Sparkling wine from New Mexico?! You bet your bubbly, booby, and it's good stuff! Gruet was founded in the early 1980s by the Gruet family of Champagne. They watched as Champagne and Cava houses from France and Spain established new operations in California, but after investigating and rejecting that state, they took a close look at New Mexico and eventually decided on a high altitude (4,300 ft.) location about 170 miles south of Albuquerque, and haven't looked back since. Here's what one critic has to say about this excellent value: When compared to the Blanc de Noirs, this is much more subdued and dry. While it may lack the fun and perkiness of that wine, it has a mysterious and sexy mystique about it that draws you in. Red cherry skins join with concentrated red berry and spice potpourri to make this a perfect Champagne to sip on an early autumn evening. There is even a touch of tannin on the finish, which suits this perfectly. If there is a Gruet built for the dinner table, this is it.
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