I first heard about Sparkling Pointe several years ago when Howard Goldberg wrote a piece about them for the New York Times. At the time, I shot off an email to the owners, but never heard back. I didn’t think much of it at the time, to be honest. But, a month or two ago, their winemaker, Gilles Martin, sent me an email and let me know that he’d be dropping off some samples (he lives about a mile from us), and sure enough, the wines were at my house that very evening. But, we went away for a week, my tasting queue got crazy and I didn’t get to them for a while.
Now, I could have tasted these for the first time at their public debut — at Brookyn Uncorked — but I have to admit that I really didn’t want to. It had nothing to do with the wines themselves though. It had to do with the way they were presented at the event… poured by a crew tuxedo-clad guys men who really didn’t know that much about the wines. I understand making a splash, but it seemed a bit silly to me, and it perpetuates the misconception that sparkling wine is a high-end, celebration-only beverage. But I digress, it wasn’t that big of a deal. It just rubbed me the wrong way and seemed out of place at the event.
I did taste them in a weekly tasting though, and I came away enjoying both. Today, we’ll talk about the 2004 Brut, which retails for $29 and really reminds me of the Bruts that Gilles made for Martha Clara Vineyards when he was there, which is a good thing. I always enjoyed those… especially at $20.
Pale straw in color it has aggressive, frothy mousse that
fades perhaps a bit too quickly. Clean apple dominates the nose with some toasty yeast white flowers in the background. Straight
forward and refreshing, the palate isn’t overtly dry and offers similar apple
and yeast flavors. The finish lingers nicely and invites another sip — or
another bite of food. This is a good sparkler, but not a great one.
Grape(s): N/A
Producer: Sparkling Pointe
AVA: North Fork of Long Island
Price: $29
Rating:
(2.5 out of 5 | Average-to-Recommended)