Roter sparkling wine is a rarity. The Germans are the world champions of sparkling pleasure – no other people drinks so much sparkling water over the course of the year – but the foaming pleasure is only very rarely red. Many associate the red color in the champagne glass primarily with the notorious sweet Crimean sparkling wines, which once came to us from the East and which, thank God, are now also available in dry versions. All in all, red sparkling wine is a tiny niche in the huge sparkling wine market.
It’s no different in the Rheingau with its great tradition of sparkling wine. However, red sparkling wines have always been a small but integral part of production there. Pinot Noir from Assmannshausen has not only been pressed into classic red wine by some winegrowers for ages, but also subsequently made into sparkling wine.
The Schloss Vaux sparkling wine house in Eltville is dedicated to this specialty with particular ambition: their Assmannshäuser Pinot Noir Brut has had a small but loyal fan base for many years. Only a few thousand bottles of this ruby red drop are disgorged and released each year, currently the 2016 is on sale for 30 euros (www.schloss-vaux.de).
Sparkling: The red sparkling wine from Vaux Castle.
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Bild: Schloss Vaux
The red heavyweight
In contrast to its white siblings, this sparkling wine has clear tannins due to the red wine-typical mash fermentation, which are elegantly integrated and do not take away from its fresh liveliness. Already in the nose it exudes intense cherry and almond aromas, in the mouth there are fine blackberry notes and a lot of earthy spiciness, and at the end there is also a hint of dark chocolate. This red heavyweight goes perfectly with food, best with venison, goose and duck, but also with meaty pies and chocolatey desserts.
The fact that this sparkling wine, like a red wine, can spend a few more years in the cellar and continue to mature in the bottle was recently demonstrated by a treasure trove of wines initiated by Vaux Managing Director Christoph Graf with up to 40-year-old drops: the sparkling wine loses its strength over the years gradually its fine perlage, but it gains in mature harmony and complexity – just like a great red still wine.