The cure for champagne is...

...champagne!  And lots of it.  If you find yourself jonesing for the bubbly, do what Karen and I did on the first day of 2011 and kill four bottles of the sparkly stuff.  Guaranteed to make you not want anything bubbly for at least 4 days.  Or at least that"s true for some of us.  While I lay in bed having a near death experience, Karen popped in to coo and pat my head and feed me gingerale, with barely a scratch to her liver!  It's those good French genes, I tell you!  Karen, you were meant to drink champagne EVERY DAY, preferably on a chaise lounge, in a satin dress and feather mules.

ANYWAY, I reveal my champagne-drinking inadequacies not to garner any sympathy (I deserve none), but rather to share with all my lovely precious-doves (you) the different bubbles that led to my near-demise.  Now I've been saying champagne, but truthfully I don't think any of our bubbles were actually champagne!  Ah yes, it's all coming back to me now; we drank alternate bubblies on purpose to sample fare from different countries!  Starting with

MezzoMondo Sparkling Rosé from Italy



With nice, fine bubbles and all the yummy goodness of the berry patch, this off-dry sparkler was a nummy way to start the night.  When that bottle went bye-bye, we moved on to...

...Mumm's Napa Brut Prestige.  We've had this before, and I was looking forward to the repeat.  I swear on my life you can taste the sunshine in this wine!  Light as a fairy, fruity as a fashion designer. 

Next up we have Bottega Brut Prosecco from Italy...



The design on the bottle is a bit sperm-like, so I already know you sluts out there are going to be all over it *heh heh heh*!  But seriously folks, it truly was the best find of the night. (Know-Nothing wine education alert: Prosecco is the grape in this delicious offering.  According to Karen MacNeill's Wine Bible, Venetians quaff spumante prosecco every afternoon as a 'pick me up'.  How civilized!) This is what I would say is a good value wine.  It had lovely, never-ending fine bubbles, was just the right amount of dry and a pleasing acidity that made it very refreshing.  AND it was a mere $12.95!  Bargain!  I am making this my default sparkler until further notice.

Still adding to the mix, we tried a wee bottle of Freixenet Brut Cordon Negro Cava.  It's those little black bottles of sparklies you'll see at the cash counter in the LCBO.  This was my first foray into the world of cava.  I think I need to keep searching.  The most memorable thing about it was asking Trevor to please help me open this bottle (as I was beyond tipsy at this point), only to have him discover that underneath its faux plastic stopper lay a screw top!   Hardly any bubbles at all, and they were 'frog-eyes' at that (big, clumsy bubbles, not those lovely fine streaming bubbles you'll find it finer offerings).

Lastly was a bottle of President's (This was my affordable drink of choice as a young acting student.  I remember drinking the pink version once at a closing-night party for a play, and having a killer hangover the next day.). We intended it for orange juice, but what to do?  We had cleaned up our other fare.  So chug a lug.  And you know, it wasn't that bad.  Not really.  You could do worse.

I am much recovered, and frankly, not drinking ANY wine at all.  I have a feeling the next few posts will be largely academic, rather than actual wine reviews.  And that's ok, right?  I mean, it's the new year--we're all being a little extra good right now...at least for another 2 weeks until we all decide dieting and exercise in large doses is BORING and go back to our wicked ways.

Wicked me, signing off,

B.



Sparklies for the New Year!

Hello hello my sweetie peaches!

Here we are, another Christmas over and the New Year looms right around the corner.  I am actually for the first time in years going to a real, live, grown-up party on New Year's Eve.  No Dora or Mario Bros. or cheese-only pizza--a real party with real adults.  Okay, we might BEHAVE like children after a drink or two, but that's what parents do when there are no kids to mind.  But I'm getting ahead of myself; I should talk about Christmas wine...

So between my dad, my sister and I, there was more wine than you could wave a poopy stick at this Christmas.  I tasted my sister's Cab Sauv but didn't catch the name (was it the Bonterra organic?  Help me, sister!).  After that my dad and I tucked into the Cave Spring Riesling, which was everything apricoty and yummy as it always is (Dad said it reminded him of his trip to Germany).  Following that, we all made short work of the Cuvée Catherine Sparkling Rosé (Brut).  And when that was all gone, we mmm'd and ahhh'd over a CduP that Lorri brought, and again I didn't catch the name.  I wasn't paying much attention to labels; I was having too good a time!  But what a wonderful way to wheedle away the day, drinking delicious wines, laughing, playing music and lots of talking.  Since then, I've only tried one other wine--Karen and I split a bottle of Malivoire's Guilty Men 2008 Red today while watching Young Victoria.  I think the only thing Malivoire is guilty of here is over-exaggerating on their back label, which reads: "Roguishly fruity, cunningly dry, guilefully supple and wickedly good, Guilty Men Red is for all occasions."  I didn't find much that was roguish or cunning about this wine; it was good, not great, and now it's gone.  I liked their other red blend much better, to tell you the truth. 

But back to New Year's Eve; I'm having trouble deciding which sparkly to bring!  The Henry of Pelham's Cuvée Catherine Sparking Rosé Brut was very dry, pretty and quaffable---inexpensive too (I think the bottle was less than $30).  But I am secretly hoping I can find a bottle of that Mumm's Napa at our LCBO; I had it earlier this year and truly loved it.  Or, maybe this is the time to try something else, like Spanish Cava or Italian Asti.  There's a sparkling red I'm very curious to try, though I haven't any hope of finding it here I'm sure; red Spumante from Piedmont is made from barbera or nebbiolo and is apparently quite delicious. I here German Sekt can be very refreshing (I'll have to find out for myself someday). Crémant and sparkling Saumur come from France's Loire region; they're made in the same method as Champagne, but usually with chenin blanc instead of pinot noir.  Australia, South Africa and New Zealand all make sparkling wine too.  I guess what I'm trying to illustrate here is that one need not break the bank on French Champagne when there are so many other kinds of sparklies from the world over.  If you try something fizzy and different this New Year's Eve, do tell me about it  I would love to hear about your bubbly wine experiences!

I'm off to give myself a facial and do all of those other prettying-up things a girl does before a party.  But before I do, I will leave you with a big HAPPY NEW YEAR!  And please, if you're marinading yourselves from the inside-out with sparkling wine or any other alcoholic beverage this New Year's Eve, don't drive.  I think you'd have a very hard time keeping up with my blog from prison if you do, and those jumpsuits are so drab!

Kiss kiss,

B.

Bubble, bubble, no toil, no trouble.

Well here's a reason to do some chug-a-lugging on a hot summer day. Last week Karen and I ran out of wine (you're shocked, I can tell), and all that was left was a bottle of Peller Estates Ice Cuvee Rose that had been chilling in the fridge for a few weeks. It was a gift from Karen she brought back from Niagara; a thank-you for watching her kids over the weekend, while she and her hubby ran away for some grown up time. I'd resolved not to drink it until strawberries were ready, but what's a girl to do? Pop went the cork and into the glass it went.

Honies, darlings, you cannot buy this at the LCBO. But I highly suggest we organize some sort of field trip to this winery and deplete them of their stock. Remember that scene in When Harry Met Sally? You know the one, the "I'll have what she's having" scene. This wine gets three Yes!es and an O My God! Sparkly, light, very strawberry to my palate, it was lovely and fresh and really quite refreshing. And now it's gone. Sads. The empty bottle sits on my desk, teasing me. And I resolve to drink more sparkling wine! Why don't I drink more sparkling wine? It's delicious and you don't need food with it. That's it, dammit! This is my vow, to always have a bottle of sparkling something chilling in the fridge.

On the opposite side of yum, we dove into the last of the Cambridge wine, and in this case, Eileen--my dreamgirl, my wine steward--was off the mark. Or maybe it's just me learning I don't like really dry wine, but the San Marco Frascati was not my bag. Is it just me, or does very dry wine smell just a little bit like throw-up? It improved after it warmed up a little (it was very cold when first poured)and I got whiffs of raspberry off of it, but other that that..bleh.

On a final note, I'll leave you with a link to an incredibly funny video I found on another wine blog. It's the Celebrity Guide to Wine, featuring some of your favourite 80's stars. Let Herbie Hancock teach you about Beaujolais. Watch as Kelly LeBrock properley demonstrate the correct way to open a bottle of wine. Feel kinship with Shelley Hack as she honks down appetizers and drinks wine out of the bottle. It's treasure, trust me.

http://vimeo.com/10339784

'Til next time, kittens!

Barb