Cork Wine Bar is a great place to taste wine and socialize with friends for happy hour in D.C. The Washington Post recently called this venue one of the “most accomplished” wine bars in the D.C. metro area.
Owners Dianne Gross and Khalid Pitts say they launched Cork Wine Bar in D.C.’s Logan Circle to “open a welcoming space in our neighborhood for people to come with their friends and family to try outstanding wines, often from unexplored regions of the world, paired with good, simple, local food.” They succeeded. They host periodic tastings, offer wine flights, and serve gourmet snack plates and deserts.
Dianne Gross recommended one of their wines that would be particularly great for enjoying on warm spring days and summer evenings. She suggests Tissot, Crémant du Jura, Brut NV, Rose, which she describes as a complex sparkling wine that is reminiscent of Champaign.
Crémant is in fact the term that the French use to describe wines that are bottle fermented using Méthode Champagnoise. It involves bottle fermentation and aging that keeps the wine in contact with the yeasts to impart toasty, bready flavors.
This wine offers the bready qualities found in Champagne but it also retains crisp, fresh fruit flavors. The Jura wine region lies east of Burgundy and near the Swiss border, where winemakers specialize in sparkling rose wines made with Pinot Noir and Poulsard grapes. Gross points out that the wine stands well on its own, but also works well with a wide range of food, including cheese and prosciutto. Gross further suggests a pairing with the Cork Wine Bar Brioche sandwich. You can taste this wine for about $12 a glass at Cork Wine Bar.
Originally published on Examiner.com.
