My mission is to inspire you to make wine a part of your daily life.  To accomplish this I want to expose you to new wines and deconstruct the complexity of wine.  I hope you learn something new along the way.








New Year's is fast approaching so it seems a good time to discuss CHAMPAGNE

Champagne is a sparkling wine that comes ONLY from the Champagne region of France.  The primary grapes include; Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Meunier.  The typical method used to create the fizz is a secondary fermentation process.  This is done either in the bottle or in the barrel and typically a mixture of sugar and yeast are added to the wine.  There are specific rules which govern the length of time to produce the champagne, grapes used etc.  Sparkling wine is the term used to describe champagne like wine produced outside of the Champagne region.  Sparkling wine is produced either in the traditional manner described above or via an injection of carbon dioxide to create the fizz.  Typically, champagne is either white or rose.  Brut is a term used to describe dry sparkling wine and Demi-Sec, Dolce or Doux is a term used to describe a sweeter sparkling wine.

Popular areas for sparkling wine are:
Spain, Cava
Portugal, Espumante
Italy, Asti and Prosecco
US, Sonoma was the area where sparkling wine production first began

Champagne Cocktails seem a good way to ring in the new year and I have a two recipes below:


Traditional Champagne Cocktail

Ingredients:
1 sugar cube
3 dashes Angostura bitters or soak in fresh lemon juice
5 ounces chilled Brut Champagne or sparkling wine
1 lemon slice

1. Soak sugar cube with Angostura bitters or fresh lemon juice
2. Fill flute with Champagne
3. Add soaked sugar cube
4. Garnish with lemon slice


Champagne Cocktail Margarita Style

Ingredients:
1 ounce blanco tequila
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/4 ounce agave nectar
3 ounce chilled Brut Champagne or sparkling wine
Lime Twist or Wheel

1. Fill cocktail shaker with ice
2. Add tequila, lime juice, agave nectar and shake well.
3. Strain into flute and top with sparkling wine
                                             4. Garnish with lime twist or wheel


Champagne Picks:

Chandon Brut California
90 Points Wine Enthusiast $12.99

Gloria Ferrer Brut California
90 Points Wine Enthusiast $13.99 

Mumm Napa Brut Prestiga California
90 Points Wine Spectator $14.99

Roederer Estate Brut Anderson Valley
91 Points Wine Spectator $18.99

Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut France
93 Points Wine Spectator $29.99

Cheers!