Nothing like hanging out with someone whose family makes some of France’s best Champagne. Clovis Taittinger, who commutes from Paris to his family’s estate in Champagne every day, was in NYC for a few days and luckily opened some bottles with me. He travels almost every week, all over the world, and had just gotten back … Continue reading
I’m always looking for good Pinot Noirs. I love ones from Burgundy, the pinnacle of complexity and silkiness, but my wallet does not. American ones often tend to be huge fruit bombs without any balance, which is why In Pursuit of Balance exists. It’s an event that showcases great Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays that have … Continue reading
For our final Fizzmas fizz, we have some amazing vintage rosé Champagne. Super delicate bubbles and delicious dried, minerally strawberry. For our dinner we have the Italian feast of the seven fishes. We had the amazing Sanct Valentin Sauvignon from St Michael Eppan (obsessed with the crisp whites from Alto Adige) for the first course. … Continue reading
We’re nearing the end of Fizzmas! Today brings a really good one for the season. Lambrusco is like the Rudolph’s nose of sparkling wine: red and under-appreciated. It’s both the name of the grape and therefore the wine made from it, made in four areas in Emilia-Romagna and one in Lombardy. The wines are mostly frizzante – lightly fizzy as opposed to … Continue reading
LOVED this, so seriously just go buy it! This is our third crémant in Fizzmas – so many good ones from all over France. Crémant from the Loire requires hand-picked grapes, light pressing, and long maturation. This Langlois sparkling rosé is all Cabernet Franc (the predominant red grape in the Loire) and packed with just-picked strawberry … Continue reading
This is actually our first Champagne during Fizzmas! I held off to make a point – there are so many good sparkling wines from all around the world. That said, you gotta still love the Champs. And one of my favorite kinds lately is Champagne made with all Pinot Meunier. Champagne is allowed to be … Continue reading
On the 8th day of Fizzmas, I give you the 2010 Esporão Espumante (sparkling wine is called espumante in Portuguese, if you hadn’t figured that out). I haven’t had much sparkling Portuguese wine, but I liked this. It’s from Herdade do Esporão in the Alentejo region. Alentejo’s pretty warm and mostly known for red table … Continue reading
This is another interesting one. Malbec usually makes a gritty, medium-to-full bodied red wine. So when you turn it into a sparkling wine, you’d think it might be heavy but this was refreshing and even lighter than the sparkling Shiraz I spoke about the other day. Ernest Catena’s Misterio is a coppery rosé, whereas the … Continue reading
My friend Sarah was just telling me that she recently went out with her mom and had Prosecco. Her mom called later asking what kind of Champagne they had, and she told her it was Prosecco. “No, it was Champagne, it had bubbles,” her mom said. I love hearing stories like this because it reminds … Continue reading
Bordeaux’s main white grapes are Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc, so obv that’s what most of their sparkling is made from. Jaillance Crémant is made in the same method as champagne, and their “Cuvée de l’Abbaye” is made with Semillon and Cab Franc grapes. It’s dry, delicious, and awesome with savory foods (like gougères, aka cheese puffs). The … Continue reading
