Dr. Konstantin Frank Brut 2014
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Wine &
Spirits -
Robert
Parker
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Young and alive, the aromas jump out of the glass expressing baked red apple, ginger, lemon curd, wild flowers, apricot and biscuit notes. Bright lemon-driven acidity and very fine mousse leaves a creamy mouthfeel and a very long finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
After a few moments of funky confusion, this sparkler locks into place like a signal on a radar screen. A blend of mostly pinot noir and chardonnay, with a dollop of pinot meunier, it’s bright and nervy, with bracing notes of citrus and salt and a mildly leesy savor. It has the tension and clarity to pair with whitefish, like sole.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2014 Brut is a 55/40 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (with 5% Pinot Meunier) coming in with eight grams of sugar, 10.5 of total acidity and 11.6% alcohol. This was disgorged in January 2019, which date is on the back label, after about four years on the lees. As with the Blanc de Noirs, a small portion (5% of the Pinot Noir) is fermented in French oak (two to four years in age). This combines rich fruit with good acidity, making a consumer-friendly sparkler that tastes great yet still has some distinction. This is the sexiest of the sparklers, although not the most intense or complex. This should easily last another decade, more perhaps. It is young and vibrant today.
Other Vintages
2019-
Wine
Enthusiast - Decanter
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James
Suckling
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Wine &
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Robert
Parker
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Wine &
Spirits
Dr. Frank’s Wine Cellars is proud of its international winemaking team with each member bringing in their particular expertise. The talented group includes winemakers from California, Australia, France and Germany. The focus on world class wines continues with each generation of the family, each member living up to the Frank Family tradition of excellence.
Representing the topmost expression of a Champagne house, a vintage Champagne is one made from the produce of a single, superior harvest year. Vintage Champagnes account for a mere 5% of total Champagne production and are produced about three times in a decade. Champagne is typically made as a blend of multiple years in order to preserve the house style; these will have non-vintage, or simply, NV on the label. The term, "vintage," as it applies to all wine, simply means a single harvest year.
As the most historic wine-producing region in New York state, winemaking in the Finger Lakes area dates back to the 1820s and today as a region, accounts for 90% of the state’s total wine production.
Its narrow and deep lakes created by the movement of Ice Age glaciers create an environment similar to the classic Riesling-loving regions of Europe, namely Germany and Austria. The Finger Lakes retain summer heat that incidentally warms up cold winter air, making it fall down from the lakes’ steep slopes. When spring comes, the lakes, already cooled by cold winter weather, stave off vine budding until the danger of frost has subsided. The main lakes of the zone, that is those big enough to moderate the climate in this way, are the focal points of prime vineyard areas. They include Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca and Cayuga.
While Riesling has fueled most of the region’s success, today Pinot Noir and Cabernet Franc enjoy some attention.