complex in the mouth, melon with some almond and a flat and dull finish. Very strange expression of pinot/chardonnay blend.

Taltarni Brut Taché, NV. Almost exactly that unique, rusty pink color of Dom Perignon Rosé. Beyond the color, this was disappointing. Closed, yeasty nose. Slightly overripe, apple fruit and tart, attention-demanding acid. This isn't bad as much as it's generic.

We all thought the Zipang Sparkling Sake was out of category, but really interesting. So we pulled it from the cage before it suffered any real damage. We'll bring it back for sushi night in the Dome. Coming soon.


(passport image © Icefields | Dreamstime.com)

BFC #4: Bubbles Bourguinon!

Bottex was good, but the title reign was brief.

In the Brooklynguy Bubbledome, Anne and Arnaud Goisot's Cremant de Bourgogne NV was too much for the Sweet Pink from Bugey.

The Cremant comes from a tiny hamlet called St Bris les Vineux which lies between Auxerre and Chablis. The Goisots grow biodynamically, are fastidious vignerons and amazing wine-makers. Their dirt is less famous than their neighbors to the South, which means their wines are an incredible value. K&L Wines imports the sparkling wine themselves, so there's also no middleman. Retail price is an astonishing $15!

This sparkler is 100% Pinot Noir, a true Blanc de Noirs, made in the traditional method champenoise and disgorged by hand.

One of the reasons we're big fans at the Lab (besides that it tastes amazing) is this is really an education in a bottle. It has forced us to rethink most of our assumption about the role of Pinot Noir in the classic Champagne mix. Blind, we would have unanimously called this a Blanc de Blanc aged in stainless steel.

Here's the notes from the fight:

The nose is fairly closed. But on the palate, this is elegant and graceful. Dry, with crisp, pure fruit (reminiscent of a Chablis), a near perfect acid balance and a beautiful, briny chalkiness that builds quietly from the attack and then dominates the finish. It's not particularly complex, but it's seamless. If I'm scoring this against the other Cremants I've had, it's off the charts. It could compete easily against true Champagnes... if there was anything in its league at this price.

No contest. New champ.

BFC #3 : Pink Wins, Pink Wins!

There's a new champion in the McDuff Food & Wine Trail Bubbledome!

A sweet and funky Vin du Bugey-Cerdon, Patrick Bottex, La Cueille, NV has smashed the Italian champion, Ferrari Brut, NV (see here and here for past results) in a unanimous decision.

Bugey, in Southeastern France (in the Ain Department, see map below), is 20 miles up the Rhone River from Lyon and about the same distance from the Swiss Border. Historically, it was under the rule of the House of Savoy for those of you keeping track of the holdings of Renaissance kings.

The rosé sparkling wine from there, called Vin du Bugey-Cerdon, is VDQS, Vin Délimité de Qualité Superieure, which is just below the highest rank for French wine, AOC, Appellation d’origine contrôlée, but above VDP, Vin de pays (country wine), and Vin de table. Think of these as weight classes for our fighters, with the heavyweights being AOC and the table wines as flyweights.

According to the VDQS rules, it is made from either all Gamay or a Gamay and Poulsard blend. It is usually pink. In my experience, brightly so. Playful, often tasting like raspberry soda or sparkling kool-aid. And usually on the light-side, alcohol-wise, 8%. Bugey-Cerdon is a great conversation piece for a hot summer afternoon. Though rarely does the memory of the wine survive the sunset.

This wine from Patrick Bottex maps to my preconceptions of Bugey-Cerdon, except in one important category. It's awesome.

It's imported by the crème de la crème of West Coast Francophile wine importers, Kermit Lynch. You really can't judge a wine by it's front label, but a Kermit Lynch imprint on the back label usually implies a reasonable level of excellence in the bottle.

Here's the results:

A full-fizz method ancestrale sparkler, this looks (and tastes a bit) like black cherry soda. It has a sweet, yeasty nose of Mirabelle plum and strawberries. In the mouth, it's sweet, but not cloyingly so. In fact, it feels more sweet than it actually is. Your first sip you almost can't believe the big, bright, honeyed black cherry and strawberry flavors, but before the delicate, faintly chalky finish has passed, you realize it's really not as big, or ripe, or sweet as you thought. You blink, taste it again, and realize that this bottle of giddy pinkness has remarkable structure. You might even call it cultured, approaching elegant. But before you get carried away, you remember it is what it is, which is something like liquified Jolly Rancher cherry candy with a fake Pirate map label. Let's say it's like a guy in a tuxedo, eating cotton candy at the county fair. Oh, and he's got an eye-patch too.

I've seen it a few places, but I bought this one at K&L Wines, $20.

(map of Ain, France by Marmelad used per the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License. Don't borrow it without checking out how.)

BFC in the Bubbledome

One of the younger guys in the Lab called me an old dork. Because, apparently, I know next to nothing about kick-boxing, the sport of the future. You may know it as MMA. Or, like me, you may have no idea what I'm talking about.

He told me if I wanted to be cool (and who doesn't?), I'd refer to our occasional battles between sparkling wines in the McDuff's Food & Wine Trail Bubbledome as BFC.

Okay... Done.

But Junior, better get ready for my guillotine choke submission hold. Coming when you least expect it.


(image: © Aloysius Patrimonio | Dreamstime.com)