How much did I like the Segura Viudas? I went back to Central Market and bought a second bottle the next day.
This is classic cheap wine, as well as pretty good bubbly in its own right. It’s $10 and well made, balanced, bone dry and fruity, with an almost pinot noir berry-like flavor. Which is a neat trick, since it doesn’t have any pinot in it.
Segura Viudas is best known for its more expensive sparkler, the bottle with the pewter fittings (which is even more dry than this). It’s part of the Freixenet cava empire, cava being the term for Spanish sparkling wine. I don’t know that I’ve had a Freixenet bubbly that didn’t have something to recommend it. Serve this on its own as a holiday toasting wine, or with seafood (lobster rolls would be terrific) or roast chicken.
On a personal note Mike Friend, one of the finest and most knowledgeable people in the wine business in Dallas, died last week. There is a memorial service at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. I have known Mike for almost as long as I have written about wine; our running gag was my love of cheap wine vs. his appreciation of the expensive stuff. Whenever I called him for a story, he would always apologize for not having a cheap enough wine to recommend. Mike will be missed.
I heard this last weekend - total shock!
Posted by: Bill Kennedy | October 22, 2008 at 02:22 PM