The Domaine Ste Michelle Blanc de Blancs (translates to white from white, meaning white wine from white grapes, usually Chardonnay; Blanc de Noir is white wine from red grapes, usually Pinot Noir) Sparkling wine sourced from grapes grown in the Columbia Valley AVA of Washington. This bubbly was made with the Traditional Method, the same as Champagne from France, where the 2nd fermentation occurs in each individual bottle, rather than large steel vats. Domaine Ste Michelle is Chateau Ste Michelle’s Sparkling wine division. This Blanc de Blancs was #50 on Wine Enthusiast’s Top 100 Best Buys of 2011. The alcohol content is 11%.
The color is pale golden yellow with tons and tons of bubbles. The nose is crusty bakery bread, green apple, lemon and a touch of butter. This Bubbly is nice and light, bright and balanced. It tastes of sour apple, yeasty bread, unsweetened pineapple juice and dried apricot. The bubbles bring the wine to your tastebuds, burst, causing an explosion of flavor in your mouth that quickly disappears, leaving behind a finish of apple, a slap of acidity and crusty bread.
The Domaine Ste Michelle Blanc de Blancs is a very balanced Bubbly, not too yeasty, not too acidic, not too tart. It is a good tasting Sparkling wine that does everything you expect a Bubbly to do, it may not be as nuanced, creamy and complex as the expensive stuff, but at $10.99 it does just fine.
