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 6: Out of the Cage, Into the Fire

A rare democratic moment at the Lab today.

Some of the kids pointed out that the Greek winner, Tselepos Amalia Brut, in the BFC 5 Cagematch was very likely to get stomped by the current BFC Champion from Burgundy, Goisot's Cremant de Bourgogne. They thought it unfair to send the Greek in for an obvious brutalization. I argued that some of the best fights I've seen were one-sided. Who can forget Mike Tyson pulverizing Michael Spinks in 91 seconds 20 years ago?



But the kids were insistent. Fair play, sportsmanship and blah, blah, blah...

So we put it to a vote.

Turns out, I was voted down pretty much unanimously.

So this weekend in the Dome, the Greek Brut avoids the current champion, but will have to take on a different Frenchie.

Don't miss it. Results Monday.

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.