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
On the fourth day of Fizzmas, we’re rocking bubbles from the Penedès region in Spain. And not just any Spanish sparkling, but one from the producer who makes the bub of choice of Spain’s royal family. Lorde should totally substitute Juvé y Camps for Grey Goose in “Royals.” The Penedès region is in Spain, and … Continue reading
I don’t have an official bucket list. When there’s a place I want to travel to or something I want to do I usually don’t wait around that long and just go do it. Recently I’d seen some people sabering Champagne and it looked super badass, so I decided that I needed to do it … Continue reading
Kickin’ it domestic on the third day of Fizzmas, with this awwwwesome sparkling by Sea Smoke. You might remember Sea Smoke Pinot Noir from Sideways. They’re a killer Pinot Noir producer in Santa Barbara, in the Santa Rita Hills AVA to be exact. Well, they just came out with their 2011 bubbly called Sea Spray, made … Continue reading
On the second day of Fizzmas, we hit up Tasmania for good bubbles! Tasmania is the island off of the southeastern tip of Australia (you probably know its “devil” masupials), and the climate there is much cooler than most of the mainland. Cooler temps mean much better conditions for growing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, … Continue reading
FIZZMAS. IS. HERE!!! . I love Champagne, but there’s so much bubbly being made all over the world that I decided to explore around. And what better time to do it than the holidays? So I’m bringing you one good sparkling wine I’ve never had before, from lots of different countries, every day until Christmas. … Continue reading
We made it! 12 Days of Fizzmas officially ends tonight (at least for this year) and we’re ringing it out amazingly, with this Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle. This Champagne’s half Chardonnay and half Pinot Noir and all from Grand Cru villages. It’s uniquely made from three great vintages (rather than just the normal single vintage), so it doesn’t … Continue reading
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