Champagne Cattier Brut Gold, Premier Cru

Indie Winemakers has a small allocation of this discounted wine for sale this week only. This special bottle also comes with a gold metal thread gift box “Arabesque” making it a great gift item!

About the featured wine

This Brut Champagne is comprised of 75% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, and 25% Chardonnay. Indie Winemakers has a small allocation of this discounted wine for sale this week only. A classic Premier Cru Champagne with floral nose and a rich creamy texture and round balance. The yeasty flavors linger well in finish.

About Champagne Cattier

Champagne CATTIER is situated in Chigny les Roses a village in the heart of the prestigious Terroir of Montagne de Reims. Champagne CATTIER remains an independent and family House. Their vineyards stretch for more than 20 hectares mainly classified as “Premier Cru”. The CATTIER family has been the owner of vineyards since 1763. In 1918 that the family really started to elaborate their own champagnes and to distribute them under the brand name CATTIER.

Champagne Cattier is a name synonymous with prized, boutique wines for the discriminating Champagne connoisseur, and they are regularly recognized by the international wine community for the consistent excellence of their Champagnes. Some of their most recent accolades include:

• Rating of Excellent in Parker’s Guide of French Wines
• Nominated for best Prestige Cuveé (Parker’s Guide)
• One of the World’s 30 Most Prestigious Champagnes (Italian Champagne: Intramontabile Effervescenza Guide)
• Five-Star Rating and Best-in-Category Laurels (Cuisine Magazine’s Annual Champagne Tasting)

Maxims restaurant in Paris, considered one of the finest restaurant in all of Europe, searched for the best Champagne house to produce their finest house Champagne and they ultimately chose Cattier.”

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Follow Indie Winemakers on MySpace and Twitter

We now have our writers networking on MySpace and Twitter.

http://www.myspace.com/indiewinemaker

http://twitter.com/indiewinemakers

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New Zealand Winegrowers New Wine Release Tasting

Indie Winemakers attended a preview of the 2008 vintage and wines new to the USA market. Wines were arranged by variety, region and vintage.  The event was sponsored by the New Zealand wine and grape industry found at www.nzwine.com.  Featured Wineries included:
Allan Scott Family Winemakers, Amisfield Wine Company, Anchorage Wines, Artisan Wines, Babich Wines, Brancott Vineyards, Cape Campbell Wines, Carrick, Clos Henri Vineyard, Craggy Range, The Crater Rim, The Crossings, Dashwood, Drylands Wines, Eradus Wines, Fairhall Downs Estate Wines, Forrest Estate Winery, Framingham Wines, Giesen Wines, Gladstone Vineyard, Goldwater, Gunn Estate Wines, Hans Family Estate, Huia Vineyards, Invivo Wines, Isabel Estate Vineyard, Kemblefield Estate Winery, Kennedy Point Vineyard, Kim Crawford Wines, Lawson’s Dry Hills Wines, Man O’ War Vineyards, Matua Valley Wines, Monkey Bay, Mount Grey Estate, Mt Difficulty Wines, Mud House Wines, Nautilus Estate, Nobilo, Omaka Springs Estates, Oyster Bay New Zealand, Palliser Estate Wines of Martinborough, Prophets Rock, Rapaura Springs, Saint Clair Family Estate, Seifried, Spy Valley Wines, Staete Landt Vineyard, Stoneleigh, Surveyor Thomson Wines, Te Mania, Terrace Heights Estate, Trinity Hill, Vavasour, Villa Maria Estate, Vinoptima Estate, Waipara Springs Wines, Wild Earth Wines, Winegrowers of Ara, Wither Hills Vineyards Marlborough and Woollaston Estates.

Here’s a bit about the viticultural areas of New Zealand and the varietals that we found to be best of that region (South Island to North Island):

Central Otago – Great Pinot Noir
Canterbury/Waipara – Pino Noir and Reisling
Nelson – Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir
Marlborough – King of Sauvignon Blanc, nice Pinots as well
Wairarapa – Pinot Noir
Hawkes Bay – Bordeaux style, Rhone style and Syrah
Gisborne – Gewurztraminer
Waiheke Island – Syrah

Man O War – no US distribution, yet.  Keep an eye out for their wines, they are big yet very well balanced. The Chardonnay was fermented and matured in new french oak.  Fresh citrus of lemmon and melon with enough acid backbone to provide a clean taste.  Definite cedar notes on the nose and mid-palatte.  The Cab Franc was deep ruby in color, deep blackberry fruit, clean, big monster, youthful, very ripe, pleasant cherry fruit flavors, dominated by tannins; long finish.

Saint Clair – had several vineyard designated Sauvignon Blancs to try.  Most of these wines do not make it to the States.  My favorite was the 2008 Saint Clair Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. Very pale green, bright; sweet, ripe, grassy, lemony, gooseberry, grapefruit-citric aromas with a faint hint of mineral; big, sweet, ripe, grapefruit, grassy, somewhat rich flavors; slightly tart, crisp balance; long finish.

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