House Wine Brut Bubbles

Esplanda's House Wine Brut Bubbles is a Massachusetts sparkling wine, and the "Brut" on the label puts it in the dry style. Brut wines carry very little residual sugar, usually under 12 grams per litre. The listing doesn't name the grapes, the production method or the vintage, so what follows describes the style and not a measured profile. Dry sparkling wines like this usually show green apple, pear and citrus peel, sometimes with a light bread or almond note if the wine spent time on its lees. Expect a crisp, lean body, high acidity and fine to medium bubbles. Tannin and oak are rarely part of the picture in this category, and the finish tends to be short to medium and clean. Because the style is dry and acidic, the bottle works well with salty and fried foods. Think potato chips, fried chicken, tempura, popcorn, or a plate of oysters and other raw shellfish. The acidity also suits soft cheeses such as brie and fresh chèvre, and light appetizers like gougères or smoked salmon on blini. Brut has little sweetness to offset heat, so it pairs best with mildly spicy dishes and less well with very hot ones. It also makes a workable base for mimosas, spritzes and French 75-style drinks, where its dryness balances the juice or citrus. Serve it well chilled, at roughly 6 to 8°C (43 to 46°F). That means about three hours in the refrigerator, or 30 minutes in a bucket of ice and water. Colder than that mutes the fruit, and warmer makes the bubbles feel coarse and the wine flabby. Do not decant. Pouring sparkling wine into a decanter strips out the carbonation that gives it its freshness. A tulip-shaped flute or a white wine glass is the better choice. The narrow opening of a flute holds the bubbles, while a wider white wine glass lets the aromas open up. Pour in two steps so the foam settles, and hold the cork as you ease it out so it releases with a sigh instead of a pop. This is a drink-now bottle. Non-vintage-style sparkling wines at this level are made for freshness, and extra cellar time is more likely to dull the fruit than to build complexity. Store it upright or on its side somewhere cool and dark until you open it, and finish the bottle within a day or two of opening. Reseal it with a proper sparkling-wine stopper to keep the bubbles lively.