NEW YEAR PROMISES TO SPARKLE
Here’s what Houston wine gurus will be drinking to usher in 2020
There are some big bubbles decisions to be made over the next few days — New Years’ Eve, by law, requires the consumption of copious quantities of sparkling wine — so we polled a selection of local wine folks, both familiar faces and new “kids” on the block, to see what corks they’re going to be popping in their establishments ’round midnight Tuesday.
Nikki Grace, the co-owner/beverage director for the Guard & Grace family of restaurants based in Denver, and Todd Rocchio, her wine wing man on the ground at the expansive new Houston location in Allen Center, which opened in November, agreed on a favorite from their list, the Philipponnat Royale Réserve Brut ($155, for a bottle, $35 for a glass). “This pinot noir-driven champagne is a serious wine that has great structure without being bossy,” Grace explains. “The long lingering finish always pulls you back in for another sip.” Adds Rocchio: “The thing I love most about this wine is how versatile it is, both excellent as an aperitif, yet serious enough to work at the table.” This wine may fall into the “undiscovered” category for some, they concede, making it all the more special of a treat.
For Thomas Perez, a native of El Salvador who, after a patch of globetrotting, recently became the beverage director at La Table, 1800 Post Oak, the Champagne Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Spécial Club ($225 per bottle) comes most quickly to mind. “The Gimonnet wines are often overlooked and sometimes hard to get,” he says, “so when you do find them, you must try them. When you put your nose in a glass of these king-sized bubbles, it’s a unique and memorable experience. You will always remember the toasted brioche, the yeasty nose and the crunch of refreshing acidity for as long as you live. I have been a fan for quite a long time, since I first tried it with my eggs one morning.”
Chris Shepherd, the James Beard Award-winning chef/owner of the Underbelly Hospitality restaurant group, needed not a nanosecond to make his pick, the Krug Brut, ($125 for a half bottle at Georgia James steakhouse, 1100 Westheimer) after having paid a memorable holiday visit to Krug this past summer. “That was a bucket list item for me and especially for my fiancé, Lindsey Brown. To say the expectations were high is an understatement, and they exceeded them by a mile. It’s an experience we’ll remember forever — the hospitality, the food and, of course, the champagne, which is the perfect beginning or ending to any meal.”
There was no hesitation, either, from Montgomery County native Matthew Neighbors, the senior manager at Fleming’s, 2405 W. Alabama. He’s all in on the Ruinart
Blanc de Blancs ($150 for a bottle), explaining: “They’ve been doing it for so long (founded in 1729 as the very first Champagne house), and the wine is just so fresh and crisp and beautiful, really. This was the first bottle of real champagne I ever bought for myself, and it was for a family get-together at my parent’s house on Lake Conroe.” In other words, good memories!
Next door at Beck crew Wine House, 2409 W. Alabama, general manager Aaron Fader says he’ll be grabbing a bottle of the Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut ($88 per bottle) as the clock ticks down to midnight because “it’s fresh, clean and refreshing, and it doesn’t have that yeasty finish, almost like the taste of fermentation, which I don’t particularly like in my champagne. It’s got great complexity and pairs very well with food.”
For his part, Jean-Philippe Guy, owner of French Country Wines, 2433 Bartlett, stayed true to his French roots, touting the Voirin-Jumel Brut Zéro Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs ($50 per bottle). That’s “zero” as in no added sugar,” Guy points out, making the wine “light and fresh.” It has been described by one critic as being “taut on the attack, which is typical of a Brut Zéro, but then more tangy (lemon and white grapefruit flavors), with a pleasant little smoky side.” The chardonnay grapes come from
Cramant, Chouilly and Oger in the Côte de Blancs.
Because our food critic Alison Cook named Kata Robata, 3600 Kirby, Houston’s No. 1 restaurant for 2019, it seemed important that we get its sommelier, Mo Rahman ,in the conversation. Rahman picked the Marcel Cabelier
Crémant du Jura Brut ($14 for a glass, $52 for a bottle) from his list. “I chose this wine because it’s from one of my favorite regions of France — the Jura — and it delivers for the price point and then some, allowing us to serve it by the glass. The blend is 90 percent chardonnay with the rest pinot noir and ploussard. It’s round and toasty with hints of honeyed apple and brioche and with fine bubbles. So, if you don't want to commit to a whole bottle or are not a huge champagne aficionado, this can be a great option to ride into the new year with just a cup for toasting.”
And, of course, we had to give Shawn Virene the last word because his restaurant, the aptly named a’Bouzy, 2300 Westheimer, offers the city’s most bubbles-centric wine list. Virene picked the Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve ($44 per bottle) as his “go-to” sparkler for New Year’s Eve. “Don’t let the low price tag fool you,” he warns while noting, with justifiable pride, that his is lower than you’ll generally see for “Champagne Charlie’s” sparkler selling for in retail outlets. “It’s made from 40 percent reserve wines that date back 15 years. This is rare in a Négociant Manipulant (NM) champagne. The blend comes from 60 crus of chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier, which are blended in equal proportions. When poured, you can see the golden hue that comes from the extended time on lees. The nose is baked brioche, toasted almonds and dried red fruit. The palate sings with flavors of cream filled pastries, cherry blossom, almond, and a super long finish of praline and vanilla.”