Bossard Sparkler Comes Through

Bossard-Thuaud Vin Mousseux de Qualite NV, France

Cost: $17-19

What: Bossard-Thuaud Vin Mousseux de Qualite NV, France

What: This is another wonderful sparkling wine for the holidays. It comes from the Loire Valley, not Champagne, so it can’t be called Champagne, but everything about the wine screams Champagne.

The wine is a beautiful straw color in the glass with lots of tiny long-lasting bubbles. The nose is fruity with a touch of yeast. It is dry, much like a blanc de blancs, with clean, crisp citrus and mineral flavors. It has a long, pleasant finish, though it is not a very complex wine. It is acidic, which I like in a sparkling wine.

The grapes used are somewhat unusual, besides the traditional Chardonnay: Folle Blanche, Melon de Bourgogne and a little Cabernet Franc. They combine beautifully.

We had a little impromptu celebration because my wife Pat had won a Hospital Hero award from the Georgia Hospital Assn. After driving to Atlanta and back for the GHA luncheon, I thought we needed to celebrate the award. But this is kind of a chicken-or-egg question. Which came first, the need to celebrate or opening the sparkling wine? Whenever you open one of these nice sparklers it feels like a celebration.

Whichever came first, I’m glad we opened this bottle of Bossard-Thuaud (although I thought I was opening a bottle of something else, which I’ll review next week). It really is a beautiful, celebratory wine.

Winery: Winemaker Guy Bossard and his wife Annie Thuaud make this wine on a certified organic vineyard of 42 acres in Brittainy on France’s Atlantic coast. Most other famous French wine regions specialize in one or two grapes, but the Loire is home to a wide variety of grapes. Over time the grapes change as growers experiment and tastes change. So it seems there’s usually something exciting going on in the Loire.

Grapes for the sparkling cuvée are hand harvested from three prime acres, pressed lightly for first run juice and fermented “sur lie” at low temperature using indigenous yeasts. The wonderful smooth tastes comes from the second fermentation in the bottle that occurs with champagne yeasts

Goes with: I had it the first night with pizza, and that was a pleasant pairing. The second night we had chicken de paola, a stuffed chicken breast wrapped in dough. That was an outstanding match. This is a food-friendly wine. It doesn’t overpower the food; it enhances the food flavors. Also would be good with seafood, cream sauces and vegetarian dishes.