Note: Brut closed in early 2009.
Dallas's new champagne bar has been open less than two months and it's already popular with the crowds. The first bar in the nation devoted entirely to champagne, Brut is a unique gathering place.
The Lounge
The elegant little setup includes a few tall tables surrounded by comfortable bar stools and a casual seating area with a green Victorian-style love seat and benches. Two chandeliers--a black one and a white one--hang over the whole scene.
Nearly three hundred chilled bottles of champagne hang on the walls, priced competitively with Central Market. Upon entering, the proprietor Ildefonso Jimenez handed us a menu of champagnes for tasting. The three on the list were available to be ordered by the glass or the bottle, or all three could be tried in a flight. Of course, we tried them all.
The Tasting
The first to come out was a cava, a sparkling wine from Spain. Sparkling wines are only called "champagne" if they originate from the Champagne region of France. French sparkling wines not from Champagne are known as cremants and each country has their own term for their own sparkling wines.
The cava was a rosada, or a rose wine, made from grenache and xarello grapes. The color struck me as very appropriate for a romantic dinner or Valentine's day. The soft bubbles and sweet, fruity taste would make it a pleasant accompaniment to a light meal.
The second was a Luigi Bosca from the Mendoza region of Argentina. The wine, made from the more traditional sparkling wine grapes of pinot noir and chardonnay, had the color and flavor of champagne, although we thought it felt a little rough in the mouth.
The last one to arrive was a true champagne from the Pommery vineyards. It had a balanced flavor to it with a little sweetness. The proprietor told us that Pommery champagne was started by Louise Pommery in 1860 and has been made since then the same way she designed it.
While we were there, several distributors arrived and brought a box or three of sparkling wines. One champagne was the Pol Roger, Winston Churchill's favorite vintage. When it was clear that France would be invaded by the Germans, Churchill bought up the entire vintage of 1934 and held it until after the war ended. He then took the bottles back and enabled the bottler to restart. Pol Roger only names their vintage after Churchill if the quality is up to Churchill's standards. It is selling for $320 a bottle.
The Chocolates
Besides champagnes, Brut sells only chocolates by MarieBelle. Each piece is a miniature work of art with whimsical scenes or abstract designs on them. They also taste very good. We tried a cardamom chocolate with our flight. I didn't know what to expect with such a seemingly odd pairing of the spice with the sweet, but it worked wonderfully.
I recommend Brut as a nice place to relax with friends or as a cozy date spot. Also, with the chilled bottles waiting on the walls and the artistic gourmet chocolates ready to go, this is a good place to stop by to get the supplies for a romantic picnic. Chocolate and champagne pair well together.