What’s New Year’s Eve without popping the cork on a bottle of bubbly? Gotta have that “pop” to make it official, right? But those bubbles are getting more and more pricey. When I decided to do a post on $15 bottles I thought I’d have a lot of choices, especially from the US, and mainly California. I was so surprised to find that most of the Cali sparkling wine is priced above my $15 limit. So I had to go the international route, and I don’t mean to Champagne. To find a budget friendly bottle of bubbles made well, you really need to go to Italy and Spain. But I did manage to find two wineries in the states that offer bubbly for $15 or less. All selections are NV which means non-vintage, a blend of many vintages. True vintage sparklers are more expensive, and they aren’t made every year.…
Only Pink Bubbles Will Do For Valentine’s Day
What’s more romantic than Champagne? Pink Champagne or sparkling wine. I’ve been pitched all sorts of wines to recommend for Valentine Day celebrations, but most of the wines are still wines. None of those will do. For me, it’s bubbles or nothing. And they should be pink. The traditional choice is Champagne, and my go-to wine is the Billecart-Salmon NV Rosé, with its delicate bubbles and salmon pink hue. This is a brut sparkler, very dry, with a subdued floral and fruity aroma, a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. At around $75 it is a splurge – but believe it or not, it’s available on Amazon.com I’m a big fan of California sparkling wine, and some of the best bubbly is produced by Domaine Carneros. This house is in the Carneros region of Napa, which is a fantastic region for growing sparkling wine grapes. For Valentine’s…