says the tasting notes for Stone Hill Winery's Brut Rose. While I'm not totally sure that I prefer sparkling wine to diamonds (only one of these will help a damsel escape, James Bond-style, from a glass box in a villain's secluded island lair), it's a very good wine.
While Missouri is gaining a reputation for wine made from native grapes and French hybrid varietals, I certainly wasn't expecting such a balanced and flavorful wine. Not sweet, but not very dry either, Stone Hill's owner and winemaker Thomas Held has a deft hand, with the regional wine festival medals to prove it. Considering the necessarily high prices for small production wines, $18.99 for this bottle is a good value. And both the packaging and the wine itself is an attractive shade of pink. Yes sir, this is a girly wine...but an intellectual girly wine--like a physics student in a pink sweater.
Stone Hill Winery Brut Rose (NV), $18.99, stonehillwinery.com
Interested in learning more about Missouri wine and native American wine grapes? The Missouri Wine Program's new Norton Says website is a fun, interactive place to learn about Norton and other Missouri varietals.
Showing posts with label Sparkling Wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sparkling Wine. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Love is in the Air, and Wine is in the News
When I checked my email this morning, I was figuratively clobbered over the head by the vast amount of articles about Valentine's Day wines. That's what I get for having so many Google Alerts set up. For your enjoyment, I've created a list of the best articles pertaining to V-Day wines:
Ray Isle of Food + Wine magazine, one of my favorite wine writers, published an article today about wine and chocolate pairing, which is a notoriously difficult process. Contrary to popular belief, wine and chocolate isn’t the perfect pair--Ray gives some great tips on how to make it work.
Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg of the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post provide this great article about food pairings and Valentine's Day wines. They also provide a link to Eat Something Sexy, a website maintained by a Cordon Bleu trained chef who specializes in food aphrodisiacs.
I may not be a fan of Charles Olken, but his love of brut Rosé sparklers endears him to me somewhat. His article about his wine picks for Valentine's Day gives some reviews of both domestic and imported sparkling wine.
Laurie Daniel of the San Jose Mercury News gives a great primer on Port, and her shopping suggestions for Valentine's Day.
The Napa Valley Register published a humorous article today about doing Valentine's Day on a budget in Napa (perhaps an oxymoron?), but the tips are universal.
Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune and OC Register writes about dessert wines, which are truly underappreciated by American drinkers.
Happy Singles Awareness Day everyone. Go drink some wine.
Ray Isle of Food + Wine magazine, one of my favorite wine writers, published an article today about wine and chocolate pairing, which is a notoriously difficult process. Contrary to popular belief, wine and chocolate isn’t the perfect pair--Ray gives some great tips on how to make it work.
Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg of the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post provide this great article about food pairings and Valentine's Day wines. They also provide a link to Eat Something Sexy, a website maintained by a Cordon Bleu trained chef who specializes in food aphrodisiacs.
I may not be a fan of Charles Olken, but his love of brut Rosé sparklers endears him to me somewhat. His article about his wine picks for Valentine's Day gives some reviews of both domestic and imported sparkling wine.
Laurie Daniel of the San Jose Mercury News gives a great primer on Port, and her shopping suggestions for Valentine's Day.
The Napa Valley Register published a humorous article today about doing Valentine's Day on a budget in Napa (perhaps an oxymoron?), but the tips are universal.
Bill Daley of the Chicago Tribune and OC Register writes about dessert wines, which are truly underappreciated by American drinkers.
Happy Singles Awareness Day everyone. Go drink some wine.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Valentine's Day Approaches
One week until Valentine’s Day, and many people still haven’t picked out a gift for their significant other. Or, if you’re super single like me, what to send your other single friends to console them during this travesty of a holiday.
Anyway, forget the jewelry, boys, and toss that cologne, ladies, because wine is the best Valentine’s Day gift!
For your husband or wife
Save: A bottle of wine from the year you were married. A nice French bottle is a classic touch, though a bottle from your own area is always fun—wine is made in all 50 U.S. states, and in most regions of the world.
Splurge: A trip to wine country. Like I mentioned above, there are wineries in all the states of the Union. Some are harder to come by (in, say, Alaska), but most states have wine trails, and most countries have wine regions (even India and China, by the way). A day trip is a fun way to spend time together, and a weekend is an excellent way to relax.
Hotels located in or very near wineries are fun. Some suggestions:
Washington—Cave B Inn; Inn at Abeja
California (Santa Rosa)—Vintner’s Inn
Georgia—Chateau Elan
Remember—it still costs less than a tennis bracelet.
For your lover
Save: Reasonably priced sparkling wine. Inexpensive and sexy. I recommend Domaine Ste. Michelle Luxe (about $20).
Splurge: Expensive Champagne. Expensive and sexy. I recommend Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne (about $90). Not only does it have an amazing flavor profile and minerality, it’s also pink.
For your new girlfriend or boyfriend
Save: There’s nothing cozier than a glass of port or sherry in front of a roaring fire. Encourage some snuggling with a bottle of Barnard Griffin 2005 Reserve Syrah Port ($16.99).
Splurge: Make your own wine together at a local crushpad or microwinery. Cleaner and easier than getting a puppy, and an excellent way to bond, crushpads are located in most parts of the U.S. Plus, if you break up, it’s easier to split cases of wine than share doggie custody.
Live in or near San Francisco? Try Crushpad.
For your single friends
Save: A bottle of Mad Housewife, Il Bastardo, or possibly R Winery's Bitch Grenache or Evil Cabernet Sauvignon. Remind them why it’s good to be single sometimes.
Splurge: Personalized bottles from Northwest Cellars in Seattle, WA. Don bottles with a particularly attractive picture of your group of friends, a photo of Matt Damon, or a reminder like “It’s better to go alone than badly accompanied.” The possibilities are endless.
Anyway, forget the jewelry, boys, and toss that cologne, ladies, because wine is the best Valentine’s Day gift!
For your husband or wife
Save: A bottle of wine from the year you were married. A nice French bottle is a classic touch, though a bottle from your own area is always fun—wine is made in all 50 U.S. states, and in most regions of the world.
Splurge: A trip to wine country. Like I mentioned above, there are wineries in all the states of the Union. Some are harder to come by (in, say, Alaska), but most states have wine trails, and most countries have wine regions (even India and China, by the way). A day trip is a fun way to spend time together, and a weekend is an excellent way to relax.
Hotels located in or very near wineries are fun. Some suggestions:
Washington—Cave B Inn; Inn at Abeja
California (Santa Rosa)—Vintner’s Inn
Georgia—Chateau Elan
Remember—it still costs less than a tennis bracelet.
For your lover
Save: Reasonably priced sparkling wine. Inexpensive and sexy. I recommend Domaine Ste. Michelle Luxe (about $20).
Splurge: Expensive Champagne. Expensive and sexy. I recommend Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé Champagne (about $90). Not only does it have an amazing flavor profile and minerality, it’s also pink.
For your new girlfriend or boyfriend
Save: There’s nothing cozier than a glass of port or sherry in front of a roaring fire. Encourage some snuggling with a bottle of Barnard Griffin 2005 Reserve Syrah Port ($16.99).
Splurge: Make your own wine together at a local crushpad or microwinery. Cleaner and easier than getting a puppy, and an excellent way to bond, crushpads are located in most parts of the U.S. Plus, if you break up, it’s easier to split cases of wine than share doggie custody.
Live in or near San Francisco? Try Crushpad.
For your single friends
Save: A bottle of Mad Housewife, Il Bastardo, or possibly R Winery's Bitch Grenache or Evil Cabernet Sauvignon. Remind them why it’s good to be single sometimes.
Splurge: Personalized bottles from Northwest Cellars in Seattle, WA. Don bottles with a particularly attractive picture of your group of friends, a photo of Matt Damon, or a reminder like “It’s better to go alone than badly accompanied.” The possibilities are endless.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Bubbles!
"Come quickly—I am drinking the stars!"—attributed to Dom Perignon
Usually served at weddings, New Year's Eve and in the occasional mimosa, sparkling wine is unfortunately relegated to "special occasions" in the US. Not so in other countries—Prosecco, Lambrusco and Asti make frequent visits to informal gatherings and the dinner table in Italy, as do Sekt in Germany and Cava in Spain. Refreshing and versatile, sparkling wines from around the world make not only great party wines, but also good everyday wines.
Bubbles
Fermentation is the process by which sugars are converted to alcohol. The sparkle is due to the addition of extra sugar into the bottle (méthode traditionnelle) or in a vat (charmat process) after the first fermentation process. The second fermentation process creates the carbonation.
Sweetness
There are varying degrees of sweetness for sparkling wines, but the four sugar levels terms one should know are Brut, Dry, Sec and Demi-Sec. You'll find "extra" tagged onto these words, but the meanings are as follows:
Brut: bone dry
Dry: the smallest amount of discernable sweetness
Sec: slightly sweet
Demi-Sec: sweet enough to be served as a dessert wine
Color
An oversimplified, but hopefully useful guide to color:
Blanc de Blanc is a sparkling wine made with white grapes (usually Chardonnay).
Blanc de Noirs is a light pink sparkling wine made with red grapes (usually Pinot Noir).
Rosé refers to any “pink” wine. In this case, Rosé can be made with the saignée method, when, after pressing, some wine is bled off after only a short contact with the skins. A sparkling Rosé is a wine that has been through a second fermentation process to create the bubbles.
Opening The Bottle
I've been hit several times by flying sparkling wine corks, so the threat of a wine-related injury is a very real one. The best way to open a sparkling wine bottle is to saber it off, by which a person takes a sharp sword and cuts off the neck of the bottle. This is not an option for most folks, unfortunately—would that we all had swords lying around. The second best method, I've found, is to remove the cage (the wire implement securing the cork), put a dishtowel over the cork, hold the bottle at about ten o’clock, grip the sides of the cork in one hand, with the towel over it, and twist the bottle with the other. The cork should release with a slight pop into the towel, and very little, if any, wine should froth over.
Names
Although many people call all sparkling wines Champagne—this is fallacious and irritating to both Champagne makers and wine enthusiasts. Only wines produced with grapes grown in the particular chalk soil of the Champagne region of France may be called Champagne. "Sparkling wine" is the generic term for all wines with some form of carbonation. Regionally, sparkling wines have different names. Below are some of my favorite sparkling wines, and from whence they come:
Cava, Spain: Cristaline NV Brut Rose, $9. Hailed by eight out of the nine ladies in my book club as "very nice," this is a crisp, refreshing sparkler with notes of strawberry and raspberry and a tiny bit of citrus, with nice clean minerality. A very good bargain and perfect for summer.
Champagne, France: Veuve Clicquot, Yellow Label, Brut, approximately $50. Introduced to me by one of my favorite English professors after thesis presentations, this is an incredibly dry wine, with hard but pleasant minerality--incredibly refreshing. A classic wine and great for celebrations.
Sparkling Wine, Washington, USA—Domaine Ste. Michelle Frizzante, $11. In the future I will probably use the word "girly" often. This is a very girly wine, but also very good. Probably considered Demi-Sec, this wine pairs well with dessert, or if you like sweet wine, on its own. Good for weddings and for your friends who think White Zin is a dry white wine.
Lambrusco, Italy—Riunite, approximately $7. Anyone who has spent some time in Italy or is familiar with Lambrusco is probably horrified that I am listing this wine, but it is easy drinking and sweet. One of the few sparkling reds (aside from sparkling Shiraz, which I have not yet tried), this Lambrusco is inexpensive, girly and rather like soda. There are drier, fuller-bodied Lambruscos, certainly, which I encourage everyone to try when they happen to run across one, but this is a good wine for hanging out with friends and eating pizza.
Prosecco, Italy--Zardetto, NV, approximately $18. A wonderful, crisp sparkler—ever so slightly sweet. I'm told it pairs well with oysters and calamari. I like it with a fresh heirloom tomato, mozzarella and basil salad, lightly dusted with grey sea salt and sprinkled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It is best enjoyed on a patio, preferably overlooking the sea.
Sekt, Germany-- Schloss Biebrich, approximately $4. Wine from Trader Joe's had to come up eventually. This is a very inexpensive bottle, but it does not actually taste like the sparkling equivalent of two-buck-Chuck. It is probably best classified as sec, but not cloying. If you can convince yourself to open a bottle of bubbles on a Tuesday, for no reason, this is the way to go.
Domaine Ste. Michelle has a great website with simple information about sparkling wine.
Usually served at weddings, New Year's Eve and in the occasional mimosa, sparkling wine is unfortunately relegated to "special occasions" in the US. Not so in other countries—Prosecco, Lambrusco and Asti make frequent visits to informal gatherings and the dinner table in Italy, as do Sekt in Germany and Cava in Spain. Refreshing and versatile, sparkling wines from around the world make not only great party wines, but also good everyday wines.
Bubbles
Fermentation is the process by which sugars are converted to alcohol. The sparkle is due to the addition of extra sugar into the bottle (méthode traditionnelle) or in a vat (charmat process) after the first fermentation process. The second fermentation process creates the carbonation.
Sweetness
There are varying degrees of sweetness for sparkling wines, but the four sugar levels terms one should know are Brut, Dry, Sec and Demi-Sec. You'll find "extra" tagged onto these words, but the meanings are as follows:
Brut: bone dry
Dry: the smallest amount of discernable sweetness
Sec: slightly sweet
Demi-Sec: sweet enough to be served as a dessert wine
Color
An oversimplified, but hopefully useful guide to color:
Blanc de Blanc is a sparkling wine made with white grapes (usually Chardonnay).
Blanc de Noirs is a light pink sparkling wine made with red grapes (usually Pinot Noir).
Rosé refers to any “pink” wine. In this case, Rosé can be made with the saignée method, when, after pressing, some wine is bled off after only a short contact with the skins. A sparkling Rosé is a wine that has been through a second fermentation process to create the bubbles.
Opening The Bottle
I've been hit several times by flying sparkling wine corks, so the threat of a wine-related injury is a very real one. The best way to open a sparkling wine bottle is to saber it off, by which a person takes a sharp sword and cuts off the neck of the bottle. This is not an option for most folks, unfortunately—would that we all had swords lying around. The second best method, I've found, is to remove the cage (the wire implement securing the cork), put a dishtowel over the cork, hold the bottle at about ten o’clock, grip the sides of the cork in one hand, with the towel over it, and twist the bottle with the other. The cork should release with a slight pop into the towel, and very little, if any, wine should froth over.
Names
Although many people call all sparkling wines Champagne—this is fallacious and irritating to both Champagne makers and wine enthusiasts. Only wines produced with grapes grown in the particular chalk soil of the Champagne region of France may be called Champagne. "Sparkling wine" is the generic term for all wines with some form of carbonation. Regionally, sparkling wines have different names. Below are some of my favorite sparkling wines, and from whence they come:
Cava, Spain: Cristaline NV Brut Rose, $9. Hailed by eight out of the nine ladies in my book club as "very nice," this is a crisp, refreshing sparkler with notes of strawberry and raspberry and a tiny bit of citrus, with nice clean minerality. A very good bargain and perfect for summer.
Champagne, France: Veuve Clicquot, Yellow Label, Brut, approximately $50. Introduced to me by one of my favorite English professors after thesis presentations, this is an incredibly dry wine, with hard but pleasant minerality--incredibly refreshing. A classic wine and great for celebrations.
Sparkling Wine, Washington, USA—Domaine Ste. Michelle Frizzante, $11. In the future I will probably use the word "girly" often. This is a very girly wine, but also very good. Probably considered Demi-Sec, this wine pairs well with dessert, or if you like sweet wine, on its own. Good for weddings and for your friends who think White Zin is a dry white wine.
Lambrusco, Italy—Riunite, approximately $7. Anyone who has spent some time in Italy or is familiar with Lambrusco is probably horrified that I am listing this wine, but it is easy drinking and sweet. One of the few sparkling reds (aside from sparkling Shiraz, which I have not yet tried), this Lambrusco is inexpensive, girly and rather like soda. There are drier, fuller-bodied Lambruscos, certainly, which I encourage everyone to try when they happen to run across one, but this is a good wine for hanging out with friends and eating pizza.
Prosecco, Italy--Zardetto, NV, approximately $18. A wonderful, crisp sparkler—ever so slightly sweet. I'm told it pairs well with oysters and calamari. I like it with a fresh heirloom tomato, mozzarella and basil salad, lightly dusted with grey sea salt and sprinkled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It is best enjoyed on a patio, preferably overlooking the sea.
Sekt, Germany-- Schloss Biebrich, approximately $4. Wine from Trader Joe's had to come up eventually. This is a very inexpensive bottle, but it does not actually taste like the sparkling equivalent of two-buck-Chuck. It is probably best classified as sec, but not cloying. If you can convince yourself to open a bottle of bubbles on a Tuesday, for no reason, this is the way to go.
Domaine Ste. Michelle has a great website with simple information about sparkling wine.
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