130 Chapter 6 Salt, Bitterness, and Bubbles
INTRODUCTION
The Peller Estates sparkling wines and food recommen-
dations provide a good introduction to this chapter, which fea-
tures a discussion of the impact of wine effervescence in food
pairing decisions. The following sections introduce the impact
of food saltiness and bitterness on the pairing process along
with an overview of sparkling wine characteristics, levels of
effervescence, and the relationship between effervescence
and palate cleansing.Aperitif
!
Peller Estates Winery
Peller Estates Winery, which produces some of North America’s premium sparkling wines, is located on
a forty-acre vineyard that is walking distance from the Old Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake in Ontario,The entrance to Peller Estates
Winery in the Niagara Region
of Ontario, Canada
(courtesy of Peller Estates
Winery).Canada. This family winery spans three generations
and has captured the attention of knowledgeable
consumers and critics alike. More than forty
years ago, Andrew Peller, a Hungarian immigrant,
opened a modest winery in British Columbia’s
Okanagan Valley. This humble beginning planted
the roots of a dream that would be passed along to
his son John and later to his grandson Joe.
The mission of Peller Estates is simply to
produce high-quality premium wines combining
the best vineyards and skilled winemaking with pa-
tience and dedication. The Niagara winery features
a 5,000-square-foot underground barrel aging cel-
lar (350 barrels) and a 5,000-square-foot press
house (1,000 barrels) that is home to Peller’s next-
generation wines.
Peller Estates’ renowned Ice Cuvee VQA is a traditionalme ́thode champenoisesparkling
wine made with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, naturally fermented and aged in the
bottle. When the lees are disgorged, adosageof Vidal ice wine is added. The intensity of
the ice wine creates a sparkling wine of unique style and finesse. The finished product has
very fine bubbles with a brilliant yellow straw color. A bouquet of apricot, yeast, and ripe
apple with hints of honey is followed by tropical fruits on the palate and a refreshing sweet
grapefruit finish.
This medium-dry sparkling wine (approximately 2.8 percent residual sugar) is noticeably sweet and
is best enjoyed before a meal as an aperitif or after a meal with fresh fruit and cheese. Suggested foods to
accompany this wine include oven-roasted plum tomatoes on toasted baguettes with goat cheese; phyllo
spring rolls with plum sauce; fresh fruit such as mangoes, golden pineapple, Bartlett pears and strawberries;
cream fruit cheeses with country bread; goat cheese terrine with a dried-fruit salad; harvest butternut squash
soup with maple drizzle; and, of course, salty appetizers.
A more traditional approach to sparkling wine is found in the winery’s Trius Brut VQA. The grapes
for thisme ́thode classiquesparkling wine are hand-harvested and whole-bunch pressed with the special Cham-
pagne press cycle. A cuve ́e of 70 percent Chardonnay and 30 percent Pinot Noir receives a second fer-
mentation in the bottle using Epernay yeast, up to two and a half years of agingsur lie, and time-honored
riddling and disgorging for removal of spent yeast cells. This process produces a sparkling wine of great
finesse and style. It has exceptional fizz and an appealing toasty/yeasty character, and it can hold its own
against many well-made Champagnes.
This is a non-vintage brut sparkling wine with 0.8 percent residual sugar and is an excellent partner
with a wide variety of foods, including pan-fried fresh perch or pickerel, chicken in a light lemon cream