by Ruth Tobias
In this column, the editors at The SOMM Journal rate the most notable sparkling wines that cross our desks and lips each issue.
2016 Argyle Vintage Brut Art of Sparkling Set – 3.5 Bubbles: A strong example of its kind
Bubbly was made for the holidays, but this Art of Sparkling gift pack is particularly appropriate for two reasons. First, it’s gorgeous, with three different labels designed by scholarship-winning students at the Pacific Northwest College of Art as part of an annual collaboration with Argyle. Second, the 2016 vintage—a blend of 55% Chardonnay, 35% Pinot Noir, and 10% Pinot Meunier—smacks of the season, with aromas of candied pear, butter cookie, and sugared almond paving the way for flavors of ripe golden apple with a hint of pineapple. The creamy texture, meanwhile, is reminiscent of cassata. Luscious as that may sound, it all coalesces around a through line of seabreezy minerality.