Vino In My Dino

Sparkling Wine and Champagne Dreams

December 30, 2014 12:07

Do you remember your first sip of Champagne? I do! 22 years ago Ed and I were in Whistler for a Sonoma County Wine Tour. Our agent invited us to his place for a small reception-and poured Pol Roger. Needless to say, I was hooked on French bubbles from that moment onward. Earlier this month I saw an article about the San Francisco Champagne Society and I thought what a great idea to schedule an appointment for my sister who lives in San Francisco and is also a bubbly fan. We had a marvelous tasting of three very special, small producer Champagnes-and they didn’t disappoint! A nice way to start the holiday week. Recalling my first sip of California sparkling wine, it was Korbel followed soon after by Piper Sonoma and Gloria Ferrer, Robert Hunter and J. I think it is great to have this wide world of wine to taste from including imports—life would be boring to sip one type of wine, don’t you agree? Instead of wondering why the world seems to wait for December to enjoy sparkling wines (except for the occasional wedding toast) embrace the moment—I certainly did! A brief recap of my sparkling month includes visiting a couple of local producers to procure the good stuff for the holidays; a Bubble Room session at J Vineyards & Winery for Ed and me, a Miyagi oyster pairing with a bottle of Brut out at the coast as we celebrated our anniversary with good friends; enjoying a blind tasting of 8 sparkling wines and Champagne at a local winemaker’s home, paired with new friends and dinner it was so much fun, and, finally, kicking off Christmas Eve with a magnum of Brut Rosé from Roederer. Now what to have on New Year’s Eve…it will be sparkling for sure. Happy New Year!

One of the Champagnes we tasted-it was our favorite. The photo doesn't do the beautiful color justice.

French Champagne