Something to Wine About: 2015 Macari Cuvée Katherine 

If you are still searching for some holiday bubbly prospects, consider the 2015 Macari Cuvée Katherine. It is definitely an interesting alternative to Champagne. This sparkling wine is still created in the same traditional method as Champagne, where the second fermentation occurs in the bottle, but it has a unique flavor profile.

Champagne, which comes from the Champagne region in France, is primarily made from three grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. Pinot noir and pinot meunier are the only two red grapes in the region. Four other, rarely used, white grapes include pinot gris, pinot blanc, petit meslier and arbane.

Macari Vineyards’ 2015 Cuvée Katherine is a blanc de blanc made from 100% chardonnay grapes, but, interestingly, its most dominant notes are, by far, citrus. This wine is exceedingly fresh, crisp and fruity. If you are looking not only to celebrate, but to pair a wine with seafood dishes or aperitifs, Macari’s Cuvée Katherine would fit the bill nicely.

If you have friends on your guest list who are sauvignon blanc lovers, it might also be the sparkling wine that turns their heads, and perhaps changes their expectations of sparkling wine. Lovely grapefruit, orange and tangerine notes dance in this lively, bubbly wine — not overly acidic, but most definitely a fruit-forward expression of chardonnay.

Cuvée Katherine is a vintaged sparkling wine, though the vintage does not appear on the label. A vintage sparkling wine uses grapes harvested only from the year of the vintage. Most sparkling wines, even those from the esteemed Champagne region, are non-vintage wines produced from multiple years’ harvests. The 2015 Macari Cuvée Katherine is aged for four years in bottle before its release. The wine retails for $45.

To discover more wines from Macari Vineyards, visit macariwines.com.