SPARKLING WINE TASTING AND THE ACCOLADES OF VARDON KENNETT

Vardon Kennett, the winery responsible for Familia Torres’s high-end sparkling wines, has garnered new international accolades. The Glass of Bubbly Awards 2022, which recently held their sixth edition in London, presented Cuvée Rosé de Mar 2017 with the highest distinction in the Sea Breeze category, whereas Cuvée Esplendor 2015 received the gold medal in the Classic and Elegant category.

The Familia Torres wines Cuvée Esplendor 2015 and Cuvée Rosé de Mar 2017 

Awards

• The new Rosé de Mar 2017 by Vardon Kennett took home the top award in the Sea Breeze category for its “floral notes and minerality”, culminating in “a long briny finish,” according to the jury, which described the rosé as a “perfect example of a sea breeze”.  First released this past summer, Rosé de Mar 2017 is a long-aged vintage sparkling wine, very limited in terms of production, and made according to the traditional method from Pinot Noir grown in the winery’s own altitude vineyards.

Cuvée Rosé de Mar by Vardon Kennett 

• As for Cuvée Esplendor 2015 by Vardon Kennett, the jury found its elegance and freshness surprising, as well as its “floral, citrus, and brioche notes”, which earned the wine the gold medal in the Classic and Elegant category. Made from a blend of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and a small percentage of Xarel·lo, the varietal queen of Penedès, the wine stands out for its subtle yet lively bubbles.

Cuvée Esplendor 2015 by Vardon Kennett

Located in Santa Margarida d’Agulladolç in Alt Penedès, the winery takes its name from Daniel Vardon Kennett, an early 19th-century maritime trader, adventurer, and entrepreneur who lived and made his own wines in the country house which is now home to the present-day winery. In keeping with the spirit of their namesake, the sparkling wines of Vardon Kennett embrace the search for freedom and the desire to challenge convention, experimenting with varieties, high-altitude vineyards, and vinification techniques to produce small-production wines brimming with personality.

The Vardon Kennett Winery, a Familia Torres property

Tasting sparkling wines, a complete sensory experience

High-quality sparkling wines like those of Vardon Kennett offer endless nuances which engage every one of our five senses during a tasting. Furthermore, they are a class of wines which, due to their nature and constitution, often require a little poetry to do their full expression justice. 

In contrast to still wines, sparkling wines not only offer a tactile experience, but an acoustic one too—they are the only wines we can hear, their voice embodied by the bubbles that trap the carbon dioxide gas, the primary and crucial factor that sets these wines apart from their still cousins. 

We can hear sparkling wines. Our ears easily perceive the release of the carbon gas. All we have to do is hold the glass to our ear and pay attention to the persistent playful murmur of the bubbles, which, as we said earlier, demands a certain amount of literary creativity to describe. For instance, we could opt for terms like “timid”, “discreet”, “effervescent”, “unpredictable”, “elegant”, “fine”, “coarse”, and a long etcetera, depending on the impressions of each individual taster. 

Much like still wines can be evaluated based on their appearance—using parameters such as colour, intensity or depth of colour, brilliance, clarity—so can sparkling wines. The aforementioned attributes also apply, but sparkling wines incorporate a few others related to how we perceive their foam and bubbles, making the visual evaluation of these wines somewhat more complex.

Serving a glass of Esplendor by Vardon Kennett 

As we can see from this first look at the particular characteristics of a sparkling wine tasting, fizz is the differentiating factor. The effervescence tickles our palate and whispers in our ear; it enlivens our sense of smell; we watch it sparkle and shimmer as the bubbles come and go in a constant and poetic stream.  Sparkling wines appeal to all of our senses, making them particularly memorable wines that can offer an experience which stays with us forever.