“I love the intensity, and must confess; when I might have stopped at two glasses, I had a third, and found it just as satisfying as the first.”
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While not exactly a “hot bed” of sparkling wine production, there has been more and more good bubbly coming out of Michigan for quite a while now. One need look no further than the dean of Michigan sparkling wine producers, Larry Mawby, whose L. Mawby winery, rebranded simply as Mawby in 2019, is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. Larry has stepped back from leadership, promoting longtime team members Michael and Peter Laing to head up the operations.
The Laing brothers also have their own label, bigLITTLE, which they describe as “Big wines from our Little Leelanau Peninsula.” They source their grapes from their parents’ ten-acre vineyard in Lake Leelanau, and while they make several still wines, it’s the Tire Swing Brut that first caught this bubblehead’s attention back in 2015. So, when I found a current bottling at Ferndale’s Western Market recently, it was an easy choice to try again, and a rewarding one at that.
NV bigLITTLE Tire Swing Brut, Leelanau Peninsula, 11% alc., $19.99: This bubbly blend of Riesling and Gewurztraminer is like taking a big mouthful of sparkling green apples, with some subtle wet stone minerality lurking in the background. A clean, medium straw in color, medium bodied and then some, with an active bead and good froth in the mouth, this is downright fun to sit and sip. 1% residual sugar enhances the varietal characteristics nicely, while maintaining the Brut nature. I love the expressive personality here, and it’s definitely a 3rd glass kind of wine for me. Crazy food-friendly, with popcorn, potato chips (really!) and most dishes fish and fowl. I’d go with some good Michigan trout from an area lake or stream. Find this wine
The grapes are hand picked and whole cluster pressed in the fall. The wine is fermented in stainless steel and 1/3 reserve wines from vintages 2009 to present are added at primary fermentation. Reserve wines are again drawn off and the remaining wine is refermented in the Cuve Close method and bottled.
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Speaking of Mawby (the winery, not the Larry), I tried one of their offerings for the first time (I thought) several weeks ago, and I really enjoyed it. I hesitated posting notes until now, because I thought it might probably be a bit hard to find these days. It’s a commemorative that was bottled to celebrate Traverse City’s New Year’s Eve Cherry-T Ball Drop, with some of the proceeds going to the Festival Foundation. When I went back for more, it was gone, and when I contacted the winery, I wasn’t really surprised to find out that it is actually Mawby “Sex” Brut Rosé with a different label.
NV Mawby Ball Drop Bubbly Brut Rosé, 11% alc., 12% alc, $18.99: A pleasant peachy pink in color, with plenty of bubbly activity streaming up from the bottom of the glass. Assertive flavors of not-quite-tart cherry are underscored with a little earth and mineral and driven home by a wave of balanced acidity merging perfectly with all those wonderful bubbles. This lingers nice and long on the mouth coating finish.
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When I had this, I wasn’t in the mood for wine at all. I probably would have just had a good craft beer, but I remembered it was resting patiently in the fridge, so I opened it, and I’m really glad I did. I love the intensity, and must confess; when I might have stopped at two glasses, I had a third, and found it just as satisfying as the first. It’s a blend of Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Riesling and Muscat, weighing in at 1.4% residual sugar.
I love Mawby Sex; I’ve had it many times over the years, and even wrote it into one of my original songs. The good news is that you don’t have to search all over to find Ball Drop Bubbly, since Sex is readily available, and for less money. The Mawby wine shop lists Sex at $17, $1.99 less than I paid for Ball Drop. However, I have seen it selling for as low as $13.99 in the Detroit market, and more often, for about $15.99. So, I will continue to pay for Sex at what seems to me to be a very fair price, and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys good Brut Rosé. Find this wine
Grapes are picked and carefully pressed in the fall. The juice is fermented in stainless steel. The wine is blended and then re-fermented in the Cuve Close Method capturing the delicate bubbles in solution. The wine is then filtered and bottled.
Reporting from Day-twah,
Bastardo
