There’s something really nice about this video - it’s rare to see Konstantin struggle in blind tastings, I personally often struggle to tell high quality champagne from basically entry level ones. Authenticity is an amazing charm of this man. Thank you!

@RobertSmith-up9rz

2 ай бұрын

Same goes with any wine. Even recognizing white from red is difficult in a blind tasting for most people. It takes insane amount of tasting and education to recognize wines.

I live here in Trento, where the Ferrari is produced. In general Italy have a warmer climate than France (Champagne) but Trento is near the alps and the vineyards is at 400/800 meters over the sea level where the temperature change during day/night is higher and resemble a cooler climate. Thats why this zone is particularly vocated to sparkling wines. Ferrari knew it 100 years ago when he start producing sparkling wine with the champenoise method. The local producers have now founded the TRENTODOC appelation, but is still fairly young (20 years). Recently I partecipate to a TrentoDOC blind tasiting with several local brands... but the Ferrari Perlè 2017 was a step (or two) over all the others. 80 years of experience can make the difference!

Izar Leku is sparkling Txakoli from the Basque Country! An amazing wine made in Gipuzkoa! Hondarribi Zuri is the grape variety, tipical from here

@magnusVarblomst

2 ай бұрын

I’m not a huge fan of txakoli, but want to try what oxer is doing there, have only tried the reds from laguardia, amazing stuff. So how does the sparkling one compare to cavas from la rioja or catalonia? Have you tried it?

@benatjuaristi3625

Ай бұрын

That was not a txakoli. It’s the same varietal but you dont put a presure cork on txakoli. Txakoli is a « perlant » wine, the one konstantin tasted seems to be a méthode traditionnelle sparkling wine.

@BjørjaBear

Ай бұрын

Lots of good wine from there. I've been surprised here in Norway of the quality, especially of the still whites

The Handurabi made me think of Txakolina from Basque (same grape!) which is only frizzante but super delicious and quite affordable. Flavors of lime and sea spray make it a perfect summer refresher.

Shared spittoon splash back. Lmfao. Thanks for the great laugh.

LOVED this one! Cava and Cremant de Alsace are my favorites. Leon did a great job, what an interesting selection.

Have heard a lot about British sparkling wines over the past few years - I'd like to know more about them.

@alistaircorbishley5881

2 ай бұрын

There are some fantastic sparkling wines coming out of the South of England right now. Same sort of chalky soils and a bit more of a marginal climate than Champagne produced wines that are a good match for all but the best Champagne Cru's.

@CD23_06

2 ай бұрын

@@alistaircorbishley5881My personal favourite English sparkling is actually from further north; Renishaw Hall. Right on the border between Derbyshire and Yorkshire.

@TheOriginal_BigMac

2 ай бұрын

Yes, Hattingley Valley is just a couple of miles down the rise from me. Lots of chalk, confirmed😅. Lovely wines

@j_rosenberg

2 ай бұрын

I’ve heard good things and they seem to be growing in production and distribution, especially since they are now reaching Australia! (I saw my first bottle of English wine here in Aus just yesterday)

@michaeltschuertz

2 ай бұрын

​@@j_rosenbergi have been following rhem for 20 years now and the quality is only going up.

I loved the comment "Be kind" - I am sure everyone will be, great stuff!!

Ferrari is produced in the city where I live, Trento. Trento DOC is a quite well known Italian wine area. :)

@andrewkarl5174

2 ай бұрын

We were there a while ago , beautiful winery, and a much more beautiful town.

@numanuma20

2 ай бұрын

You are so lucky. The area looks so beautiful and the wine is amazing.

So my takeaway from this: if a Master of Wine like Konstantin struggles to pick out Champagne blind, then there is almost no chance we average wine drinkers could tell the difference. It seems to me like Champagne is not worth the price premium unless you are looking for a very specific profile from a particular grower -- too much good sparkling wine being made outside Champagne at much more affordable prices!

@patavinity1262

2 ай бұрын

I don't think that's really the case. I'm a pretty averagely-knowledgeable wine enthusiast (I have nowhere near his level of expertise) and yet even I can discern a noticeable difference between champagne and most other sparkling wines. The person who organized this tasting was obviously making it as tricky as possible, with good quality sparkling wines that have champagne-like characteristics, but if you take a *typical* champagne and compare with a *typical* sparkling wine then the champagne will probably be of superior quality. I'm no snob either, I'm a big fan of lesser-known sparkling wines.

@MrKvasi

2 ай бұрын

I have never in any blind tasting mistaken something for a champagne or champagne for something else. I don't think there are any sparkling wines that have the same quality. Wines that try to be as good, for example Nyetimber is still more expensive than a similar one from champagne. I've tasted close to 1000 champagnes so that might be why.

Awesome video. Thank you. Shows how much sparklers have improved! Especially when a Basque grape gets that score!

Super interesting, and fun to watch. Thanks for sharing.

As usual, total honesty and no bs.

I always enjoy to watch Konstantin and how he explains with deep passion.

Very entertaining, Konstantin!

After suggesting to try a Griesel a couple of videos ago, I am happy that it won the tasting. My favorite producer of sparkling wine at the moment.

Great video, thank you.

Izar Leku is From Basque Country use the same grape of Txakoli "Hondarribi Zuria" , great Wine .

Fascinating to see you struggle to identify these wines! It’s a confirmation for me that good sparkling wines can come from anywhere where they master the wine-making technique. My favourites? Franciacorta, Alta Lange and various German producers of Crement (Loersch comes to mind)

I would have loved to see how my beloved Tasmanian sparkler, Arras Elite went in that tasting. I drink it in preference to big house French Champagne

Outside of Champagne, I've enjoyed English sparkling wine (Chapel Down) and Californian (Napa). Konstantin, stay thirsty AND keep sparkling! 🥂

Great video again!!! The Spanish sparkling is that a kind of Txakolí made with the method traditional?

This tasting of sparkling wine confirmed what I have discovered as well, there are some impressive bubbles being produced outside of Champagne that I favor more these days. Thank you for this video!

Great video, he is so honest and a great example of how breaking a wine down to its bare parts to describe and rate it. I live in Australia and there are some amazing bubbles coming from Tassie and Otago too. Champers is very expensive down here. I’d love to try the Txakoli sparkling. Some of my best memories are in san seb.

There is only one way to improve your South African repertoire. Drum roll....... A South African wine tasting video. I will definitely watch it 😂

@zizzie4081

2 ай бұрын

I just tasted a Cap,Classique and liked it. I too would love a South African sparkler video!

@matthewdonet

2 ай бұрын

He has posted an SA wine video - kzread.info/dash/bejne/eKmFpKSvm6zOo8o.html

Great tasting test! At first I was a bit disappointed, seeing the black hoodie, but it worked perfectly showing the colors of the wines. Would have loved to see a sekt from "Raumland" in it. Maybe another time.

I’ve always been a fan of Gosset champagne and Pommery which I visited years ago. Great blind tasting. I’ll look for the Italian sparkler.

Very nice Video, thank you! Now i have to check if you have a Video about Prosecco. To stay in the sparkling theme.

Wine #3 looked like a lager when poured!

I really like the austrian sparklings, like Ebner-Ebenauer, Szigeti, Bründlmayer, Harkamp, loimer, Schloss Gobelsburg...

Thanks Konstantin - really nice one! Just had a Ferrari Perle last night and we have been watching Trentodoc since a few years now and there are some really exciting producers and wines. What was perhaps missing was Franciacorta (equally nice) as well as Corpinnat (a fairly new collective of sparkling wine producers from the Cava region that put a strong emphasis on quality, since some Cavas might actually lack the kind of quality one would expect from a great sparkling wine). And being Austrian I must say that you also find some very nice sparkling wines in my home country from very established producers (such as Bründlmayer).

Great video, I found your comments on terroir and sparkling wine methods interesting. My favourite sparkling wine is Firriato Blanc de Noir from Etna. Made with Nerello Mascalese and with >30 months on the lees it’s great value and an interesting wine

If you would like to explore South African sparkling wines I can highly recommend Silverthorn.

I think it is so refreshing to see that you also struggle with sparkling wines. A mere mortal like me can feel better with the fact sparkling wines are hard to blind taste. I'll be in the jura later this year, so I will keep an eye out for that cremant. I find that the jura, for such a small wkne producing area, has some really amazing wines. As always, love your videos!

Very good timing to watch this video - tomorrow I am going on Grand Champagne Forum here in Helsinki. I want to taste that carefully !! 🥂🥂🥂

I visited Ferrari a few years ago and one of the first things they told us was that they got the name before the car😉 Their wines were and still are great!

Had some Txakoli yesterday so I had no trouble placing that wine #4. You should check it out!

The best sparkling I've had is the Deviation Road Beltana late disgorged vintage 2011 from the Adelaide Hills, very rich and creamy with toasted nuts and dried fruit character.

Great video! Would you consider to make a video about Orange wine? Maby in a blind test? I could really use some good Orange wine brand tips!

Noble effort, Sir. Just wondering if you texted your friends to come over and finish the bubbly with you? Thanks.

Again, what a amazing bubble session. I salivate when I hear the sounds of the bubbles opening on the glass. Unfortunately we don't have Griesel & Compagnie Grande Cuvee Exquisit Dosage Zero here in PT for sale. BTW, Leon if you're reading this, please show some Portuguese Sparkling wine to Konstantin. I'll happily help! Cheers everyone.

Hondarabi Zuri sparkling, wow ! nice !

I love bubbles! Cheers 🥂

good show. thanks konnie

Great stuff thanks. Other than champagne my vote goes for some of the terrific English sparkling wines. Camel Valley, Nytimber, Sugrue, Wiston. They are makings excellent wines now - but not cheap

Hey Konstantin! A couple of observations: 1. We say at our house that the sound of a cork popping should sound like the the sound of a contented woman. You still remember what that sounds like right? 2. I have been able to determine real champagne by looking at the size of the bead. The champenoise refer to the bead of anything made elsewhere as having toad's eye's or much larger beads or bubbles streaming from the bottom of the glass. 3. The state I live in here in Australia consumes the highest amount of French Champagne per capita. This is due to the wonderful writings of Bernadette O'Shea who won an award from the French for her writing. Cheers!

@RoryFitzpatrick-pe3fx

2 ай бұрын

To your first point, I always say it should sound like a princess’ fart. Pffft. A very soft t too. 😂

Hey Konstantin, can you help me where to buy that kind of bottle covers for blind tasting? Thanks man and really appreciate your content, keep doing good stuff !!

The fifth wine which was from Spain comes from the Basque region. I had no clue they were making a sparkling wine. The region is very rainy but the have a white grape and a red grape that tolerate that. The two grapes are unrelated.

Some great sparkling wines coming from the UK. I especially like those from Gusbourne Estate.

Super interesting the Moncuit showed that way to you. Those bottles are so laser focused, mineral + acid driven, and classic for the region. Makes me think you had an off bottle. Pierre Amillet doing great stuff over there.

Great video again! Outside of champagne, I like Italian sparkling wines (Ferrari, Ca del Bosco, La Scolca), Gloria Ferrer from California and what I consider to be the best Riesling Sekt 1900 from Van Volxem. If you want something sweet: Paolo Saracco Moscato d'Asti and especially Caudrina La Selvatica.

Would love your take on budget champagne (cheapest bottle from aldi et al) and big name brand nv

Australia has some great sparkling and New Zealand😊

My favourite sparkler outside Champagne is vintage Pelorus from Cloudy Bay.

I love these face off videos! Would have been an interesting curveball to throw a rosé champagne in there. Or a maybe you could do a whole sparkling rosé wine face off. Also, if you haven't had Raventos from Spain (not Cava) you have to try it! Can really go head to head with good Champagne. Sparkling Vouvray from Loire (Huet) would be a good addition to this comparison as well.

I've noticed the rubbery aroma with Cava at times as well. Where does this come from?

Immer unterhaltsam! Viele Grüße aus Hamburg!

Tamar Valley in Tasmania produces some amazing sparkling. Pirie and House of Arras are my favourite

Very tough tasting and no rosé wines either to help! Favorite sparkler is Huet’s Petillant just a stunning ambassador for sparkling chenin blanc

Konstantin, may we know what glasses are those? Great vid! Cheers!

@holgerheuermann

2 ай бұрын

Riedel Veritas Champagne

As a big fan of sparkling wines, I am actually going to add 3 wines as my favorites (outside of champagne) depending on the situation. For a great bargain, I choose the Crémant from my home region of Luxembourg, excellent quality for a very low price. If I want to drink something funky, I would choose the Paleokerisio Orange Sparkling Wine from Greece, every vintage is so unique and makes it really exciting to taste when the new vintage comes out. Another favorite I always gravitate to that is fantastic is the Emmolo sparkling wine from California, again a wine where each vintage is somewhat unique. The wine is made by the daughter of the winemakers of Caymus and she is really showing her skill in this sparkling wine

Tassie (Australia) has some quality bubbles

I really enjoy Alberto Massucco Champagne, both the 00 and 02 (g) dosage are interesting. Comes at a fair price, too - and is the only Italian that produces Champagne in France for a little trivia✌🏼🍾

I like to see you review some Pet Nat wines.

So many bubbles, so little time! Great producers are all over the world, so I just trust my palate. If it tastes good, then it tastes good! In my experience, bubbles can mask nuance the same way temperature can. Maybe that's just me, but when enjoying bubbles, I don't drill down too deeply.

Tolles Video! Es wäre da mal spannend einen Vergleich der "Massen" Sekte wie Freixenet, Mumm, etc zu sehen

I would watch sparkling tasting every week. I think this is the best market to find a bargain wine vs champagne and it pairs with basically all food - so universal appeal!

I’m curious as to your pouring technique. Is that for the benefit of tasting, or is that how you are supposed to pour? (High and foamy)

Great blind tasting video. Even though I could never be a master of wine I can see how blind tasting sparkling wines and champagnes would be difficult. I doubt if any of those wines are available where I live but I will keep my eyes open just the same. I love sparkling wines and champagnes but have not indulged in any for a few years now. I think, maybe, on my next shop I will pick something up. Its been too long.

No. 1 Family Estate & Quartz Reef, both from NZ; Gusbourne from UK; and Gramona & Recaredo, both from Spain are all outstanding sparklers. I could go on, as it is my favorite style of wine, but I'll cap it here.

I’ve only had one bottle but the Arras E J Carr is the best Aussie sparkling. It’s from Tasmania and is around 15 years in bottle before release. It’s in another league to any other Aussie sparkling and it’s truly beautiful.

Great tasting! You really should try a brazilian sparkling wine, specially from Pinto Bandeira, maybe a Cave Geisse one or a Valmarino one. There are several excellent producers here and you would be amazed on how their products are high quality! I just came from a trip to the Serra Gaúcha region and it was incredible!

I'm a fan of Steininger's sparkling wines. They're located in the Kamptal region in Austria and offer fantastic value for money. In the price range of 20 - 30 Euro you get really fantastic entry level sparking wines and even their top quality wines are very affordable for roundabout 40 Euro.

There are some fantastic methode traditionale sparkling wines coming out of Tasmania in Australia right now. Arras being the main example, but there are many others as well.

fascinating video! Champaign method sparkling wines are the least “terroir” wines on the planet.

Konstantin I thoroughly enjoy your episodes, and mostly this one because my “You can choose only one drink on a desert island….” Is definitely champagne 🍾. You appear to be a little drunk? 😂 Or maybe you have a cold and it’s the cough syrup? You just seem a little more jovial today. Sante! 🥂

The best sparkling wine I've ever had was English. The blanc de blanc from Gusbourne Estate. Amazing stuff.

Bluestone sparkling wine from Wiltshire England is beautiful

Outside of Champagne, it has to be English sparkling for me. Some absolutely insanely good wines being made now.

Hopefully the one i will start produce next year

at the moment I have a phase where I drink most sparklers from Germany: Raumland Blanc de Blancs ist awesome good

@1963tobias

2 ай бұрын

I also like the „Bürgel“ a lot

There's a lot of excellent sparkling wine (espumante) coming from Portugal, such as Vertice, Murganheira, Luis Pato, and Soalheiro, with many made in the traditional method.

The runner up is tough for me! In terms of frequency/availability it’s Prosecco, but my local store has some delicious Riesling Sekt

It was missing a Brazilian sparkling sample on your table... or you can make an exclusive video for them.

Peter and Patrick has started the channel again called WIngkings, I hope you guys can collaborate with those real wine kings!

Would love to see a feature on some sparkling red wines, a couple of pet-nats and some lambrusco-style wines maybe?

Currently and price wise I like most of Cava Brut nature with plenty of aging in lees.

Mirabelle from California is my pick outside of Champagne.

I'm a big fan of Lytle Barnett from willamette valley. And Rajat parr's Preuve from sta. Rita hills.

8:09 usually also not just rubber but also carton boxes in taste. :)

Lots of foamy foam foam 😂 great stuff

Martin Codax sparkling Albariño for sure!! Roebuck Estate vintage Blanc de Noirs English sparkling wine too (this one for not trying to completely emulate champagne and making something a little more unique)

English sparkling such as Gusbourne, Nyetimber, Sugrue, or Simpsons. All great producers!

Izar Leku is the sparkling wine that Artadi does in the txakoli area wity Hondarribi Zuri grape variety. Artadi is one of the best wineries in Spain that left the Rioja denomination so they could be more free making their wines, with village wines and single wineyard wines with less wood and more fruit and freshness. You should try them (viña el pison for example)!

I love sparkling wines from northern Italy and Spain, but have recently been very impressed with some of the stuff I've had from Willamette Valley. I think there's immense potential there for sparkling wine. Would also love to see Meunier get more love outside of Champagne proper. Not enough producers growing it!

Spittoon😀 splash back....I learn something everyday!

One of my favourite, non Champagne, sparklers comes from South Africa. Graham Beck's Chardonnay Pinot Noir Brut NV, is delicious and a bargain....imo!

Cave Geisse Terroir Nature was missing on this lineup 😜

Ferrari Trento doc actually produce high quality metodo Classico method which is champagne method. Their nv and no rose is the best bargain in terms of the price quality. But my fav is the Perle nerlo 100% Pinot noir

I rarely drink California still wine but when it comes to sparkling wines, California offers the most bang for the buck given the local selection. There are lots of California sparkling wines in the $30 to $40 range that outperform champagnes in the $40 to $55 range in my opinion. But the local selection is limited. I haven't seen an English sparkling wine locally for sale yet. Would love to try one.