Double shill!

December convexes

Spam at 12:58 AM! And, for the record, I hate Chinese suppliers of counterfeit goods (including fake name-brand footwear). Hiding behind a GoDaddy anonymous proxy server won't your business are less illegal, you know.

Ok, but what about a cooking beer?

Me?
Boh for a batter for rings, pickles, etc if I'm using the fryer.
Langunitas Brown Suggah for beef and chicken, especially if using a skillet.
Spaten Optimator for my crock pot ribs, either beef or pork.

Odie B, in this case the cooking wine was for the cook, not for the food.

Oh, I'm well aware. I'm a fine practitioner of "some for you, some for the doctor."

(good one for my actual content contributions: comment blanks.)

I remember The Galluping Gourmet, Graham something or other? He was a big believer in some for the cook. But I think I remember reading that he actually did it to the point of being an alcoholic. A cautionary tale to all of us, I guess.

It's a myth about Graham Kerr. He took a sip on his way to commercial and then one back in, but TV made it look like he drank through the whole break. The extroverted attitude was actually his wife's idea. See United States of Arugula.

'Yes, there are better pinot-based sparklers in the world. More than a dozen, at least.'

I totally don't get the point of this. Anybody else does? After all, the majority of Champagne and sparkling wines are made from the Pinot Noir grapes.

@Anonymous
Right, so it's saying many of those wines are technically better than Gruet. Where's the confusion?

we Love the G-sauce here at Chez Suave.
It'll taste so much nicer when they're cratin' Peyton off the field of battle.
{I mean him no harm; just thought it sounded cool}.

Hafez tadpole: young middle-eastern man discovers what lies under all them pyramids!

750mL... how many of those better sparklers are cheaper? I've had wonderful Champagnes that were $35+ per bottle. Gruet is worth every one of the $17 or $18 you spend on it. But I grew up around the corner from that What-A-Burger in Albuquerque, so I'm biased.

captcha says "legislation booting." Hopefully it has some prescience regarding the direct shipping bill in the GA...?

Well shoot. I spelled it right in the captcha box.

But by omitting the "s" in "boosting", my commentary implies exactly the opposite of my intended meaning. Oops.

750ml, Anonymous is me, sorry.

My confusion is why 'more than a dozen', not hundreds.

@Dan D
Oh, well that's a fair point, but I certainly wouldn't say that all of those blanc de noirs are better than Gruet. Indeed, hardly any are. Probably a couple dozen at best.

@Matt
Agreed. As a "value" wine, Gruet is very tough to beat. In fact, I get it for $12-14 usually. In that price point, the only other sparklers that really stand out are Marques de Gelida (http://750ml.blogspot.com/search?q=gelida), maybe Soligo prosecco, and several blanquette de limoux (http://750ml.blogspot.com/search?q=prosecco).

750 mL, perhaps I misinterpreted, but the article seemed to say the Gruet is in the top 20 of ALL bubblies. I find that to be a very bold statement given the fact that, as you know, there are a whole lot of them out there. Besides taste can be very subjective.

@Dan Yes, Gruet deserves consideration among the top 20 blanc de noirs. Remember, pinot and pinot meunier are often blended with chard. I don't include those wines here. We're talking specifically about pure pinot and pinot meunier. Whether or not Gruet shakes out at #20, 50, or 84, I don't know. But it's in the neighborhood. And, outside of grand crus like Ay, Bouzy, and Ambonnay, it has very little competition.
750mL.blogspot.com

750 mL, my conception of a Blanc de noir is that of a bubbly that is not a Rose. As such, I really don't differentiate it from another Brut with varying ratio of Pinot Noir to Chardonnay. To me, it's like saying this particular red is the best 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, not counting all the ones that were blends (of Bordeaux grapes). Perhaps, this is how we look at wines here, but probably not in France where it all started. What do you think?

Dan D., your conception of blanc de noirs is incorrect. It doesn't have anything to do with rose or not rose.

Blanc de noirs means the champagne was made with just pinot noir and pinot meunier (no chardonnay). Blanc de blanc means the champagne was made with just chardonnay. Champagnes with neither of those designations can be made with a combination.

Hal Laurent, I see your point, and 750 mL's as well. I do believe though that many bubblies labeled Blanc de Noirs do use some Chardonnay in the blend.

@Dan D @Hal
I really appreciate the comments, folks. Hal is right that blanc de noirs is specifically pinot noir and pinot meunier. While the two may be blended, by definition there is no chardonnay included. The term literally means "white of blacks" and suggests a sparkling wine made exclusively from the dark, red grapes, in this case pinot noir and pinot meunier. See The Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson for more information. And in fact roses, colored with either the addition of still red wine or by extended skin contact with red grapes, can theoretically be blanc de noirs. If they are, they would be labeled as such or come from a region like Bouzy that produces only pinot noir.

After all of these "high falootin" discussions of the makeup of the blanc de noirs, I can only say that we have been drinking Le Gruet blanc de nors for years. It is also part of our Thanksgiving day traditions. When the turkey is stuffed and put in the oven at around noon or so, we open up the first cranberry bread and the first bottle of Le Gruet blanc de noir. What could be better? The truth is Americans think champagne is only good for occasional toasts....we know better.

Thanks, 750 mL, for the discussion. Will pick up a bottle on my next trip to the liquor store. Thanks, EL, for starting this whole topic.

Susan, you nailed it. I couldn't agree more.

Bubbly points to Susan BK!