Bubbly for the New Year

Now that Christmas is over, we look forward to ringing in the New Year with those we love.

What will you be doing? 

Guiseppe and I will be in Palm Beach celebrating with our good friends.  Black tie, bien sŭr! 

More importantly, what to drink for the evening?  Bubbly of course.

Giuseppe is forever a Schramsberg man.  Lately his fetish is Schramsberg rose.  Pink seems to be all the rage these days in the world of sparkling wine.  (Schramsberg is a premier American sparkling wine.)  Me?  I'm a purist at heart.  I love Champagne.  What's the difference?  If it's not from Champagne, France, it's merely a sparkling wine.  But what about the 'champagne method'?  Sometimes winemakers call it 'methode champenoise' -- wines made like champagne, looks like champagne, but by law, cannot be called champagne.  It can only be called sparkling wine.  I particularly love Ruinart, Lanson, Piper-Heidsieck, Nicholas Feuillate and Pommery to name a few.  These range from USD$30 to $65.

What are you supposed to look for in a champagne?  What are the hallmarks of quality?

• bead size (aka bubbles): the smaller the better. 
• persistence of beads: is it consistent or does it stop after 60 seconds?  You want persistent beads.
• yeast flavor: what do you taste?  Sparkling wines will have a yeasty flavor because of the way it is made.  Do you taste baked bread?  Bread dough?  Be more aware of the yeast component.  Each producer will have its own yeast flavor.  Think of it as its house recipe.
• citrus favors: lemon rind? lemon juice? lemon curd?  How you prefer it is a matter of personal preference.
• persistence of flavor: how long the wine stays in your mouth is a moniker of quality. 

If the budget doesn't allow for the 'real' thing, go for prosecco.  It's Italian sparkling wine made from (what else?) the prosecco grape.  It comes from northern Italy.  Some may call it 'spumante', the Italian term for sparkling.  When you think of spumante, you think of sweet Asti Spumante, but prosecco is dry and it is just lovely especially for it's price.  It's a third to half the price of a non-vintage champagne. The bead size is bigger than a French champagne, but the high quality and great taste makes up for it.  No one will know the difference, especially when it comes to toasting among good friends! It's fabulous.

Have a great time at the party.  Drink more bubbly!

So many parties to attend, so little time. 

We jaunt from one Christmas party to another this time of year.  Giuseppe and I ventured to the 'burbs to attend our friends, Stefano and Helena's holiday party at their house in Rye.  Rye???  Not the bread!  The sleepy suburban town up in Westchester, New York.

Stefano and Helena are worldly people and made sure we were not in shellshock from venturing out of our city environs.  As you can see, Stefano's cellar was well stocked and being the generous man that he is, he shares his wine with his friends.  Even the ones worth writing about.  Big California was represented in his guests offering: Silver Oak, Insignia, Caymus, Cakebread, Heitz and more.  The French wines were mostly Burgundy.  Even one Musigny that Stefano said he paid $600 per bottle for.  And he was serving it to his many, many guests.  I felt like I was at a P. Diddy party. 

The food was delish!  Being the quintessential hostess that Helena is, it would be so pedestrian if she hired just any caterer.  No.  You hire the services of Katherine J. Rich of Greenwich, Connecticut.  If you don't have a live-in chef (Mon Dieu!), you hire Catering by Katherine.  She's the person in the kitchen that is invisible and voila! makes food come out of the oven as if you slaved all year over it.  Tuna tartare with creme fraiche and caviar on a crisply fried waffled potato chip.  Mini burgers so succulent and tender.  Not like those mini burgers you sample at charity events that are as hard as a hockey puck.  Make your own roast ham and beef sandwiches with homemade artisanal breads.  Yes, all suburban trophy wives stay home and wait for that bread to proof while they exercise themselves to waif-life feathers that will blow away with the flour that was used for the bread. 

Now back to the wines!  I tasted them all.  The American stunners were strong, alcoholic, forceful and even with a little time, I mentioned I didn't think they were ready to drink.  Translation? The guest that chose this lot from the booty either knew the retail value and made that night their foray into the high-end, or liked it so big and full in the mouth that it could've been Yellow Tail for all they knew.

There were some white wines for those who had to maintain their Zoom Whitening pearlies in tip top condition.  What better than a $100 French chardonnay?  The red Burgundies were elegant, easier to drink, perhaps a little thin compared to the American wines.  But there were 2 wines from the Rhone region in the South of France.  I thought it was an interesting add-on because Burgundy is primarily pinot noir, a princely grape with pedigree.  The American wines represented were mostly cabernet sauvignon, the king of red wine grapes that is all about structure.  Rhone wines are mostly blends.  In this case, a blend of grenache (fruit and alcohol), syrah (another big, dark structural grape), cinsault (pronounced "sin SO" and adds spice to a blend), and mouvedre (earthiness).  I thought it was the perfect in-between party wine for the evening.

Tsk tsk tsk.  Time to go.  Back to the city for the next party tonight.  Thanks dahlings Helena and Stefano for being the quintessential hosts.  Even if it is in the 'burbs.