December 2006

It’s time to ring in the New Year, and what other way than with a sparkling wine or Champagne?

Following are some of my favorite “non-vintage” or “NV” bottlings, with choices for every budget. Why non-vintage? For a few reasons, with the most prominent being consistency. Generally speaking, a Champagne house or sparkling wine producer makes their non-vintage in such a way that it tastes the same every year. Whereas a vintage-dated bottle will have a character and taste that reflects the year printed on the label, an NV — usually made from grapes and juice from several years — reflects the “house style”, and in many ways is the brand’s representative bottling. So, if you like the non-vintage bubbly from a particular brand, you’ll probably always enjoy it, from year to year, and there’s a good chance you’ll also like the vintage sparklers from the same house. Since vintage-dated sparkling wines normally cost more than the NV, you can consider the NV as an introduction, or tryout, before you shell out the big bucks for, say, a 1995 vintage Champagne from a particular house.

Enough banter, let’s get on with the suggestions. Rather than try to rank them, they’re listed by price from high to low. (By the way, clicking on the name of any of these wines will take you to the Wine-Searcher page, so you can find it at a retailer in your neighborhood).

1. Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve ($35)
Good mousse — lots of fine, tiny bubbles. Toasty nose of citrus, toasted Wonderbread, stony mineral. Good weight in the mouth � full and creamy. Nice citrus flavor � lemon peel / lime, pear, a bit of peach and vanilla, along with a touch of ginger snap and a hint of mineral. Good acidity — plenty of structure here to match with a myriad of foods. A high quality, lovely Champagne.

2. Moet White Star ($27)
The nose has open aromas of toasted Wonderbread, apple, pear, and vanilla spice. Big bubbles carry a creamy texture, decent acidity and mild white fruits: braemar apple, pear, touch of lemony citrus. Finishes pleasantly, with creamy fruit and a citrusy edge of acidity. An excellent choice as an aperitif or with just about any appetizer.

3. Pommery Brut Royal ($39)
Small to medium-sized bubbles, a somewhat closed, citrusy aroma with some toastiness and a hint of butterscotch. More toasty character comes out in the palate, which also displays mild pear and zesty lime / citrus flavors and a distinct mineral component that almost seems salty. Good dose of acidity holds things together and helps carry through to a balanced, pleasing dry finish. This Champagne tastes better as it sits in the flute and warms up a few degrees � it becomes rounder, riper, and more full-flavored.

4. Heidsieck & Co. Monopole Blue Top ($25)
Like the previous three, this is a dry style of Champagne, so if you�re into the sweeter sparklers, stay away. Otherwise, dive right in. You will be excited with anticipation the moment the wine is poured into the glass, as it will become charged with an abundance of aggressive, tiny bubbles that develop an immediate, full foam (or mousse, as the geeks call it). Clean, citrusy, slightly toasted aroma that also has a hint of mineral. In the mouth, you get very similar flavors as were on the nose, along with a touch of honey and pear, all tightly wound by a stiffly acidic wrapper. It has excellent structure, yet remains elegant and has the perception of being lighter than it really is.

5. Jaillance Clairette de Die “Cuvee Imperiale” ($15.99)
It’s French, but not Champagne — it’s sparkling wine from the Drome Valley in Provence, made from Clairette and Muscat grapes. This friendly fizzer has forward floral and ripe fruit aromas, including notes of sweet pear and muscat. The bubbles dance on your palate and deliver super-ripe flavors of bright fresh pear, granny smith apple, and hints of peach and lychee that give the impression of sweetness; however, it finishes almost completely dry and clean. A nice bonus is extremely low alcohol — about 7%, or slightly higher than beer. Fine on its own, the mild acidity offers just enough structure to match with simply prepared appetizers.

6. Juve y Camps Reserva de la Familia ($14.99)
If you can’t afford good Champagne, the next best thing is a bottle of Prosecco (a sparkling wine from Italy) or Cava, which is Spain’s version of bubbly. This example from Juve y Camps has lots of fizz, good acidity, is fruity yet dry, and finishes with a nice clean aftertaste. Strong scents of pear and spice in the nose. Good fruit, good acidity and good finish. Nice mousse (bubbles/froth). Not overly dry; hint of sweetness. Elegant. A super bargain

7. Canella Prosecco di Conegliano ($12.99)
Clean, mild nose exhibiting a touch of citrus and mineral. In the mouth, bubbles are coarse, flavor is clean with some salty mineral. There is enough acidity to match fairly well with food. Try it with spicy dishes as a foil, fish, and Greek (goes well with tzatziki). Citrusy fruit, light body, easy drinking, simple and short but pleasing finish.

8. Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Noirs ($9.99)
Color is a pale orange — more like cooked salmon than pink. Soft, fruity nose of citrus and a hint of raspberry. Pretty good mousse, with persistent medium-sized bubbles. In the mouth it is mostly dry, with maybe a touch of sweetness that is due more to a fun and fruity ripeness than dosage. Finishes completely dry, with a good dose of acidity, which helps with structure and food matching. This runs about $9-12 for a bottle, and at that price it is a steal. Domaine Ste. Michelle is one of, if not the, most respected wineries in Oregon.

9. Pommery POP ($8.99 for 187ml)
You’ve seen all the cool people on TV or in a bass-thumping techno club sipping this Champagne through a straw. So let’s see, it’s real Champagne from France, it comes in a single-serving size, and it’s OK to drink with a straw … sounds great to me! This is a good quality Champagne that tends toward the sweeter, less-dry side — though it finishes fairly dry.

10. Sofia Blanc de Blancs ($3.99 for 187ml)
OK, there may be something cooler than Pommery POP. Imagine another single-serving sparkling wine you can sip with a straw, only it comes in a can. That’s right, an aluminum can, just like Budweiser. And it only costs about four bucks, so there’s no excuse for anyone not to celebrate 2007 with bubbles. Whether you’re a snob, an anti-snob, anti-French, American jingoist, short on cash, or a beer drinker more accustomed to drinking out of a can, there’s a sparkling wine for you.

Enjoy your New Year’s celebration, and best wishes to you in 2007!

Other Links: Champagne Gifts Delivered Champagne and spakling wine gifts delivered next day to UK and Ireland.

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Heidsieck & Co Monopole Blue Top Premiers Crus

When you’re stumped — and pressed for time— about what to get as a gift for the wine lover in your life, the best idea is a bottle of Champagne. Champagne is the epitome of celebration, the exclamation point of a joyous occasion — and therefore a perfect gift.

However, don’t just go out and get any Champagne — get something different, special, rare, memorable. Any fool can walk in and buy a bottle of Dom Perignon … so go out of your way to choose something lesser-known yet highly regarded. A bottle you can’t find just anywhere. A bottle with a story. A bottle like Heidsieck & Co. Blue Top.

This Champagne has nothing to do with Charles Heidsieck, nor Piper-Heidsieck — Heidsieck & Monopole is a completely separate, individual Champagne house, and in fact, has been around since 1785. There’s your story: it’s not what you think it is … but it could be better. Oh, want another bit of trivia to add to the story? Just this year, a bottle of 1907 Heidsieck Monopole was sold for $4200 at the Hart Davis Hart Auction in Chicago. You got that right — forty-two-hundred, for one bottle — the most paid in 2006 for one 750ml bottle of bubbly.

There’s another way to keep this Champagne separated in your mind from the others: its appearance. This “Blue Top” sparkler comes in a striking and distinctive, Corvette-yellow bottle with — you guessed it — a blue top.

But why go to the trouble of finding this particular bottle? Aren’t there plenty of other Champagnes and sparkling wines to choose from, also with good stories? Well, there are. And many are very good. Some are better. But not all are distinctively packaged, and thus you may find yourself staring at a full shelf of lookalike bottles with unpronounceable French names, wondering which one was the bottle recommended by your favorite wine magazine or blogger. Sure, you can’t judge a wine by its bottle any more than a book by its cover, but there’s something to be said for shopping efficiency during the holiday season, and in this case, the screaming yellow bottle contains an appropriately worthwhile wine inside.

This is a dry style of Champagne, so if your gift recipient is into the sweeter sparklers, stay away. Otherwise, dive right in. You will be excited with anticipation the moment the wine is poured into the glass, as it will become charged with an abundance of aggressive, tiny bubbles that develop an immediate, full foam (or mousse, as the French call it). Take a moment to stick your nose in the glass, and you will be rewarded with a clean, citrusy, slightly toasted aroma that also has a hint of mineral. In the mouth, you get very similar flavors as were on the nose, along with a touch of honey and pear, all tightly wound by a stiffly acidic wrapper. It has excellent structure, yet remains elegant and has the perception of being lighter than it really is.

If you always drink sparkling wines alone, you might not understand the acidity — until you start popping hors d’oeuvres in your mouth. The Blue Top is wonderful for the table top, as it pairs perfectly with a variety of appetizers, can match with most fish and white meats, and will temper the heat of a hot and spicy dish. Champagne is not enjoyed with food often enough, and this bottle is as good an excuse as any to break that trend.

I originally discovered this sparkler at a Champagne tasting a few months ago, and found it to be the best of a very competitive bunch — to me it was more enjoyable than several better known, much more expensive Champagnes against which I tasted head-to-head (including two of James Bonds’ favorites). Tasting it again, alone, and with food, it’s still impressive and becoming one of my favorite sparklers.

It may be hard to find, but is well worth the search. Consider it your little secret, and as a gift for the holidays. The recipient will not be disappointed.

Find this wine at a local retailer through Wine-Searcher or Vinquire

Other Links: Champagne Gifts Delivered Champagne and spakling wine gifts delivered next day to UK and Ireland.

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This — along with the gas-filled types — is a great gift for a person who enjoys wine but who has a hard time getting the cork out of bottles. Being too weak or coordinated to get a cork out of a bottle is nothing to be ashamed of, and shouldn’t relegate a person to screwtop wines. This nifty electric opener does all the work for you, opening up to 30 bottles in one charge (yes, it’s rechargeable). The fact that it is rechargeable, and therefore does not require the future purchase of gas cartridges, gives it a slight edge over the equally efficient gas-charged openers.

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Some folks don’t have their own wine blog, so they write down their wine notes every time they open a great bottle. If you know someone who jots down their wine notes in a regular notebook, then this gift is the ultimate upgrade. It looks fancy, has room for all the details for the wine, and includes a page for pasting in the label. Of course, you’ll want to get a few packs of label savers to throw into the gift box.

Other Links: A personalized wine bottle is a great gift to give out to your guests.

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The Rabbit and other me-too’s have been more popular recently, but it all started with the original leverpull by Screwpull. I’ve owned one and been quite happy for almost ten years of rigorous use — it has been through several tastings that required the opening of 200 bottles or more (in one day). I think it is the easiest to use cork extractor on the market, with the only caveat being that every once in a while it will refuse to pull out a cork (sometimes it just takes a second or third jab, once in a while it won’t grab it at all). This particular kit is more giftworthy than the Screwpull on its own, as it comes with a small assortment of useful wine gadgets and is packaged in a nice gift box.

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If one of your gift recipients has a full-blown wine cellar, these color-coded tags are the perfect present. One of the most annoying things when looking for a wine in a cellar is having to pull each bottle out to see what it is. In addition to identifying the wine, you can also write in other details, such as purchase price, WineWeekly score, or a “drink by” date. One kit comes with 100 tags, so you may want to buy two if your recipient has a serious cellar.

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Riedel is the name to remember when it comes to glassware, but you already knew that. Now that the Austrian glassmaker can be found in Targets throughout the US, is it still fancy enough for gift ideas?

Of course … but you want to choose glasses that are more unique and unusual — and pricey. These are gifts, after all, and a good gift is one that the recipient would not lavish himself/herself with.

After seeing a set of Riedels on sale in Target, you might wonder why anyone would pay upwards of $50 or $100 for a single glass. Well, what you’re getting on sale is likely machine-made, while the upper-echelon of Riedel’s line — the glassware that impressed Robert Mondavi, Robert Parker, Jr., and the rest of the wine industry — are hand-blown, made from 24% lead-crystal. These ultra-thin, specifically shaped glasses really DO make a difference — their only drawbacks are their price and fragility. But if you know someone who is REALLY into wine, and often drinks expensive and rare wines, then a glass chosen from Riedel’s Sommeliers series is guaranteed to be a hit.

It’s kind of like getting a Balabushka cue for a pool player, a Steinway baby grand for a pianist, or an Akadema glove for a baseball player — in other words, the best of the best, and if your recipient is that passionate, the gift is well worth the cash outlay.

Remember — look for the Riedel Sommeliers Crystal Collection (or just click the link to get to the Amazon page full of Sommelier selections).

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(FYI - all of the suggested gifts on this wine blog can be purchased from Amazon by clicking on its image)

OK, this these are pretty geeky items — but still pretty cool.

Basically, it’s for wines that need to breathe — think young, expensive Zins, Cabs, and mature Bordeaux and Burgundy. After placing the funnel thing into the top of your decanter, you pour the wine through it and it does two things: first, a screen traps the sediment, and second, its slanted spout further aerates the wine by directing it against the inside wall of the decanter. For those who are so concerned about “bruising” their wine, this is a gentler introduction to the bottom of the decanter. It also comes with a nifty, shiny stand to display the funnel prominently on the wine bar.

Want to go one better? Spend $55 for the Spiral Pewter Funnel. Remember as a kid you drank juice through one of those spiral straws? Well this is just the opposite — though that gives me an idea to freak out a wine snob at the next party. As you might guess, the wine takes a whirlwind of a tour before falling into the decanter, and the purpose of all this round-and-round motion is to further aerate the wine.

The “French” funnel is similar, except that it has little pinholes to direct the wine toward the the decanter sides. And it’s French, which means it carries a bit more wine snobbery cachet.

Any of these is a must for wine ubergeeks.

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(click on images to learn more)

This 7-item Accessory Gift Set ($55) has just about everything a wannabe snob could wish for, all encased in a fancy wood box. It includes a ‘patented’ one-hand cork screw, thermometer, stainless steel stopper, foil cutter, wine ring, pourer, and bottle cap. Good for someone who often entertains wine drinkers and has one of those wine bar thingys in the home.

The MetroKane Houdini Wine and Stuff
($40) set’s centerpiece item is the Houdini corkscrew, which is a variation on the Leverpull and Rabbit cork removers. It also has a foilcutter, drip-stop ring, wine sealer, identification tags, metal whacker, and extra spiral screw. All nice pieces for the wine geek in your life.

Learn More: wine gift Free wine gift delivery in the UK. Fine wine merchant UK.

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Do you know someone who keeps a “wine book” ? In other words, they keep notes on nearly every wine they drink, and glue a label next to their notes to help remember the wine? Well, it can be gosh-darn difficult to get the labels off of the bottles — especially if they use a specific type of glue that seems stronger than cement. No amount of soaking, blow-drying, or peeling can take those things off. Enter the Wine Label Savers. All you do is stick the thing onto the label and peel it right off. It works every time. They work great, but they’re not cheap, especially if you’re always recording your wine notes. Therefore, they make a nice gift for someone who wouldn’t otherwise spend the ducats to make their life easier.

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Built NY Byobag Two-Bottle Tote, Cranberry Red
$20 and under

I have used and loved the BuiltNY two-wine carrier enough to give it out as a gift to several friends, and so I’m recommending it here as well. It’s made of the same stuff deep sea divers wear (neoprene), so it is very effective at keeping your wine at a constant temperature, while being lightweight. Perhaps more importantly, it looks chic, especially when walking into a BYOB restaurant. The durability scores points too — I’ve had mine for three years and it’s like new. Plus, it’s easy to store, as it flattens out for storage in a drawer or the linen closet. It comes in several colors, and in one- and two-bottle versions. (Go with the two-bottle, as it’s similarly priced and light and svelte enough to not be burdensome when carrying just one bottle.) They also have a six-pack version for beer lovers.

Of course, there are those who think that leather is more classic and impressive than neoprene. And so, there is a leather wine bag, which holds two bottles in plush velvet lining and includes a shoulder strap for easy carrying.

But hey, if you’re going to go leather, go all the way and get this Mulholland 2 Bottle Wine Carrier Leatherwine bag, which has an insulated lining to keep wine at optimum temperature.

Not to be left out, the granola crowd will enjoy the Picnic Time Meritage Wine and Cheese Tote For Two, which is ideal for hikers whose pinnacle moment is peaked by a hilltop picnic. (OK, enough puns for one sentence). This fairly lightweight polyester bag has enough room for two bottles of wine, plus the following included picnic accessories: a wood cutting board, waiter-style corkscrew, two cotton napkins, stainless steel cheese knife, two acrylic wine glasses, and a bottle stopper. All you need to add is the wine, the cheese, and the energy to hike up the nearest mountain.

A similar bag for picnics but looking a little more stylish is the Picnic At Ascot Ivy two-bottle carrier. The simulated suede covering gives a more upscale look but doesn’t include all the extras. It does, however, have compartments for the corkscrew and wine stopper (included).

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Wine Clip Thermometer
$15 or less
More than half of the wine bottles you pick up have a “recommended serving temperature” stated on the back label. But does anyone notice? Does anyone care? Even if you did, how would you go about finding out the exact temperature of the wine in your bottle? I suppose you could try sticking a meat thermometer into the bottle, but that would require uncorking, and few of those read below 100 degrees anyway. The cheapo trick is to stick an aquarium thermometer on the side, but that isn’t so “cool”.

Enter the Wine Clip Thermometer, which does look cool (or “qool”, as my friend Tish would say), and works quite well. You simply clasp the thing around the middle of the bottle and it gives you a digital readout of the temperature.

Wine Maestro – Bonjour products
$20 and under
If the bangle isn’t high-tech enough for your wine geek – slash – gadget guy/girl, then maybe the Wine Maestro is. I haven’t tested it out myself, but it sure looks formidable.

And if you want to get really insane, go infra-red. (over $40)

VinTemp Infrared Wine Thermometer Pen

This handy little pen comes with its own carrying case and has real James Bond appeal. Plus, it’s better than the other devices, because the infrared light is able to detect the temperature of the wine INSIDE the bottle, WITHOUT removing the cork. And for some people, that’s really important. I have visions of geeks walking around wine tastings pointing their infrared pens and informing vendors that their bottles are too cold / too warm. Lovely.

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OK, let’s get something straight — I HATE cutesy wine stoppers. But many people think they’re just so cute and wonderful and this one has a Christmas theme so here it is.

It’s a three-piece set that includes Santa, boozed-up Blitzen, and an unidentified reindeer (looks like Donner to me, though which one they put in your set is anyone’s guess). Sorry, no Rudolph, whose red nose would have been appropriate, but was considered offensive to people who suffer from alcohol flush reaction.

If you’re interested, click on the image to purchase this from Amazon.

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You don’t need to keep this in the tool shed, next to the weed-wacker. Rather, keep it in the junk drawer of your kitchen, next to the corkscrews and other oft-unused gadets — it’s cheap and effective enough to be worthy of a place in there.

Every once in a while you come across a bottle — usually a fairly expensive one — that has a gob of wax covering the cork instead of the usual lead foil. While it is a more effective means of securing the wine inside, and it makes your bottle seem all that more important, getting the wax off is a pain in the asterisk.

Usually I bang on the top of the wax with a heavy-handled corkscrew, which is only slightly effective and sprays shattered pieces of wax shrapnel all over the place. Sometimes, the wax is only a thin layer, and you can corkscrew right through it … but then you end up with wax stuck in the screw. The Wax-Wacker is a better answer for both types of wax sealers. It’s well-shaped and weighted for wacking over the top of the bottle, but also has a spoon-like edge that you can use to carve into the wax if you prefer not to have the shrapnel all over your kitchen. That edge is also perfect for wedging under the wax caps and flipping off the cork.

A good stocking stuffer for your favorite wine geek.

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This is a great buy if your wine lover is like me – often emptying only half a bottle. Yes, the half-bottle trick works well enough, but it’s a lot easier to use the Vacu-Vin to preserve an unfinished bottle of wine.

Another reason I like the Vacu-Vin is that it enables me to open two or three bottles in an evening and not feel guilty about it. Often, I’ll open a bottle and find that it doesn’t quite go right with my meal — and being the geek that I am, I’ll open another (and another) to try and get a closer-to-perfect match. Or, I may want to have a glass of white before moving to a glass of red toward the end of the meal. Since the Vacu-Vin comes with two stoppers, you can keep two bottles fresh for the next few days — although if your wine lover is as geeky as me, you might want to purchase additional stoppers for the stocking.

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Over the next few weeks, we’ll be suggesting a bunch of gifts that are ideal for the wine geek in your life — maybe even for yourself.

Some of the gifts are merely stocking stuffers — small, and ten bucks or less. Some cost a bit more, and are worthy enough to warrant wrapping. A few even go into three digits. Here and there we’ll even offer up a special bottle of wine that would make a fine gift.

So keep checking back as more holiday gifts for the wine geek are posted here.

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