FOOD PAIRINGS FROM THE GLORIA FERRER SPARKLING NEW YEAR'S WINES

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Michael Hepworth

GLORIA FERRER SPARKLING WINE

FOOD PAIRINGS FROM THE AWARD WINNING BRAND

HOLLYWOOD (Spiritsman) 12/23/16/–Gloria Ferrer is a sparkling wine you can always trust, and with prices between $22-$37 the value is also exceptional so here is a reminder of the available wines from a company we have always liked a lot. They are still a young company having only been around since 1982, but now command a lot of respect within the industry.

Food pairings with sparkling Wine are usually always a challenge of sorts, but the Ferrer people have been holding competitions for chef’s all year, and here is a sampling of the best sparkling wine/food combinations. One Texas chef called Chera Little came up with a delicious sounding morsel of Miso-Maple Glazed Cod Wonton Cho’s as a nice pairing with the Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut. This popular wine has apple/lemon aromas and has a nice long finish despite being very light bodied.

Another chef from Point Reyes called Jennifer Luttrell suggests Apple-Onion Chutney and Blue Crostini, a classic and simple appetizer for the Brut. All these recipes can be found on the web site listed below, so if you are adventurous during the holidays and are buying some Ferrer wines, check them out.

The Brut consists of almost forty Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes that are grown on the property. A very complex wine, the Brut is dominated by the Pinot Noir grape, and the juice is naturally settled overnight to provide clean fermentation. The wine spends eighteen months en tirage (on the yeast) before being bottled.

For the Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Blancs, chef Luttrell goes for Spiced Butternut Squash in Toma Frico Cups, where the buttery cheese goes well with the Chardonnay wine. This is the most recent release from Gloria Ferrer and is a wine with an aroma of orange blossom, ripe Asian pear and white chocolate.

The Blanc de Noirs features black cherry/strawberry/citrus aromas and is perfect if you like a sparkling wine with a rich and fruity palate. This is a 92% Pinot Noir grape wine and is grown in the 340 acre estate in the Sonoma Carneros district in California. Best food pairings for this wine are crab, Thai cuisine roast pork, quail, foie gras and semi-sweet desserts. This is a gluten free wine with a 12.2% alcohol rating and is a blend of 18 different base wines fermented in stainless steel tanks.

Also from Gloria Ferrer is the VA de VI, a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay but with some Muscat thrown in for good measure. It tastes of ripened fruit and like most Ferrer wines has a nice long finish. There are also five Prestige Cuvees in the collection and these vintage dated wines are the Carneros Cuvee, Royal Cuvee, Brut Rose, Blanc de Blancs and Extra Brut. To indicate how special these wines are in the Ferrer catalogue, the Extra Brut for example cellar aging is at least six years and only the best Carneros fruits are picked. Only a few are made vintage years and winemakers call it the ultimate expression of their art and vineyard.