My new champagne glasses with sparkling wine to enjoy in them...

Since that initial bottle of Dom Perignon we've found many sparking wines that we've enjoyed including ones from Piper Sonoma and Mumm Napa.  Of course, as with any wine we've also hit many duds and along the way learned that we are not particularly happy with Bruts and prefer somewhat sweeter Sparkling Wines.

I must admit though, I did not begin a quest to find enjoyable sparkling wines.  In fact, after that bottle of Dom Perignon I more or less forgot about drinking champagne.  Forgot, that is, until my neighbor Athena, began convincing me that not only did sparkling wine taste great but that it could be enjoyable as an everyday drink. How did she do this?  Discussions about sparkling wines, a gift of sparkling wine at a dinner party, and offers of sparkling wine when visiting her house gradually showed me that sparkling wines are not only suited to any occasion but they also taste great.   Finally convinced, today I purchased a sparkling wine and a pair of champagne glasses! 

Not a believer?  Next time you go to buy a bottle of wine try a sparkling wine and see for yourself.   Of course, you have to find the right sparkling wine for your tastes.  Athena and I have similar tastes and tend to enjoy Blanc de Blanc style sparkling wines.  If you haven’t enjoyed sparkling wine in the past, I recommend starting by reading a description of different styles and sweetness indicators of sparkling wines and then experimenting until you find the one that works for you. 

PS: Athena - Thanks for opening my eyes to sparkling wine!

1. Silverado Fantasia 2002:  A wonderful and intriguing blend of 55% Sangiovese, 42% Cabernet Sauvignon and 3% Zinfandel.  Check-out some more info on it courtesy of Mikes Wine Blog. 
2. Silverado Zinfandel 2003:  This was the beginning of our current Zinfandel cravings...
3. Davis Bynum Westside Meritage 2002: Great wine, but since Davis Bynum is a relatively small winery, sadly, it’s probably very difficult to find any at this point.
4. Clos Du Val 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon: Excellent Cabernet with very little tannins even though it’s still pretty young.  We love to serve this when we have dinner parties.
5. Duckhorn Sauvignon Blanc 2004: As you've probably noticed I'm mostly into Reds but this white is a nice refreshing surprise from many of the oaky California whites.
6. Davis Bynum Pinot Noir 2003: A second Davis Bynum on my list? Hmm, probably not a coincidence that this is the next wine club we plan to join….  This is a nice full bodied Russian River Valley Pinot.
7. Luca 2004 Altose Mendoza:  Top rated Malbec in our Malbec Wine tasting party.
8. Chateau Montelena 2002 Zinfandel: A classic table wine.  See vintners notes
9. Clos du Bois 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon: Another great Cab that we frequently enjoy.
10. St. Francis Grenache 2003:  Nice little surprise we got in a recent wine club shipment that really stood out!

Let's hope next years wines are just as memorable! 

Each of these wines is a wine that I, and/or Husband, purchased and then drank at home.  This list excludes wines we drank and enjoyed at restaurants or other activities.  In most cases, we tasted the wines before purchasing and for all of the wines we would not hesitate to purchase them again!

Top Ten Wines Under $20

1. Water Wheel Memsie 2004
2. Cigale 2004
3. Emrich-Schonleber 2004 Riesling-Spatlese
4. Terrazas De Los Andes Cabernet Sauvignon 2003
5. Finca El Portillo 2005 Malbec
6. Tamari Reserve Malbec 2003
7. Rutherford Hill 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon
8. Esterlina Cabernet Sauvignon 2002
9. Berringer Merlot 2001
10. Ch. St. Jean 2004 Gewurtz

How do you choose what wine to drink when you are dinning out?  I find this a fun, yet, occasionally frustrating, part of wining and dining.  Here in California restaurants are overly biased to our regional wines but that doesn't mean I'll have heard of any of the wines on the list.  Or even if I have heard of them I may not want them because I generally like to try new wines.  So how to choose what wine to drink?

Most often Husband and I will look over the list and narrow down our possibilities based on the varietals we want and cost limitations.  Then what do we do?  Well if we've heard of a particular winery we will use that as an aid.  Sometimes we'll ask the waitperson but that isn't always very helpful.  More often than not we pick a random choice from our reduced list of choices.  This can give mixed results but if we're at a good restaurant usually we do OK because good restaurants tend to have good wines.  But other approaches to choosing wines can be more fun...

On those occasions when we are in a restaurant where they have a very large wine list we use the Sommelier to decide.  This is lots of fun.  We list off our preferences; the Sommelier asks a few questions about what we are eating and then makes suggestions.  Sometimes they will simply point to a few choices and describe them but when we have a really good Sommelier they will go back to their "cave" and bring us a few choices.  They will describe the wine, the vinter, the varietal, and why the wine will go with our meal.  Having the wine bottle in front of you doesn't really help but it adds to the fun.  And you get to see the label and the care the winery put into creating the final packaging for the wine.  The Sommelier will also decant reds and properly chill the whites.  As I said its lots of fun and whenever we've fully relied on the Sommelier we've had outstanding wine selections.

We've had even more success with dessert wine/port pairings for our cheese courses.  Wine and cheese go together amazingly well but it can be difficult to do this pairing with the limited information available on the menu.  Last year we had the Sommelier at Bouchon pair our selection of cheeses to dessert wines.  He chose a dessert wine for each of the three cheeses.  Each wine was from the same region as the corresponding cheese and they were not on the dessert wine menu - yet the costs were reasonable.  The pairings were the best I've had to date and just thinking about them makes me want them again - each wine perfectly accentuated the cheese.  

Using a Sommelier has definitely enhanced our wine enjoyment.  Yet we don't do it all the time - why?  As enjoyable as it is to drink the wine paired by the Sommelier, it’s also fun to pick your own wine, despite the occasional dud choices, and enjoy knowing that it not only goes well with your meal but that you picked it yourself!