This month we start with a Blanc de Blanc from the formidable Champagne Grand Cru of Cramant, follow it up with a move to the east and another 100% Chardonnay sparkler from the Jura (this is one of the great unknown treasures of French bubbles) and then switch hemispheres and grapes, for a mostly Pinot Noir Brut Rosé from South Africa. There’s enough variety, and delicacy, here for the most refined, and most adventurous palates. Amandla! (Amandla means “cheers” in many of the African languages spoken in South Africa).
To see details from all of the wine from your shipment click here or follow the Champagne & Sparkling Wine Society January 09 link to the right.
Though many of the large Champagne producers are based in the Montagne de Reims, a large portion of the legendary Champagnes come from the Côte de Blancs. 
and 1% Pinot Meunier). The grapes from the region play a dual role: when they are part of a blend with grapes from other regions, they contribute a freshness, delicacy and finesse to the blend, but when they are on their own, they produce powerful, taught wines that mature into magically creamy, biscuit, nutty showstoppers. The chalky soil and steep slope have an affinity for Chardonnay like few other places in the world. Cramant has long been considered one of the greatest Grand Crus in Champagne.
Bouquemont, and was called Bonnaire-Bouquemont briefly as it transitioned from one side of the family to the other. Over the subsequent years, the estate has expanded to 22 hectares, 13.5 of which are in Cramant, the rest in the Vallée de la Marne. Wines are pressed traditionally, and fermented and aged using a combination of tank and oak barrels, where the wines undergo malo-lactic fermentation.
Located about thirty miles east of the Cote d’Or in Burgundy, 
South Africa continues to surprise me, but this wine might be the most pleasant wine surprise I had in all of 2008. The grapes for these bubbles come from two regions that are especiall cool. The Pinot Noir in the wine comes from a Graham Beck’s Firgrove Vineyards, near False Bay in Stellensbosch. There is a cool coastal current here which keeps the air significantly cooler than its none-to-warm surroundings. The Chardonnay in this wine comes from the vineyards in Robertson with high natural limestone contents.