This is an interesting bottle, and one that I wasn't sure what to make of while tasting it, and even now I'm still thinking about it, so I guess that's a good thing. This is a sparkling wine from New Mexico, which is likely not the first place you turn to when shopping for a bubbly, so I was curious to see what this one was all about.
I've had some great wines from Arizona before, especially those made by ex-Tool front man, Maynard James Keenan (Caduceus Cellars), so I wasn't completely against the idea of a New Mexican sparkling wine. After sampling this one, I'll say while I didn't love the wine, it certainly opened my eyes to a new area of the wine world that I wasn't very familiar with before. And for only $12.99, it's a fun and worth while exploration.
For me, the first ¾ of the experience drinking this wine was great. It was the final ¼, the finish primarily, where I felt the wine faltered. Upon opening, this wine was under enormous pressure. Even with a super slow turn of the bottle, it wanted to pop hard. So beware. The wine was super effervescent too.
The nose was amazing, probably the best part of the wine for me. Tropical fruit, mineral, fresh flowers, the wine smells like Hawaiian Punch in a rain forest.
Dry in the mouth with less flavor than expected after the beautiful nose; there's a touch of the tropical fruit, but more muted pear, lemon, maybe a little peach flavor. The wine finishes very dry, and not super pleasant. There's a lingering sourness/ bitterness that seems a little out of place, and the more I tried this wine, the more apparent the underwhelming finish became.
Overall, I'd say this one is middle of the road for the money. Surprising still it's from New Mexico so props there but I'd probably put my money elsewhere after sampling it.
CostcoWineBlog.com Rating: 86 points
Costco item number: 199909
Purchased at Costco in: Atlanta, GA
Alc. 12%
Bob O'Neill says
Gruet also makes a sparkling Rose (my favorite) and a Chard
Bob In Denver
and a frequent New Mexico visitor
Editor says
Thanks Bob. It would be fun to try both of those too.
Peter Tannen says
Gruet also makes a Blanc de Noir (my favorite) in this price range. The winery is literally "just down the hill" from my house in Albuquerque. They make premium vintage bubbly, also. But these are limited production and never get to COSTCO. Unfortunately, their NM vineyards were wiped out in an very hard freeze in 2011. So they have been using Washington grapes. Their new vineyards are just coming into production, and true New Mexico bubbly should be showing up soon.
Anonymous Coward says
It's no longer a New Mexican sparkling wine, though, is it? I thought they're now sourcing fruit from outside the state, hence the change to "American" on the labels...
Editor says
Thanks for the note. After digging around a bit I think you and the poster below may be right.