The Six Months of Christmas

One enjoyable thing about having friends and family scattered across the country is that come Christmas-time, presents start appearing on our doorstep at random intervals, some without previous notice. It has seemed more like Hannukah at our apartment, with many days of presents instead of one day-to-end-all-days of gift-giving. And we have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated each and every special arrival.

One of the more exciting presents to show up on our doorstep, especially when it comes to this blog, was a Styrofoam encased pair of champagnes, courtesy of the future hubby’s parents. They actually purchased a “champagne of the month” type deal for us, wherein we will receive not one but two champagnes each month via airmail for the next six months. A Christmas present that lasts until June! We couldn’t be happier.

While we wanted to wait until Christmas to try our enticing new bubblies, we quickly realized we did not possess that kind of restraint. You should see what happens to freshly baked cookies. We consumed both bottles in the span of one weekend, but were sure to savor every duty-free drop. And while we enjoyed both bottles because we didn’t have to bemoan the possibility of paying too much for them, we were sure to remain as objective as possible while writing reviews, in case some of you out there are not lucky enough to receive some fizzy libations as gifts this season.

The first of our December pair that we tasted was the Pol Clément Rosé Sec ($13). This blushingly pink wine was extremely fizzy out of the bottle, just bursting to fill our glasses and tickle our noses. As per its name, it has a lovely pinkish-amber hue that made it hard to drink; we didn’t want to tear our eyes away. It had a very full flavor that was not as sweet as expected, but certainly not dry. The top notes were light and flowery, with a verdant aftertaste that blended with a nectary finish. While the harmony of the flavors wasn’t quite perfect, this wine didn’t offend. And it was just playful enough to disappear before we knew it.

And before we forget, Merry Christmas! Break out the bubbly, spread the joy!

Score: This was a three all around, with some slight reservations.

Recommended: Considering the price, you could certainly do worse.

Welcome to the Big Time

(Full disclosure: this actually happened back in September. Since I'm writing the review, it's not getting posted until now. Yes, I know.)

Special occasions call for special champagne. It's as simple as that. And when the special occasion happens to be a 1-year anniversary....well, that needs a really special champagne. I mean really special.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin La Grande Dame Brut 1998 ($180). Yes, a champagne that was born back when I was still in high school. I mean, think about it for a second: this champagne waited 12 years for us. Think of how far this bottle of champagne has travelled in those 12 years! And after all that, after everything this bottle of fizzy grape juice has gone through....it ends up with us on our 1-year anniversary. Isn't that amazing? What are the chances?

Before the actual review, I have to mention the dinner that accompanied our special champagne. The missus made Fettucine Alfredo - with homemade sauce. Watching all the butter, cream, and cheese going into this stuff actually made me feel a little bad about eating it. I mean, geez....it's basically liquid fat. But OH MY GOD IT IS SO GOOD. I can't even describe it. Easily the best pasta dish I've ever had. No exaggeration - it was really that good. And yes....I totally ate more than I should have.

But now on to the star of the show.

I think we mentioned on here before that when a champagne is really good, there's not much you can actually say about it. Well, we pushed ourselves! Trust me, it wasn't easy....because this champagne isn't just good, it's amazing.

The smell is wonderful - delicate, slightly sweet, very clean. It smells meek, light. Then you drink it, and realize it's the exact opposite! Big flavors. Gigantic, bold flavors. It's so rich, you almost start to feel like it's thicker than regular champagne. It coats your mouth. It's like caramel, fruity with a dark sweetness. It kind of has a musk about it, but in a really good way. Not like a musk ox. Then you swallow - which is actually a little difficult. I'm serious, the longer you keep in in your mouth, the better it gets! But once you finally get around to swallowing, you realize it has that perfect "dry but not too dry" finish. Know what I mean? It's just right. And the flavors linger long afterwards....it's amazing. It sounds overly dramatic, but drinking this champagne is really an experience.

Score: a unanimous 5. There's no question about it. When you drink this, you're drinking champagne for real.

Recommended? Without a doubt. Yes, it's expensive - but it's worth every single cent. I can't stress that enough. If you've got a special occasion coming up, seek out a bottle of this stuff. It's like liquid heaven.

Hunting the Albino Alligator

One nice thing living in the Washington, D.C. area did provide was a broad range of museums within which to totally nerd-out for free. The Smithsonians are owned by the American people, and we are indeed members of the American people, so our tickets were already paid for (through taxes, which might mean technically we paid the entrance fee far, far in advance, but let’s not get technical). Moving out to San Francisco, we were suddenly faced with the decision to either pay $30 to get our nerd fix, or save that money for true necessities, like champagne.

But every once in a while, the museums of San Francisco take pity on the middle class geeks of this fair city and offer something for free. A short time ago, we took advantage of just such an offer, and were able to spend our entire afternoon joyously giving our natural history muscles a workout at the California Academy of Sciences, for free! While we loved numerous exhibits throughout the museum, like the mammoth catfish that could easily swallow a five-year-old child, or the adorable poison dart frogs who look just like candy (tricky little devils), our favorite part of the visit this time around was Claude, the albino alligator. The mystery, the majesty, the creepy way he never moved while we were looking at him and yet was always in a different position when we stopped by ten minutes later. We are already planning new ways to sneak up on him in action when the next free weekend comes around six months from now. It may involve ski masks.

And since this weekend outing was free, we had money in our pockets for the essentials, like another bottle of sparkling wine, ripe for a review. This time we chose the j Cuvée 20 ($27). We already spoke favorably of the j Rosé, and were hopeful that the rest of the varieties would not disappoint. This wine certainly did not. It was very crisp, bubbly, and bright. It had a clean, light, almost peachy aroma. With delicate undertones to every sip, it was fun to drink and had a very light bitterness that actually balanced the complex flavors of the wine. It was impressively balanced and nuanced for a California wine. But we must admit, it was no albino alligator.

Score: A unanimous 4.

Recommended: Yep, it’s a little pleasure in a bottle.

Just Get Me Through to Morning

It might be a little too early to celebrate anything right now on this election evening. Ballots are still being counted, bruises are still bursting their way to the surface of many a battered soul (politics makes us alliterative). There have been a few turn of events that have actually made us smile, a lot that made us queasy, and a few that just made us scratch our heads – like that witch-lady, did she really think she was going to win? If you have to run an ad on television declaring you’re not a witch, we’re pretty sure you’re really a witch.

But no matter who wins or loses, or what ridiculous propositions pass that will give more money to the bajillionaires down in their beach homes in Malibu, there are still a few things to tip a glass to tonight. First, we will no longer have to see Meg Whitman’s smug little face talking about how she’s all about the California dream. If she was auctioning her “truthiness” (thank you, G.W.) she’d get negative bids. But most importantly, no more political ads! We can finally turn on the television for a lively game of Jeopardy without being inundated with bad lighting, annoying voice-overs, and things we “can’t afford.” Geez, it’s a recession, you don’t have to tell us what we can’t afford.

Although, that Yes on 21 ad didn’t bother us too much, what with those cute little foxes and all.

So if you’re ready to sip some bubbly in celebration of commercial breaks returning to little geckos and pizza salesman, try a bottle of Drusian Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore ($15). A wine from Italy? Yes! Because who isn’t tired of America right now? And prosecco is easier on the wallet then French champagnes, so you can save your money for all the whiskey you’ll need once you realize the state the country is in after the elections. But back to the prosecco. This one smelled strongly floral and fruity right out of the bottle, with a refreshing amount of carbonation to give it just the right amount of kick. It had a sweetness that fills your entire mouth and lasts long after you’ve drunk it down. It did retain some mildly bitter apple undertones with a light dryness, but these didn’t detract from its easy drinkability. It mostly made us think of this past summer, a time when anything was still possible and hope was still alive. Eh, maybe we’ll just move to Italy they don’t have any crazy politics, right?

Score: It was a unanimous 3, but in a good way.

Recommended: Yes, this is a solid prosecco that is sure to keep its promises.

Gray Mediocrity

It’s been a rainy past few days, and it looks like the rain will last through the weekend. Expected for late October around here, but still a drag. Our late summer is officially over.

And while we morn the loss of the sun and the oncoming drab days, why not review a wine that makes us feel just as blasé?

We’ve seen this sparkling wine everywhere, from small neighborhood grocery stores to the cavernous Costco, but we had never been inclined to give it a try. Something just said “this is a wine that wishes it was something a little more French.” While this feeling still nagged us, we finally gave in and tried the Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut ($25). All we could say upon first sip was “grapey,” like that annoying little Welch’s girl. It didn’t provide any redeeming qualities after the first taste, with its tart, puckering finish. Although it was a very light wine, with undertones of crackers (the bastard child of actual baked bread), it left the mouth drier than we would have expected. Overall, it was fairly easy drinking, but totally unremarkable. And once we finished, we noticed our glasses smelled like feet. Eww.

Score: She gives it a 2, he has some pity and gives it a 2.5

Recommended: Pass this one, it’s a big green bottle full of tangy juice.

Even Trader Joe’s Can Let You Down

Life is full of disappointments. Like when you’ve been playing Viva Piñata for two hours and you’re still no closer to getting that damn S’morepion because the store refuses to sell venus flytrap seeds. And it’s all you’ve been waiting for! Or that feeling you get when you realize there are people out there willing to vote for Meg Whitman for governor. Those sorts of things.

Typically, the only thing about Trader Joe’s that was ever disappointing was the fact that certain beloved items could disappear from the shelves without notice (you can conjure up the image of your own particular beloved item here). Blame the fickle warehouse gods. But we recently discovered that even Trader Joe’s can advertise items as a tasty bargain when really, they’re just mediocre products masquerading as something fancy to steal your money (Meg, have you expanded into the champagne business by any chance?)

Feeling adventurous while buying our usual bucket of hummus and flax seed chips, we decided to try a French champagne we’d never heard of but which Trader Joe’s touted as a classic, the Charles D’Embrun Brut ($25). We should have sensed trouble from the beginning – the bottle was so carbonated, the cork flew out of the top without being touched, rocketing through the air and almost taking out an eye in the process. We shook off this initial assault, and plunged forward as a tart, fruity smell emanated from the bottle. But, while this wine was made in France and claimed to use traditional champagne techniques, we could taste none of the classic, yeasty overtones or complex flavors of other French champagnes. It’s possible there was a slight bread-like nuance in the aftertaste, but it was hidden by the extremely tart, unpleasantly dry finish that made us pucker all over. And the longer the wine sat in the glass, the more it smelled like wet dog.

Like never winning TJ’s raffle for bringing in our own bags (is this raffle even legit? has anyone ever won?), this champagne was a sour downer.

Score: Still not the worst we’ve had, we gave it a unanimous 2.5

Recommended: No and no, really not what we expected from a French champagne.

A Little Like Alex Trebek at a Wu-Tang Concert

Some things should probably not mix. You know, like MC Hammer and a children’s bluegrass show. Seriously. The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival does indicate through its name that strict adherence to the term “bluegrass” is not a requirement for festival participation. But the man who brought us Hammer Pants? Even being inclusive San Franciscans, we found that to be stretching it. Although Mr. Hammer could have a down home country past of which we’re not aware. Maybe the MC stands for Mack Chevy.

We missed Hammer Time this year, but we did manage to catch Fountains of Wayne (bluegrass, no, but man did that bring us back) and Conor Oberst. Oh Conor, he can bring even a rockin country festival to a screeching, heart-breaking halt. But he’s so sincere about it. And yes, we had an unconfirmed Steve Wozniak on a segway sighting during the FoW show. Did he know he had stumbled upon a bluegrass festival? Perhaps his segway was stuck on auto-pilot, pulling his rotund personage through the streets of San Francisco willy-nilly.

And one of us (we won’t name names) downed three hot dogs in twenty minutes, experiencing both great gustatory pleasure and the crippling pain of digesting that much gut-busting minced meat.

The festival was still great, eclectic fun. Maybe the seeming senselessness of it all added to that. We’re certainly not going to complain. We have our own odd pairings from time to time. Like our combination of Gosset Excellence Brut* ($42) with homemade pad thai for dinner. Gosset claims to be the oldest running champagne house in France, and we’re not historians so we’ll take their word for it. Pad thai is not French (unless you add snails), and can be found in any American asian fusion hole-in-the-wall restaurant. And yet, we love them both, together. The Gosset had a lovely light bready smell, perfect for a champagne, with a very classic brut taste. It was fruitier than most of the bruts we’ve had, but toed the line nicely between charmingly sweet and grape juice. It was light, not too dry, and easy to drink, with minimal carbonation. It maintained its breadiness in the aftertaste, and became drier the more we drank.

The pad thai was amazing. We recommend extra peanuts.

*Warning: Do not operate a segway after drinking.

Score: She gives it a 4, he gives it a 3.

Recommended: This one certainly had prestige, but it was a little pricey. If you can find it on sale, go for it.

It’s Not Over Until You’ve Had Champagne

If you’ve ever wondered what champion Formula One race car drivers drink after zipping past the competition, so did we. But it didn’t take long to notice that after every race, the men were swigging back huge bottles of G.H. Mumm. Intrigued by this, and in celebration of Ferrari’s recent winning streak, we decided to purchase a bottle and see what it was like on the winning team.

Of course, a classy event like Formula One racing could never disappoint. We purchased the authentic G.H. Mumm Cordon Rogue ($30), in a more reasonable 1.5 liter bottle. (Though who are we kidding? We would have purchased the double size bottle in a heart beat). The champagne smelled sweet and delicious. It was extremely refreshing, which must explain why men who have sweated through two hours of being stuck in a tiny, hot race car can drink so much of it afterwards. It had a full, bready taste that was slightly dry but still left your mouth feeling pleasantly moist. The aftertaste was smooth and complex. This was a champagne that activated all the tastebuds. Definitely for winners; wimpy losers should stick with their Korbel and goldfish crackers.

Score: She gives it a 4, while he jumps ahead with a 4.5

Recommended: Heck yeah, this is only classy champagne.

Brought To You By The Letter J

The most exciting event of the past week in our neighborhood was the start of a weekly food truck convergence at the end of the block. For the foreseeable future, our Thursdays just became that much tastier. There’s something about food from a truck that has flavors you just can’t get in a restaurant that's not on wheels. And food trucks don't just sell tacos and hot dogs these days – there’s deconstructed samosas, lumpia, and cupcakes too.

Just another reason we love this town.

The sparkling wine for this week has nothing to do with food trucks (we don’t think trucks can get a license to sell booze, which is a shame). We tried it because we had seen the bottle everywhere and were intrigued by the simplicity of its marketing. A single letter on a clean, green bottle – it’s pretty sexy.

The wine was J Brut Rosé ($25), which not only rhymes, it’s pretty tasty too. It had a gorgeous, peachy-pink color, yet again proving we love staring deeply into a glass of rosé. The scent was distinctly floral. The first sip was dry, with just a hint of sweetness, and a tangy floral aftertaste. It had just the right amount of carbonation and a very smooth finish. The more we drank it, the more we liked this playful sparkling wine. And we should note, it goes very well with a ravenous appetite, like the kind produced by a flock of food trucks.

Score: We both gave it a 3.5

Recommended: Sure. This is a good, solid rosé.

Making It Memorable

Labor Day may seem like the end of summer for some, but to us, it’s the beginning of the most beautiful time of year. Our summers up in the bay usually arrive later than the rest of the state, so while most people head back to school with memories of sunburns and charred meat, we head out on the town for warm days and cloud-free skies.

This past weekend, we celebrated the return of gorgeous weather with Rochelle’s sister and brother-in-law, who live just beyond the Caldecott Tunnel in the East Bay. Amid the summer-brown fields and down the hill from a pasture full of miniature donkeys (honestly), we all sat down for many things grilled, along with one thing bubbly.

But before we began our full review, Rochelle’s brother-in-law took haste to point out that in his opinion, our blog would garner more readers if we made the reviews more “memorable.” And in his mind, this could only mean using far more offensive language to describe our wines. And hating the wines more, for as he sees it, the only really good reviews are those in which the reviewer absolutely loathes that which is being reviewed.

The sacrificial wine for this roast (haha) was the Piper-Heidsieck Brut ($28). We’ll start off with the majority review of the three, less antagonist tasters. The wine had a lovely golden hue in the glass, with a large dose of bubbles and a scent reminiscent of bourbon. It was pretty dry, with bitter overtones that gave way to a smoother, sweeter finish. While not offensive, it was fairly unremarkable, with a nose that promised much more complexity than was actually delivered. But it left a pleasing, faintly fruity taste in the mouth after drinking.

Now, this same wine as reviewed by the brother-in-law. First of all, he thought we should start off with something clever to say about the name, like “Piper tastes like a diaper,” in order to lure in more readers. He also wanted us to point out that the color looks like a urine sample from a particularly healthy individual. And as this was his first taste of champagne (not being a drinker), the review grows even more colorful after his first sip. He thought it tasted like alcohol he used to steal out of his mother’s liquor cabinet when he was younger. In response to its profuse carbonation, he thought we should add “warning: causes gas.” In conclusion, he decided it was too gross to drink, but would make an excellent disinfectant.

We expect our readership to quadruple after this review.

Score: It was a unanimous three (well, almost, if “use as disinfectant” can count as a middling review).

Recommended: Rochelle’s brother-in-law may have been a little over-enthusiastic with his color commentary, but we did all agree that we wouldn’t buy this wine again, especially given the price (many other good French champagnes in this range).

This is a Heat Wave?

A funny thing happens when it reaches 80 degrees in San Francisco – people run through the streets because they no longer have to wear jackets outside, and the fire alarm goes off in our building. Maybe it’s not really a fire alarm, but a warning system that it’s time to leave your apartment and enjoy the rare pleasure of a semi-hot day in the city. It does make us wonder, though; what would happen if there was actually a fire on a warm day? But these are questions best left to the experts.

There are a few ways to cool down on the sporadic warm days in this town. None of them involve air conditioning. In a town where 82 is like walking through the gates of hell, there’s really no need. Besides, that’s what windows are for. And if you ever open a window in San Francisco and there isn’t a breeze blowing, you can be pretty sure the world has ceased to turn. But besides open windows, relief can also come from taking a dip in the frigid Pacific Ocean and risk running into a great white shark, or doing what we do: drinking champagne.

One nice choice for a warm summer’s day is Freixenet Brut Cordon Rosado ($14). This sparkling wine is lovely just sitting in the glass, with a blushing pink color and the perfect amount of bubbles. The aroma is faintly sweet, as is the first taste. It starts dry, but has a wet finish, and is thankfully easy to drink when trying to cool down. The overall flavors were of tart apples and grapes, with no bitterness left in your mouth. We wouldn’t care if the heat wave lasted until November.

Score: She gives it a 3.5, he gives it a 3

Recommended: Yes, while not spectacular, this is a good wine for someone who has never had champagne and doesn’t like drinks that are too dry.

Game over, all over again

Let me start this off with a little warning. Usually, the missus writes these blog entries, the reason being that the missus has an English degree and can actually write things that sound official. In other words, things that don't sound totally conversational. See what I mean?

I most certainly don't have an English degree. As a matter of fact, I went to an art school. That should pretty much cover everything you need to know. Go easy on me!

Have I mentioned you all look wonderful today? (Hey, every little bit helps)

After a particularly long week at work, we decided that we'd line up a special Friday evening to make up for it. In our case, a special evening usually means eating out, buying champagne, and watching a movie at home. Actually, that's pretty much our normal evening too - minus the eating out part. Pajamas are almost mandatory once we get home. And despite the fact that you could probably get away with wearing pajamas to dinner in The Haight, we always keep it classy and wait until we get home.

Speaking of classy, what exemplifies class more than burgers and beer? Exactly. Thus enters the Burgermeister. There's one right down the street from our apartment, so it was a perfect setup.

I had a big, sloppy turkey burger, and the missus had a sautéed onion and blue cheese veggie burger. We shared a big pile of curly fries, and washed it all down with cold beer. I don't need to go into too many details here - after all, this is burgers we're talking about. But I will say this: HOLY CRAP THEY WERE DELICIOUS AND THE FRIES OH MY GOD CURLY FRIES ARE SO GOOD AND THE BEER TO WASH IT ALL DOWN AND THE BURGERS WERE SO GOOD DID I MENTION THAT?

After our big dinner, we stopped by a local wine store to pick up a bottle of champagne. We actually ended up getting something we'd tried before back when we weren't writing reviews. Now enters: Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut. ($50)

I'll start off by saying that I was a little biased going into this official review. Veuve is easily my #2 favorite champagne of all time, so I was literally bursting at the seems to have it again. Of course, it didn't disappoint.

It greets you with a light, slightly bready, slightly fruity aroma from the glass. It's a little dry, but not the kind of dry that punches you in the face. And the aftertaste? Forget it! Hints of peach - sweet, deep, and lasting. What struck us while we were drinking this champagne is that we were really having a hard time coming up with things to say about it. It's just wonderful. Perfect harmony - no off-notes grabbing your attention. I guess with champagne you really like, you just drink it and shut up. Fine by me!

Score: We both give it a 4.5

Recommended: Highly. Sure, it's kind of getting into the pricey range at $50 a bottle, but it's totally worth it. Trust us. It is worth every penny, and then some. Absolutely spectacular.

Thrifty Must Mean ‘Wads of Cash’ in Old English

We were under the impression the economy is in the toilet. Times are hard; everyone is tightening their belts and waiting for the ridiculous opulence of times past to return. But if you walk into the Salvation Army in San Francisco, you’d think that even the homeless have found a housing bubble that just won’t burst.

Since we recently decided we desperately needed a new camera for filming our future Academy Award nominated movie, we’ve tried to keep our spending in check (well, mostly in check, since Amoeba is right down the street). With that in mind, we headed to our local Salvation Army recently to see about some inexpensive furniture to fill up our still sparse apartment. Maybe a little coffee table or a cheap-but-functional dresser. But the folks at this store must take the meaning of “thrift” to entirely new levels. What cash-poor individual could afford a $250 dresser? From a used goods store? Was this dresser made of unicorn dust and originally sold for $2 million, making a mere $250 a good deal? We think not. And the store was full of similarly priced items. No piece of furniture was under $200, and yet none of them looked like they would fetch more than $30 at an old-fashioned garage sale. Maybe the bums here really do make a good living. We need to reconsider our careers.

We haughtily left the store as soon as we realized the insanity of its pricing scheme, but we were determined not to let our bus trip across town be in vain. Luckily, there was a BevMo just two blocks away. What better way to forget that we are not even middle-class enough to buy from a thrift store than to purchase swanky bottles of champagne?

The wine we decided to drink that evening, in the spirit of dabbling in the higher classes, was the Moët & Chandon Impérial ($32). This very pale, lightly bubbly wine smelled very fresh in the glass, though not yeasty like most French champagnes. It had an extremely clean, subtle taste with only a hint of bitterness at the end. It was very dry, probably the driest wine we’ve tasted so far, with very little mouth fizz (a technical term). It also had no real aftertaste, besides the sensation of needing a glass of water. But the overall experience was pleasant, fresh, and enjoyable enough to let us look down our noses at those fools buying furniture at the Salvation Army. You could buy eight bottles of this champagne for one of those dressers! The savvy shopper knows which choice to make.

Score: We both give it a 3.5

Recommended: We’ll give this one a solid sure; it’s a relatively affordable, dependable French champagne.

The Call is Coming From Inside the House

As many of you may have noticed, this past Friday happened to be the 13th of August. Friday the 13th! We realized this fact about halfway through the day, and immediately knew what we were going to do that night: watch scary movies, while drinking champagne.

That is the beauty of this beverage, it’s completely versatile. It can be used to celebrate everything from white weddings to black demons. Whether we’re blissfully happy or about to pee our pants in fright, there’s nothing else we’d rather do than take a minute to sip some refreshing, bubbly wine. Raises the spirits and calms the nerves.

The proof was in how much we thoroughly enjoyed both our movie selections for the evening, and our wine pairing. For those who are curious, we started the night with a more

“classy” horror movie, to get on the right foot. A modern, black and white silent movie entitled The Call of Cthulu. And if you don’t believe a silent movie can be scary, we dare you to watch this movie and see if you can even so much as move a muscle until the final credits. If you don’t know about the awesome, tentacle-faced ancient god that is Cthulu, just do a quick Wikipedia search. Yeah, he’s that handsome. Our second movie selection continued with the theme of modern movies imitating older cinematic styles. This one was a freak-out-the-babysitter-style movie that was made recently but filmed like an 80s thriller, called The House of the Devil. And maybe it was the champagne talking, but this movie couldn’t have been more perfect if the lead character wasn’t wearing waist-high skinny jeans and rocking out to a walkman. Incredibly, it leaves out all cheesiness and still delivers a satisfyingly eerie yet ambiguous ending. Perfect.

The wine we chose for our night of chills was the Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs 2006 ($28). The name seemed intimidating enough to stand up to the monsters and demons of the evening. But the wine itself, from California, was actually fairly delicate. Right out of the bottle it smelled intensely like just-risen bread dough. Which, if you like bread dough, is an amazing thing. It was extremely fizzy, and had a nice, pale yellow color in the glass. Once the bubbles died down in our mouths, the flavor was gently tart, but not dry, and didn’t linger long after drinking. Overall, it was a pleasant wine that was easily consumed while clutching our pillows in suspense. And luckily, this time no one peed their pants.

Score: She gives is a 3.5, he gives it a 3.

Recommended: We’re on the fence on this one. We probably wouldn’t go out of our way to buy this again, but it’s definitely a wine that won’t let you down.

How the Classy Kids Recline

Our time living like squatters in our own apartment is finally over (for the most part) – we purchased a new couch! No more meals on the floor, no more camping mat in place of actual seating space. Admittedly, the mat improved our posture, but seemed incongruous with the 42" flat screen TV staring down upon us from the other end of the room. So we ventured out to the Marina yesterday to attempt to buy a piece of furniture without any haggles, headaches, or blatant salesmanship.

And we actually succeeded. This was probably the easiest furniture buying experience anyone could hope to have. After doing our research, we heard of a tiny place with great furniture, good prices, and friendly owners who aren’t desperate to sell you something you don’t need. Sounded too good to be true, but we had to see for ourselves, seeing as our furniture situation was getting desperate. All the rumors turned out to be true, though, and it took us all of ten minutes to walk into the store, fall in love with a couch on the spot, and have the owner offer to drop it off at our apartment that same night. Yes, less than 4 hours later we were the proud owners of an actual couch, which fits perfectly in our tiny apartment and is pretty sexy to boot (designed by the store owner himself).

To celebrate this massive achievement, and our ability to actually recline on cushions while drinking, we decided to stop by a wine shop we had seen on our way to the furniture store and see what kind of champagne they had to offer. Coincidently, we met another extremely friendly, slightly goofy salesperson who found out what we were looking for and immediately steered us to a section of west coast, sparkling wines he thought were worth our while. He seemed like a trust-worthy fellow, especially since he forgave us for mentioning how nice it was outside while he was inside stacking boxes, oops, so we went with one of his suggestions and hurried home to wait for the arrival of our swanky new couch.

The couch arrived a few minutes early (another win for that furniture store, Craig, you are the best), and once in our apartment, it looked even better than in the store. We had high hopes that our sparkling wine would prove equally as satisfying. Settling onto our comfy seats above the floor, we carefully popped open our bottle of Argyle 2005 Brut ($25). This sparkling wine hails from the forested land of Oregon – who knew? – and is a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. Despite the hatred most Oregonians have for Californians and their general indifference to the rest of the west coast, the experience was pleasant from the start. It has a lovely, deep yellow color in the glass, with a subtle scent reminiscent of really good grape juice. If grape juice could make you giggly. The first sip is the perfect amount of sweet without going over into the land of dessert wines. Once in your mouth, the taste is crisp, perfectly carbonated, and full of flavor. Most of the notes are apple and citrus, but there is a hint of cinnamon underneath. Probably the most complex west coast sparkling wine we’ve tasted, without seeming so. It has a ridiculously smooth after taste that leaves your mouth feeling refreshed. This isn’t a French champagne, to be sure, but for a vineyard from Oregon, this wine is truly impressive [take that how you will, Oregonians]. Today, the salesmen didn’t lie.

Score: A unanimous 4.

Recommended: Yes, one because you have to taste it to believe it’s from Oregon and under $30, and two because it’s just so easy to drink.

Reunited Over Someone Else's Pain

We’re back!

After being reunited last Sunday thanks to an on-time (!) flight into SFO, we decided our first order of business, logically, was to buy a bottle of sparkling wine and forget all other obligations. But, since we knew we would be hemorrhaging money over the next few months in an attempt to furnish our bare apartment, we decided to forgo anything too outlandish and save the fancy drinks for a later date.

With that in mind, we trotted over to the local grocery store and looked for a wine we might have seen a million times and had never actually purchased. We settled on a bottle of Chandon Blanc de Noirs ($20). Confession: one of us might have commented in the store that this vineyard was featured on an episode of Newlyweds. This kind of knowledge should never be shared.

However, unlike the unforgettable train wreck that was the marriage between a ditsy blonde and an out-of-work boy band member, this sparkling wine was a yawn. It had a bitter, alcohol smell in the glass, which carried over upon first sip. The predominant taste was that of bitter apples (or was it sour grapes? Jessica?) It was pleasantly carbonated, with a wet mouth feel. It also had hints of an almost pleasant sourdough bread taste, which diminished the bitter overtones after swallowing. But that was the extent of this wine’s complexity. It is easily the most one-note, bitter sparkling wine we’ve tasted so far. Our overall impression can be summed up as “generic.” Like cut-off jeans on a Texan.

Score: They both agree, this wine is a 2.

Recommended: No, especially for $20 a pop, there are easily better tasting wines in this price range.

Let Them Drink Champagne

Airline ticket prices being what they are these days, our champagne tastings have to go on a brief hiatus until we are finally officially both in the same state (and in our own cute apartment, which you will no doubt hear plenty about in the near future).

But we wanted to take this time to set forth a bit of our philosophy on champagne. Mainly, that champagne, sparkling wine and their ilk are not simply for “special occasions.” Given the choice, we would happily drink champagne every day, even multiple times a day. There is no reason to save champagne for New Year’s Eve or an anniversary, especially given the wide array of inexpensive, decent sparkling wines available on the market today. In fact, champagne can turn even the most boring of moments into a joyous time. Something about carbonated wines just lifts the spirit, and adds a touch of class to everyday life.

So we say: drink champagne, whenever, wherever, as much as you can! You won’t regret it.

Taco Tuesdays

Since one of us if from California, and one of us is a man, we both love tacos. So naturally, we’ve instated Taco Tuesday as a weekly evening to celebrate the delicious heritage Latin America brought to our country. And while there are a million amazing variations on the tasty taco, we went with one of our favorites: homemade refried black beans, rice, jack cheese, faux grilled chicken, and fresh salsa for her. Along with a healthy dose of Cholula hot sauce (we’re enamored with the wooden bottle top).

It hit us that with the frequency with which we enjoy these tacos, we should try to find a champagne that could pair well with such fare. So we wandered the booze aisle of the grocery store – we have that in California – while shopping for taco ingredients, searching for inspiration on the appropriate bubbly beverage for the evening. We decided there might be something off about pairing French champagne with Mexican street food, and that California wine makers might better understand the flavors from south of the border.

Given the above considerations, as well as the egalitarian nature of a food available to all classes via the taco cart, we settled on a fairly inexpensive bottle of Mumm Napa Brut Prestige ($15). This sparkling wine had a sharp, tingly, slightly apple flavor upon first sip. As we continued to drink, what stood out the most was the extreme carbonation of the wine. This is not a sparkling wine for those embarrassed by a loud, unavoidable belch or two. Overall, the wine was very simple, with no real aftertaste. Easy to drink, but with no lasting impression besides bubbles, lots of bubbles. Not an excellent wine, but one that went down easy and didn’t compete with our enjoyment of our tacos. We may not have found the perfect taco wine (try asking for that the next time you’re at a fancy restaurant), but for fifteen bucks, we didn’t regret our purchase.

Score: She gives it a 3, while he gives it a 2.5

Recommended: Yes, for those who want a cheap sparkling wine that won’t offend the senses – as long as you’re ready for some mid-sipping burps.

The Beginning of Something Beautiful

Like a true classy romance, our relationship started with champagne. Our first night alone together, we became chummy on the couch with one another and a couple of bottles of Mumm Napa. And while neither of us were champagne connoisseurs (we had yet even to venture into the world of actual French champagne, as opposed to California’s sparkling wines), we knew there were two things we never wanted to give up after that night – each other, and drinking champagne.

Our love of bubbly wines grew with every date. But our devotion to the drink wasn’t fully realized until one weekend in May, when, in honor of our first Kentucky Derby party together, we shared a bottle of Dom Pérignon. We still sigh thinking about it. Our first taste of real, divinely drinkable French champagne made us know we had found our hobby (and a Kentucky Derby tradition that is sure to endure). It became our mission to seek out every champagne, sparkling wine, and prosecco we could find to experience all the world of carbonated wines has to offer.

The idea for this blog came a few weeks later, when the ultimate excuse to drink massive amounts of champagne arrived – we got engaged! Immediately, our plans turned into an entire weekend of trying new champagnes (yes, the French kind, this was a big deal!). We ran out, became BevMo club members, stocked up, and settled in. As we sat down to enjoy our first bottle of many to come, we realized we were going to need to keep a list of everything we tried in order to avoid repeats (which would defeat the goal of trying every single champagne we could find). And while we were keeping a list, we might as well keep notes on how well we enjoyed the wine. And maybe add some details about taste and mouth feel. Hey, we could even take pictures of each bottle, and throw in a few shots of the lovely couple imbibing said champagne. And if we were going to go through all that trouble, we might as well start a blog and share our love with the world! (Such are the egos of the newly engaged).

So here we are. A blog devoted to sparkling wine, our ridiculously adorable relationship, and some funny pictures we like to take along the way. And after all this cutesy talk about couples, it’s about time we get down to the heart of it – the champagne review.

First, some nuts and bolts. Because we’re interested to know which sparkling wines we like best in a multitude of prices ranges (besides deciding on our absolute must-have), we’re going to include an average

price with each wine. We also arbitrarily decided upon a rating system from 1 to 5 (five being the highest), with half points included. And because neither of us are sommeliers, we’ll keep the descriptions brief and to the point. At the end of each review, we’ll make a recommendation on whether we’d ever buy the wine again, all things considered.

Now, the first review!

One of the first champagnes we tried on our engagement weekend was the Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale Brut ($38). We had just returned to the house after gorging ourselves on vegan chicken sandwiches at Herbivore. Yes, you can gorge yourself on fake meat, trust us. After that heartily satisfying meal, we wanted a nice champagne to settle the stomach. And this one definitely fit the bill. It has a very tart, tangy start, with a hint of yeasty flavor. While definitely fizzy, it was not overly carbonated, and settled in our full tummies quite nicely. Overall, we thought this pale yellow champagne tasted very clean, with flavors that lingered in our mouths, allowing us to enjoy the complexity of the wine. Even after a large meal, we could have sipped our way through multiple bottles of this.

Score: She gives it a 3.5, while he gives it a 4.

Recommended: Yes – especially given the price, this champagne packs a lot of punch for the dollar.