Luc Belaire is one of the newest brands of sparkling wine to hit the market and take pop culture by storm.
The brand, launched in 2011, benefits from the sponsorship of a number of major rappers. Chief among them was Rick Ross, who started endorsing the brand as early as 2013, essentially acting as an unofficial spokesperson.
This is not the first brand launched to stardom due to pop culture. From Veuve to Cristal, from Freddie Mercury to Lil Wayne, sparkling wines and Champagne are inextricably linked to pop culture and stardom.
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LUC Belaire Bleu Sparkling Wine Review
This bottle is made up of a unique blend of grapes.
Ugni Blanc and Colombard are each generally considered to be blending grapes, produced in large quantity for one purpose: because they have a high yield and can make a ton of juice per acre.
So let’s see if Luc Belaire was able to spin gold from these humble crops.
LUC Belaire Bleu Sparkling Wine
- Brand: Luc Belaire
- Country: France
- Region: Burgundy
- Wine Type: Sparkling wine
- Varietals: Ugni Blanc and Colombard
- ABV: 12.5%
Appearance
The wine is a shiny sapphire blue. It has an undeniably sexy look in the glass, with fine, plentiful bubbles flowing freely.
Smell
The aroma is mostly one-dimensional. It smells like blue raspberries. Almost like sour blue raspberry candy.
In fact, it conjures up childhood memories of sour blue raspberry Jolly Ranchers in the middle of summertime. It smells almost saccharine, with a readily apparent richness to it that is undeniable.
Taste
The flavor profile of this bottle follows in the footsteps of aromatics pretty faithfully.
Lots of rich, artificial blue raspberry, blueberry, and just a hint of off-flavored stone fruit make up the bulk of the taste. It has a slight tartness to it that I presume was meant to offset the high level of sugar present.
In my opinion, it doesn’t work and doubles down on the “tart/sweet candy” profile I have been picking up.
I will say that the texture is nice. This bottle features fine, plentiful bubbles which are reminiscent of bonafide Champagne or crémant. It has a long finish, which leaves your mouth watering for quite some time after your last sip.
What Does LUC Beaire Bleu Sparkling Wine Pair With?
Just do this one by itself or as a mixer. It would make a fun French 75 with such an eye-catching color.
You could get incredibly creative with some really fun mimosa combinations. Maybe something involving blackberry juice or tropical fruit?
If you really want to try your hand at pairing with this, go all in and use it for Halloween candies.
It would work with Skittles, Warheads, Jolly Ranchers, and other hard candies with that sort of flavor profile pretty well.
What Are Wines That Are Similar Toluc Belaire Bleu Sparkling Wine?
There are actually a remarkable number of products to fill this niche these days.
For example, Bella Blue, Blanc de Bleu (which is a bit drier than the others), and Blumond (an Italian sparkling wine that is blue) all have fairly similar flavor profiles if you would like to try other options.
Aside from chasing the blue trend, you could try any of the Stella Rosa Moscato wines, which are all flavored to taste like different fruits, and range from golden honey peach to black cherry.
Finally, try the other Luc Belaire products if you are just shooting for sparkling wines with trendy labels or names. Honestly, the white label is my favorite.
It is still a bit sweeter than what I would usually reach for, but it is a solid blanc de blancs with a really rich flavor profile.
Final Thoughts
I am going to be one hundred percent honest, this is not my cup of tea. It is sweeter and more artificial than I would like, personally.
That said, if you step back and think of it less like wine and more like a sparkling wine-based mixed drink, I can definitely see a place for it. Give it a try for yourself and see if you think it is worth the hype!