As you well know I am a fan of sparkling wine in all forms, from the humble to the sublime. Recently had a friend/hero bring back (per my request) a bottle of Haywire The Bub from British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley. It’s a single-vineyard (Secrest Mountain) vintage-dated bottle (2012) that I love for many reasons, which follow.
2012 Haywire The Bub Secrest Mountain Vineyard
The first thing I dig about the bottle you note before even opening: the closure. It’s so cool to have a bottle of bubbly that does not require anxiety-inducing skill to open. (Surely you’ve had some kind of quasi-disaster regarding cork and sparkling wines? Not to deter you from mastering this ritual of removal, it’s just nice to know there are options.)
But the lighthearted crown cap (aka bottle cap) atop the Haywire The Bub does not mean that the juice inside is anything less than serious. This is a really well-made bottle of sparkling wine. It’s practically an equal mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, produced using the Traditional Method. Meaning that, just like fine Champagne, it goes through a secondary, bubble-producing fermentation in the bottle.
Ok I’ve switched from the informality of this wine in appearance to the formality of its pedigree; now I’m going to go back to Haywire The Bub’s low-key appeal.
It comes, strangely enough, from the tech(nical) sheet created by the winery with the nuts-and-bolts geekery that bloggers like me crave. (Think alcohol %, pH levels, total acidity, residual sugar. Sexy talk.) Beyond that is a spot-on graphical representation of what to pair with The Bub:
You know how much I love sparkling wine and popcorn. And fries. Really, bubbles and anything salty and starchy. Also, Haywire The Bub would be great with anything you eat in a bowl with chopsticks.
Finally, you don’t even need to pair this bottle of British Columbia bubbles with any food. Just grab a party hat.
Officially ready for a glass of The Bub.
HAYWIRE ABOUT CONCRETE EGGS? ME, TOO!
Good find, Jameson!