Tune in to what top wine bloggers and experts are decanting into cyberspace with handpicked highlights of their latest and greatest. This week’s episode brings us everything from favorite bubblies and alternative Oregonians to lovely Zins and expert wedding wine advice.
The New Year’s festivities may be over, but the party ain’t — not by a long shot — if you follow the directions of Food & Wine‘s senior wine editor Ray Isle, who serves up his picks for best rosé Champagnes and sparkling wines.
Strike anyone else as odd that we tend to reserve these wines for “special occassions”? Hey, not to get to touchy-feely about it, but any time can be a “special occasion” — depending on what you’re drinking, and who you’re with.
Granted some of Isle’s Champagnes can be a little pricey ($43-$175), but you can still get bubbly on a budget with his sparkling selections, including a personal low-cost favorite: Freixenet Brut de Noirs NV ($10). Pop that cork!
Speaking of New Year’s, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg came up with a fine resolution: “… devoting more time and space to the questions you ask us about wine and about what to eat with the wines you drink.”
And they kick off the year with a wine Q&A that, among other things, tries to answer that age old question about what “fairly inexpensive (around $10 or under) smooth red wine and a crisp — not too oaky or buttery — white wine to serve” at a wedding.
They provide some characteristically sage advice, but I’m personally leaning toward that Freixenet above … at least for the honeymoon.
Zin lovers, this is for you.
Wine Spectator‘s Tim Fish review the 2005s, and finds that year to be “one of the best vintages in ages.”
A long, cool growing season produced wines that are generally well-structured, not overly ripe and have gentle tannins built for short-term aging.
Fish cites his favorites among 16 wines in two blind flights.
Catching up on Eric Asimov is always a treat, like, for example, this nice read on an alternative Oregon wine:
European wine prices, already creeping higher, are likely to shoot up in the next couple of months. Inexpensive California wines are not hard to find, but they are rarely good buys. What is the value hunter to do?
May I suggest an excellent alternative? Pinot gris, from Oregon.
Oregon pinot gris is one of the least-talked-about, best-value wines on the market today. Certainly you won’t hear much about it from Oregon wine producers, who don’t want to talk about anything but their precious pinot noir, which they can sell for much more money and which brings much more luster.
But don’t think Asimov has by any means given up on those Europeans.
Far from it, he celebrates a batch of “extraordinary” Barolos. In fact: “It was the best gathering of Barolos that I’ve ever been a part of, and I was humbled to have the opportunity to taste the old wines.”
He names names. (Think of all the money you saved on the Freixenet — here’s your chance to put it to good use!)
