Salut! Great champagnes and sparkling wines to celebrate the holiday season.DURING THIS GLORIOUS HOLIDAY SEASON, let there be light. Let the star on the tree twinkle, the tinsel tin·sel n. 1. Very thin sheets, strips, or threads of a glittering material used as a decoration. 2. Something sparkling or showy but basically valueless: the tinsel of parties and promotional events. glitter and the ornaments glow. Let our gifts be wrapped in lustrous lus·trous adj. 1. Having a sheen or glow. 2. Gleaming with or as if with brilliant light; radiant. See Synonyms at bright. lus paper and tied with shimmering shim·mer intr.v. shim·mered, shim·mer·ing, shim·mers 1. To shine with a subdued flickering light. See Synonyms at flash. 2. bows. Let our homes glow with the warmth of family and friends, and as we celebrate, let us raise a toast with a glass of sparkling wine. What could be more festive than a bottle of Champagne--pale golden or salmon pink. Take a sip and feel the bubbles explode in a creamy, rich, flavorful foam. Sparkling wine is the gift to give and receive, and the drink most synonymous with synonymous with adjective equivalent to, the same as, identical to, similar to, identified with, equal to, tantamount to, interchangeable with, one and the same as the pleasures of the holiday. Champagne and its sparkling relatives offer dozens of choices as a holiday gift for aficionados of the bubbly and rank-and-file revelers. Here's a brief guide to making the appropriate selection for any occasion. To give the ultimate sparkling gift that will always be remembered, start at the pinnacle: the very special cuvees, or blends, that each fine Champagne house produces. As the most prestigious wines of the Champagne region in northern France, they are also among the most expensive. Consider Taittinger Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Brut, Brute (both: br  t), or Brutus (br , bottled in a model of an 18th-century antique bottle, priced about $98; Perrier-Jouet Fleur de Champagne, known by its signature flowers painted on the bottle, $80; Dom Perignon Dom Perignonrenowned vintage French champagne. [Western Cult.: Misc.] See : Luxury , $105; Laurent Perrier Grand Siecle, $108; Roederer Cristal, $67; and Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame, $50. Among Champagnes that are still high in quality, but a part of the house's regular line are: Dom Ruinart Blanc de Blanc, $86; Krug Brut vintage, $69; Gosset Grand Millesime, $85; and Pol Roger Reserve Speciale, $75. Suppose, however, you are buying sparkling wine to serve rather than to give. What should you buy? If you're pouring it at a dinner party, good choices of Champagne are: Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut, $40; Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial vintage, $44; or Piper Heidsieck Brut vintage, $44. Equally good choices at lower prices are some of America's best sparkling wines. Surprise your guests with Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs, $25 or Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs Blanc de noirs is a French term (literally "white of blacks") for a white wine produced entirely from black grapes. It is often encountered in Champagne, where a number of houses have followed the lead of Bollinger's prestige cuvée , $27; Domaine Chandon Reserve Brut, $20; Domaine Carneros, $21; Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvee Cuvée (or Cuvee on some English language labels) is a French term used on wine labels to denote wine of a specific blend or batch. The word originates from the French word cuve meaning "vat". , $18; or Iron Horse Blanc de Blancs, $25--all from California. For the finest from New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of State, look for Chateau Frank Brut, $18; only on the market a few years, this newcomer from the Finger Lakes district is the best sparkling wine ever made in New York State. Or surprise your guests with a bottle of Italy's finest bubbly, Ca del Bosco Brut, $37. Besides being wonderful dinner wines, all of these sparklers make welcome gifts as well. On the other hand, at a party where people tend to sip rather than savor, choose a wellmade modestly priced sparkling wine. Good choices include: Bouvet Brut, a Mousseux from the Loire Valley made by Taittinger Champagne, is an excellent choice at $14.50. From Germany, Lila Imperial Brut, $9.75; Italy's Castello Gancia, $10.50; or Paul Cheneau from Spain, $8.75. Keep in mind that most liquor stores give a discount when you buy by the case rather than the bottle. Talk about a festive gift or a festive occasion! Celebrate the season with sparkle and a cascade of golden bubbles. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion