I have a confession to make: I’m on the brink of having an illicit affair with a certain type of bubbly. The object of my affection is Pinot-blend cuvées, and if loving it is wrong I don’t wanna be right.

What’s a cuvée you ask? In short, a cuvée is a specific-blend base wine created to make champagne. Cuvées can be from a singular grape variety–like Chardonnay or Pinot Noir–or it can be a mixture of several different varieties of grapes.

I realized recently that Pinot Noir-Chardonnay blend  cuvées have the capacity to really tickle my bubbly fancy.

I discovered this current champagne seduction at a champagne flight tasting event {listen, you should know by now that I’m ALWAYS ferreting out bubbly-centric event somewhere around the globe; ha} when I had an opportunity to get quite cozy with a Pinot forward bubbly, Champagne Pierre Morlet. Read on to get the details of our intimate little rendezvous.

TASTING NOTES

First things first: the things that make blends so exciting is that, when the wine is well made, you get characteristics of all of the different grape varieties in one glass. Your palate gets layered with all of those beautiful flavors, and you nose is enchanted by the bouquet of aromas. I’m a very “sensory-oriented” person, so that makes these Pinot Noir blend cuvées right up my alley. Hello heightened drinking pleasure levels!

Now back to the Pierre Morlet. The wine is a blend of 74% Pinot Noir and 26% Chardonnay which means you can expect the flavor profile to be broad in a lovely way. A first examination of the glass revealed a light golden hue–a perfect glow to by which to fall in love {ha} with bubbly. Clearly the stage was set for sparkling romance.

The Morlet was ripe on the nose and palate. The aromas start off with red apple and  juicy peach notes, followed by  flavors of pear, raspberries, baked pastry, a little honey, and the slightest touch of ginger coming through at the end. The mousse was creamy and delicate, with a long, elegant finish. There was no denying it. I was smitten and it was too late to turn back.

If you’re a red wine lover or a committed Blanc de Blanc fan of champagne, I challenge you to to give Pinot Noir blend champagnes a try. Don’t be afraid–go ahead an have a little fizzy affair of your own {wink}.