Budget Bubbles for NYE — 2 Usual Suspects & 1 Ringer

OK, New Year’s Eve is coming. It’s inevitable. Tradition demands something bubbly to toast with at midnight. But what to get? There are a lot of fancy foil-wrapped, wire-caged bottles out there, and DAMN some of them are really expensive! Me, I’ll be drinking French. Champagne, the real deal. My house bubbly is Nicholas Feuillatte Brut. What if you don’t have a “house bubbly?” (You really should, you know.) And what if you don’t want to pop for around $30 a bottle for the French stuff? I gotcha covered. Here are three California sparklers that will fit the bill for $15 and under. All are Non Vintage Bruts that come from a specific area, not generic Californians.

The wines:

Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut NV, $14.99 @ Trader Joe’s

Piper Sonoma Select Cuvée Brut NV, $12.99 @ Trader Joe’s

Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut NV, $9.99 @ Trader Joe’s

  

Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut NV — 12.5% Alc —  $14.99 @ Trader Joe’s

COLOR — Medium gold, with a good head of mousse and medium-vigorous bubbles. Some are a bit big, while others are nice and fine.

NOSE — Nice green apples, bread dough and a bit of something like Bosch pear skin.

TASTE — Granny Smith apples, Bosch pears a touch of almond and bread.

FINISH — Bright and zippy that turns a bit creamy. Medium bodied with a persistent taste of apples and dough.

RATE —  4 Stars. This sparkler always delivers a very nice glass of bubbles. I liked it better back when it was $9.99. I think this wine gets forgotten. The most elegant and “French” of all three.

Piper Sonoma Select Cuvée Brut NV — 13.5% Alc — $12.99 @ Trader Joe’s

COLOR — Pale gold, not much mousse, and sparse, medium-size bubbles

NOSE — Floral Bread dough with red pears & apples and a bit of white peach.

TASTE — Medium rich with slightly creamy red pears, apples and a light touch of yeast.

FINISH — Medium length, with creamy acidity, tasting of red apples.

RATE — 3.5 Stars. The 13.5% Alc shows in the wine’s richness. It’s less “French”, but still has some finesse. At $12.99, this is a really good buy.

Trader Joe’s Reserve North Coast Brut NV  — 12.5% Alc — $9.99 @ Trader Joe’s

COLOR — Pale to medium gold, little mousse, and lazy, medium-sized bubbles

NOSE — Golden Delicious apples with slight bread dough

TASTE — Creamy apples and Bartlett pears, with a touch of fruit skin

FINISH — Creamy medium bodied, with light acidity and medium length. Nothing green or ugly. Would like more verve on the finish.

RATE — 3 Stars. While it doesn’t have the great bubbles and head of the Gloria, this sparkler has a richness and depth to its fruit that makes it really appealing. But, there’s something thick and clumsy about it that lands it in third to the others. Still it’s ridiculously good at $9.99!!

I’ll tell you right now, you stock your NYE party with any of these sparklers, and your guests will be happy! They beat the absolute shit out of Korbel, Cooks, Frexinet and Andre. In fact, with this trio on the shelves, there’s no reason not to serve decent bubbly, no matter how big your NYE bash is. Pop a few of these, and you may find your guests drinking bubbly all night, not just at 12am.

If you’re willing to spend a bit more, here are some wines I’d rate higher than the tasting trio: Scharffenberger, Shramsburg  Roderer Estate (in France they make Crystal) and Iron Horse — all priced somewhere from $16 to just under $30.

Cheers!

Trader Joe’s does it again, with a White Burgundy for just $8.99!

One look at the label in the picture, and you’re probably asking yourself, “What the heck is a Blason de Bourgogne?” Tell ya the truth, I didn’t really know myself. But after a bit of web searching, I can tell you they’re marketing house that more or less takes wines from co-ops in France’s famed Burgundy wine region, and brings them to market. These aren’t the great wines of Burgundy by any means, but value-priced bottles. WARNING: wine facts coming. If you don’t know, Burgundy is home to France’s often amazing Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. A Red Burgundy is a Pinot, and a White Burgundy is Chardonnay. There that wasn’t so bad, now was it.

But so what, let’s get to the vino in question — 2009 Blason de Bourgogne Montagny 1er Cur. Shoot, maybe I should explain that one a bit. You know what 2009 means, but “Montagny” referes to the village in Burgundy where the grapes were grown. It’s one of the lesser villages, not a superstar like, say Gevrey Chambertin. “1er Cru” (pronounced Premier Cru) tells us what rank of vineyard the grapes came from. “1er Cru” is one down from the best, “Grand Cru.” The fact that we don’t see a specific vineyard name means the wine is a blend of 1er Cru vineyards. Still, a 1er Cru White Burg for $8.99 is unheard of.

To be honest, this wine doesn’t have the concentration, depth or power of a 1er Cru wine. That’s why it’s at TJ’s, for just $8.99. But it’s far from bad. In fact it’s a very pretty, medium-bodied “little wine.” Perfect for serving at holiday parties or dinners. On the nose, I get peaches/nectarines, peach skin, a bit of wet stone and this nice white flower note. Maybe Honeysuckle. In the mouth, it’s more of the same, with a light acidity, and not one bit of oak. Read NO VANILLA OR BUTTERSCOTCH. Pure fruit. And boy does it drink easy. But don’t serve it too cold. I found it was best after it had warmed up a bit, and opened up more.

If you can find a better $8.99 Chardonnay, buy it! Yeah, good luck with that.

Cheers!

I've heard that before — curing the non-wine lovers among us.

Every time I hear this, I take it as a personal challenge, “Oh, I don’t really like wine.” Them’s fightin’ words! Easy killer, take a breath and count to ten. Then I reply, “Really, what have you had?” Smiling, of course. “You know, some reds, some whites. I just didn’t like any of them.” Obviously, something needs to be done. I simply can’t let that stand, so I reach for a bottle. I yank out the cork, pour the liquid goodness into the right glass, pass it across the counter, and say, “Try that.” Wait for it!! Then comes the look of Oh My Gawd, and another soul has been saved.

Naturally, when a friend, Patricia, asked me to recommend some wines to cure somebody she knows that “doesn’t like wine,” I knew I had to help her out. Here are a few fairly common and inexpensive vinos that should change the mind of any wine doubter.

REDS

2007 Castello d’Albola Chianti Classico — $12.99 at Cost Plus and Total Wine (Las Vegas) This is a very juicy, medium bodied red that’s soft and easy drinking. No hard tannins, just lovely strawberry & red berry fruit, with hints of sandelwood and flowers.

2008 Saintsbury Garnet Carneros Pinot Noir — $15.99 at Total Wine (LV) Don’t let the screw top bug you, this is really good. Another medium bodied, juicy wine with bright finish, not a tannic one. Juicy red berries and strawberry with a spice and a touch of rosepettals. Great wit salmon & roasted chicken.

2008 Trader Joe’s Reserve Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — $9.99 at Trader Joe’s (LV) I’ve touted this wine before, and I’m doing it again. This way over performs its price, with medium to full bodied red currents, cherry fruit and hints of dusty sage and black olives and mocha. There are some tannins, but this is real easy drinking cabernet.

2006 Franciscan Napa Valley Merlot — $15.99 at Total Wine (LV) This is a Merlot even the guy from Sideways would happily drink. This is a med-full bodied red full of deep cherries, mocha, dusty sage and a touch of vanilla. The finish is soft, but the wine has enough flavor to stand up to steak, without the heavy tannic finish. This would be my ace in the hole out of this list.

WHITES

When it comes to whites, I tend to use Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand. They’re so zippy and fresh, with great mouth-watering flavors of grapefruit, gooseberries, citrus and a touch of fresh-cut grass and minerals. Some of my favorites are Nobilo, Oyster Bay, Cloudy Bay, Kim Crawford, Starborough and Giesen. These wines are awesome with smoked salmon, goat cheese and anything shellfish.

However, should you really want to serve a chardonnay, there are a few you can go to.

Cambria Katherine’s Vineyard — $13.97 @ Total Wine (LV) This is a Santa Barbara County wine it’s gotten a bit too oaky for my tastes. But it’s also got lots of ripe pit fruit flavors, like peaches with pineapple notes. Soft and rich.

Martin Ray Russian River Valley Unoaked — $14.99 @ Total Wine (LV) This one is more to MY liking. No oak influence at all. Nice white peaches, nectarines and plum skin, with a bit of minerality. French in style. Never mind the screwcap.

Jordan Russian River — $15.97 @ Total Wine (LV) This is a well-rounded chrad, with a big famous name. They’ve backed way off the oak from years past (when I would pour it out), to give us a rich peach and meyer lemon and mineral centered wine.

Chateau St. Jean Sonoma County — $9.99 @ Total Wine (LV) A fine go-to CA chard with pit fruits, lemon crème, hazelnut and touches of vanilla (from light oak) and acidic verve. If it doesn’t convert the non-believer, it just might become your budget fave.

Now for a ringer, from France…

Bougrier Vouvray — $9.99 @ Total Wine (LV) The grape is Chenin Blanc, something used to make crap in the US (with a few notable exceptions), but In France it makes serious stuff. This one is slightly sweet and has a sparkly feel in the mouth, but no actual bubbles. Candied lemon and citrus, with a touch of minerals and a nice zippiness, too. I served this at a tasting, and people went nuts for it, even me!

Cheers,