Domaine Pfister Cremant d’Alsace

We get so used to thinking of champagne as the ultimate fizz that it’s easy to overlook the many excellent sparkling wines that are made in other areas.

This is a bottle from an Alsace producer called Domaine Pfister that I opened yesterday uncertain if it would still be showing well. In fact it was absolutely perfect - with the attractively creamy character typical of a blanc de blancs but, softer, fruitier and more approachable than many champagnes that are made in that style. The blend is normally 50% Chardonnay, 25% Pinot Blanc and 25% Auxerrois.

The estate is now run by the Pfister’s very bright, articulate daughter Mélanie who trained as a winemaker and is the the first woman in the family to take over the reins. The rieslings, which are drier than average, are good too.

The big surprise was how well it went with some early season asparagus and mayonnaise - by no means an obvious pairing - which suggests that it would be a food-friendly option with a wide range of dishes, including sushi I would guess. It’s apparently on the list at Zuma in London.

It would also be a good choice for a summer wedding.

You can buy it from TheDrinkShop.com for £103.77 a case of six (£17.29 a bottle), £110.50 a case from Winedirect and £19.95 from The Old Bridge Wine Shop in Huntingdon and Carruthers & Kent in Gosforth, Newcastle who I'm sure would do by the case deals too.

Price isn't the only issue though, particularly if you're buying in quantity. Deal with a retailer who can reassure you that they sell a significant amount. That way you can be sure they have a good turnover of stock.

Changyu Golden Valley Ice Wine 2009 Gold Diamond Label

If you’re one of those people who get off on the rarified byways of the wine world this bottle is for you - for what could be more obscure than a Chinese ice wine?

Chinese? Yes that’s right - and stocked by a UK retailer to boot: the enterprising Berry Bros & Rudd whose Dickensian shop in St James’s Street and status as a Royal Warrant holder disguise the fact that they’re one of the smartest, most savvy wine merchants out there. They were one of the first into China and now have a 13-strong team in Hong Kong which acts as their hub for the whole of Asia.

The Gold Diamond Label ice wine is one of three from China’s biggest producer the Changyu Pioneer Wine Co. and is made in the remote region of Liaoning in Huanlong province. It’s made from Vidal and is reminiscent of a Canadian ice-wine - unsurprisingly as there is input from a Canadian producer. Probably Inniskillin I would guess.

For an ice wine it’s not expensive (£79.38 for a case of six half bottles in bond*) and it’s really rather delicious: lusciously lemony with a touch of orange - more charming, I think than the more expensive Blue Diamond and Black Diamond bottlings at £151.80 and £286.80 per case respectively. You could drink it with a fresh fruit tart (strawberry would be best, I think) but it’s really one of those wines that is better sipped on its own. If you’re into torturing your friends with the wine options game it’s the perfect bottle.

There’s also a red Bordeaux blend called Chateau Changyu Moser XV I wrote about in The Guardian this week which I think is less likely to tempt you. There’s much better Bordeaux to be had at the price but Changyu has put down a strong marker of intent here, no doubt about that. China is already the eighth largest wine producer in the world and is set to be no 6 by 2016.

You can read more about the project on the Decanter website.

* The wines will be available in June 2013

Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish 12 y.o. Whiskey

How many Irish whiskies can you name? Jameson, I’m betting - and maybe Bushmills although they’re north of the border. I always like the idea there's a whiskey called Paddy though to be honest it isn’t much cop.

But as I discovered last year when researching a feature for The Guardian, Ireland does have some great whiskies of which the Redbreast Single Pot Still 12 y.o. is one.

It’s a really rich, warming style - perfect for this weekend’s unseasonally cold weather - half way between a highland malt and a bourbon to my relatively untutored palate. (I don’t claim to be a whisky expert though I do enjoy an occasional dram).

It’s triple distilled in copper pot stills, which is characteristic of Irish whiskies then aged in sherry casks - hence the richness and fruitiness - at the Midleton distillery in Co. Cork.

I suspect it would go well, as a delicious Midleton very Rare did just after Christmas, with a slice of homemade dundee cake though at £38.95 from The Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt instead of £100+ for the Midleton it’s happily less than half the price.

Whisky writer Jim Murray nominated it his Irish whiskey of the year in 2010 and the late great Michael Jackson (no, not that one) is quoted* as saying it “makes me want to get on a plane to Dublin immediately.”

If I hadn’t got a bottle in the house I’d feel the same.

*in Whisky Magazine

Champagne Agrapart grand cru blanc de blancs ‘Terroirs’ extra brut

We’ve got so used to thinking of champagne in terms of big brand names it’s easy to forget that it’s a subtle and complex wine, a fact of which I was reminded by a small tasting of Agrapart champagnes put on by the Bristol-based importer Vine Trail this week.

Agrapart is what’s known as a ‘growers’ champagne - i.e. a range made by the guy who grows the grapes rather than assembled from wine from several growers as is the norm with the bigger houses. Agrapart is based in Avize in the Côte des Blancs and has a 9.75 ha estate including 62 parcels of vines the majority of which are in the grand cru villages of Avize, Cramant, Oger and Oiry.

Although this is not the cheapest champagne in their range it’s only a couple of pounds more than the basic NV and for that you get a beautifully crafted, fresh-tasting flavourful champagne that I think knocks spots off many of the better known brands that are available at that price.

Although the Agraparts don’t describe themselves as organic and biodynamic they do effectively work their vineyards that way - including using horses to plough the vineyards. As the Vine Trail website puts it:

"They feel that it is important to work according to natural rhythms and sensibilities. No chemical pesticides or weed killers are ever used. Pascal attaches great importance to the proper technique and timing of pruning to control vineyard maladies. Some homeopathic treatments also used in the vines to control pests."

Only a small dosage of 5g per litre is added which admirably preserves the freshness and elegance of the wine. Pascal uses natural yeasts and bottles the wines without fining, filtration or cold stabilisation, 25% of the wine is aged in demi-muid wooden casks then the final blend spends 3 1/2 years in the bottle. SO2 is just 50mg per litre. (Full marks to Vine Trail for being specific on all these points in their admirably lucid and detailed technical sheet.)

I think this makes a fantastic champagne to drink on its own but if you were minded to drink it with food I'd be thinking of fresh and lightly cooked seafood such as crab or sole goujons or a few warm gougères to nibble on.

You might think it’s a bit random to write about champagne at the beginning of March but this type of growers’ champagne sells fast, particularly at £27.92 a bottle (the ex-VAT price. £33.50 after tax) and I know the Vine Trail trade tasting is coming up on Wednesday next week. If you’re a champagne fan try to lay your hands on some. Bibendum appears to have a limited amount too as do D & M wines in San Francisco.

* PS There’s a rather useful list of recommended restaurants, hotels and wine shops in the Champagne region on the Agrapart site. Probably the ones that stock their champagne but that’s a recommendation in itself.