N.V. Dr. Konstantin Frank Riesling Célèbre Sparkler

If you were ever looking to pull the wool over the eyes of your wine friends or guests and just have a little fun with them, then this is the sparkling wine for you! We were first turned on to this wine by a friend that I know from the Wine Spectator Forum named Mark. He brought this wine to a pinot noir tasting we attended with other members at the Peking Duck House in Manhattan, and since then, we have picked up two cases of this sparkler. This was our first bottle from the second case, and until now, I never realized that I have never written about this sparkling wine from the Finger Lakes region of New York. What a sin as it deserves some recognition, being a sub $20, Riesling based sparkler! On the nose, it really doesn't give up a lot, but there are hints of peanut, sweet nectar, and pear. On the palate, this is where this sparkler shines, showing nice really nice acidity, with hints of apple, pear, sweet honey nectar, and hints of peach. This wine has a really nice sweetness to it, but being Riesling based, what else would you expect? Unfortunately, this bottle also had a bit of a stale, dusty element to it as well, and this is the first time that we have experience this with this particular bottling. Being non-vintage, I guess you just never really know, but this bottle definitely didn't show as well as some others. Regardless, it was worthy of 83 points, and still a nice starter at our dinner with friends. We'll be drinking many more of these over the summer, and I wouldn't be surprised in the least if we go through yet another case before the end of the year. Stay turned for more on this fun wine! Cheers! -F. Scott http://www.drfrankwines.com/