Segura Viudas ARIA Pinot Noir Brut Cava -$10

The Aria Pinot Noir Brut is a Spanish Cava, this particular one is a sparkling wine made in the French style, using a traditional French grape varietal . The Aria is actually a Rose’, though it does not say so on the bottle, it has a soft pink color, which indicates that the grape skins where left in the juice for a little while when they crushed the grapes.

Wine Fact #1:If it was a white sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France, it would be a Blanc de Noir (white from black, meaning white bubbly from black or red grapes , in this case Pinot Noir). The term Blanc de Blancs means (white from white, usually meaning white bubbly made from Chardonnay).

Wine Fact #2:The Aria’s second fermentation (the process that gives it the bubbles) is in the bottle. A little bit of yeast is put into each bottle and for the next 18 months the bottles are regularly turned slightly to keep the spent yeast from sticking to the side of the bottles and yucking things up, as they say in France.

Wine Fact #3:The term Brut is used to indicate sweetness or dryness, with Brut wines having less sugar and Sec wines containing more sugar.

It has a light delicate nose, a bit of baked bread from the yeast, a touch of strawberry jam. The bubbles dissipate quickly, almost too quickly.  The flavors are muted, it tastes of tart cherries, watermelon hard candy and a bit of a mineral edge. It is a dry wine, not too sweet, some of the value priced sparklers can get cloyingly sweet, but not this one. I like the Aria, for the price it’s outstanding. If I’m drinking bubbly on someone else’s dime, I think i would choose something farther up the sparkling wine food chain. But if I’m paying, this will do nicely.

Filed Under: Cheap Wine < $10, Cheap Wine - Red, Pinot Noir, Sparkling Wine
Tagged: Aria, blanc de noir, Brut, Cava, rosé, Sagura Viudas, Spain

(2 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

You Might also like:

• 2009 Trader Joe’s Vintjs Oregon Pinot Gris
• 2009 Picada 15 White Blend
• 2008 R Wines Southern Belle Shiraz
• 2007 Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis Bricco delle Ciliegie
• 2009 Folie a Deux Menage a Trois California Red
• 2009 Trader Joe’s Overlake Sauvignon Blanc $6