Fleuraison is a botanical term in French, which mean to produce flowers. It’s a more technical word than the French for blooming (floraison), and the experience of this sparkling wine’s smell is not pushy flower smell but a nice aura. This blanc de blancs is crisp, smooth and yes, floral. Crisp like an apple, smooth but not completely off the chart like a French champagne, and the floral is not one smell but a nice melange — not tropical kind of flowers, but a light lavender.
So this is what I think about this bubbly that I pay less than than $13 for at the neighborhood great wine store called Divino.
And so kindly the Wine Curmudgeon filled me in on what he knows about the wine. Fleuraison is made of Spanish grapes by a French producer. He says the smoothness that was eluding my explanation is between Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine, and a true French Champagne. Yes, that’s it.
We opened this to have with an appetizer and put a cork in it. I was happy to drink another glass of it the next night and it really was not unpleasant. Bubbles remained, the taste was still fine, and the aroma still there. If I can get two nights out of bottle, I don’t feel so guilty opening a champagne. I’m not required to down it all. Great. More champagne can be opened.