We toast June 2015 with Champagne Jacquesson Cuvée 736 thanks to Chef and Partner Michael Serpa from Select Oyster Bar in Boston's Back Bay.
Since the opening of this neighborhood spot back in April, we've enjoyed many glasses of sparkling wine with our meals and afternoon snacks at the Select bar. We picked one and then another as a possible wine to celebrate the arrival of June, but couldn't decide. We finally asked Chef Serpa if he would choose for us and he agreed.
We slipped out onto the patio at Select while lunch customers were finishing up their meals to photograph this wine.
One of the first things we learned was that, in addition to having a sparkler to enjoy on June 1st, our newest wine mentor was offering us another importer to add to our list of great resources. He loves the wines from Vintage 59 and offers a number of selections from their portfolio on his current list.
Chef Serpa calls Champagne Jacquesson Cuvée 736, "Balanced." We agree and love that he has picked so many wines like this that match perfectly with his food. As to this one, he pointed out, "Champagne is the ultimate food wine!"
You'll notice that the glasses used for this tasting (which was generously shared with us) are not flutes.
Serpa has great reasons for his sparkling wine glass choice, "Any nicer sparkling wine, I think, just works much better in a standard kind of wine glass rather than a flute, just because you get the aroma..." "When you're drinking great wine," he said, "I think it should be in a proper glass where you're going to get the full experience of the wine."
He recognizes the celebratory feel of a flute and you'll find flutes on hand at Select, but you may be offered the choice of a flute or a wine glass with a particular wine.
Between lunch and dinner service, we moved inside to the large table by the window to talk more about wine.
Wine Temperature
You may also have noticed that he did not put this bottle in a wine chiller. We often suggest drinking a great wine, like this one, through a range of temperatures. We were delighted that he agrees, "As it warms up, you taste a little bit more of the wine." He explained that with the lower alcohol levels in many sparkling wines, you won't experience that hot taste of alcohol as the wine warms, the way you might in a 15% ABV wine. You just enjoy more of the full flavor the wine has to offer.
A Toast for June
We asked Chef Serpa what he'll be toasting on June 1st as he joins us in welcoming a Happy New Month! He has great reason to celebrate because he'll be toasting his 30th birthday on June 2nd. He said, "I think it's going to be a good year!" We agreed and wished him a good decade. He responded that the first 30 were good!
Click over to twitter @michaelserpa, (where he claims the title of, "Handyman @selectboston in Boston's Back Bay,") and wish him a Happy Birthday on June 2nd. Or post a birthday greeting on the Select Facebook page. He certainly has our best wishes for a happy and successful third decade of life.
A Big Thank You to Chef Serpa!
Thank you for the time you took out of a busy afternoon to share this wonderful wine with us and our readers. And, thanks for starting a new BostonZest tradition of letting people we trust select our sparkler of the month, from time to time.
About This Wine
- Name: Champagne Jacquesson Cuvée 736
- Type of wine: Champagne
- Year or N/V: N/V but based on 2008 harvest
- Blend: 53% Chardonnay, 29% Pinot Noir, and 18% Pinot Meunier with reserve wines from 2007 and 2006 harvests (34%)
- Country of origin: Dizy, France
- Alcohol by Volume: 12%
- Importer: Vintage 59
- Distributor: Ruby Wines
- Price per bottle in the restaurant: $98.
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Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon
The Food Lover's Guide to Wine
The New Wine Lover's Companion
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino
