"prosecco" news and stories

Milkshake. Photo: Rev Dan Catt, Flickr

• Milkshakes aren't just for kids anymore. Grow them up with a good shot of booze.
• All things tomatoes: cherry tomatoes, the ideal snack; the ins and outs of planting; gardening secrets.
• The versatile world of brownies.
• Straight-from-the-farm farmers' market produce may be fresh and tasty, but that doesn't mean it's 100 percent organic.
• Prosecco love is on the rise. The Tribune recommends a few to try.
• Recipes: Red Chili, Garlic and Basil Chicken; Green Bean Salad with Feta and Lemon; Grilled Pork Tenderloins; and Duck Tacos with Chili-Cherry Compote.

I have to admit, I discovered Gruet at the omnipotent chain restaurant, well small chain restaurant, Harry's Taproom. Harry's is less than a block from my home base, so several Buckley meals are consumed there per month. They pride themselves on their unique wine list, which I have discovered is not as unique as I'd thought, since I can usually purchase most of their wines at Total Wine.

It was New Years Eve 2007, and we were looking to have a pre-dinner cocktail before heading to another restaurant and then out on the town for some never disappointing D.C. nightlife. I wanted to start the evening off light, so I asked for a glass of bubbly. There were only 2 choices by the glass and one was a prosecco, which is always too sweet for me, so I asked about the other option at $7.50 a glass. I paid little attention to the name, but the state was quite intriguing; New Mexico! I had a feeling I was in for something nasty paired with a nasty headache, so I did what all revelers do on New Year's Eve, I said, Bring it on!

I was amazed by this lovely dry stunner and its tickling aroma of grapefruit and rustic copper. Sip by sip, I became more intoxicated with the joy that you can only experience by finding a great bargain wine under $15.00. Along with this odd pairing of state and champagne is the corresponding story about the European wine makers and their discovery of the rustic but fertile New Mexican terroire which I will link out to. The family also owns a steak house, which I am dying to visit.

As I did for champagne, I have been putting together a list of some of the best buys in Sparkling Wines of the World for the holidays. I combed stores and the internet for weeks looking for great wines at great prices. Each of these sparklers is a good buy for the money, as well as tasty and interesting. I tried to include as many Rosé bubblies as well since they are becoming so hot and trendy right now. Those in the know have been enjoying their great combination of dry fruit and nose tickling effervescence for years. The following list doesn't have everything out there, but each of these is a great wine for the price, from low to high, they're all worth it. If you have any suggestions please tell us what, where, and how much. Happy Holidays Everyone!

US Sparkling Wines

• Barefoot Bubbly non-vintage Premium Extra Dry - $9
• Domaine Ste. Michelle non-vintage Blanc de Blancs- $12
• Domaine Ste. Michelle non-vintage Brut- $12
• Gruet Brut Blanc de Blancs- $13
• Korbel Sparkling Natural Chardonnay non-vintage- $13
• Piper Sonoma non-vintage Blanc de Noir- $15
• Piper Sonoma non-vintage Brut- $15
• Scharffenberger Mendocino non-vintage Brut-$15
• Mumm Napa non-vintage Blanc de Noirs- $17
• Mumm Napa non-vintage Brut Prestige- $17

I'm writing this on Christmas morning before heading to spend the day visiting family and friends. I have a big bag of presents for the kids and a special box for the grownups. It's full of various bottles of bubbly, special sparklers, that fizzy fun called sparkling wine that I like to pop open on the holidays. Looking back I've always loved champagne and sparkling wines. I can remember as a kid getting a tall, thin, glassful during celebrations and holidays; sipping the tart wine as millions of bubbles danced on my tongue. Right from my first taste I had a deep understanding why we use sparkling wines to celebrate. It's because the wine is a celebration in a bottle. As soon as you open it the wine starts to hiss or pop, and then it wants to dance forth and celebrate being released from the bottle; to go forth and make you smile, laugh, dance, and sing. The sparkling wine wants to celebrate with you, whether the reason is big or small, it wants to be part of the party. It's just like that friend we all know, who, as soon as they walk in the door, joyously makes their presence known, and it is understood that the party will now get into full swing.

Champagne is what first comes to mind when the topic is sparkling wine. It's from France, costs a lot, and is oh... so... refined. It's where many people say sparkling wine first came from, and they have tried to keep all the bragging rights. To be called Champagne it has to be a sparkling wine made in a specific province of north east France called Champagne. If sparkling wine is made anywhere else, it can't claim the name Champagne, although if it made in France it is called Cremant. But although it isn't Champagne, the other sparkling wines of the world can be excellent. I've tasted truly great sparklers from the US, Germany, Spain, Italy, Hungary, South Africa, and Australia.

Rosé wines, the ones that are pink, have long been the object of a bit of snickering amongst oenophiles. They've been labeled as too sweet and too cheap, but in recent years, rosés have improved in quality. They are being embraced not only by wine connoisseurs, but when once "club-hopping hipsters and tastemakers" were sipping Prosecco and Cosmopolitans, now it's rosé.

In the past, rosé was often made with grapes harvested for other wines and doesn't age, making it less credible than reds and whites and hard to take seriously. However, wineries around the world have begun to harvest rosé-specific grapes. Needless to say, rosé quality has improved.

Who's been seen drinking the pink? Alex Kapranos, the lead singer of the rock band Franz Ferdinand, Pamela Anderson, and the MisShapes, a group of three influential Manhattan party promoters and DJs in New York.

If you want to try, here are a few suggestions:

• Domaines Ott is the most recognizable brand of rosé and the top seller around New York's restaurant and club scene. The trendsetting rose was bought by Champagne Louis Roederer, the maker of Cristal Champagne, two years ago. However, it is rather expensive, ringing in at about twice the price of most rosés.
• Castello di Ama from Tuscany sells for about $15.
• Muga from Spain, which is about $11.
• Sofia Rosé is a wine from Francis Coppola's vineyard named for Sofia Coppola. (Though we're not so sure about that sparkling wine in a can.)

Just note that, according to some, "The rule is it's pretty much rosé exclusively all summer until the end of the season, around late September. By then we're all so rosé logged that we're happy to dry out for a while."

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