Farewell to 2011

You knew it would be coming, a New Year’s Eve champagne review! Probably the only time of the year, besides the occasional wedding, where all Americans feel comfortable with (or obliged to) drinking something bubbly. While we think this is ludicrous-sparkling wine if for every day- we’re happy to know that many of our friends out there will be sharing in something that brings us so much joy.

2011 was a pretty good year for us. I mean, we did get married, so we can’t say it was all bad. Between the two of us we also gained a niece, got a promotion, wrote a feature-length screenplay, and turned 30. And most of all, we’re still alive! Go team! Josh would also like to point out that Skyrim is the best video-game ever created. I don’t know what that has to do with the New Year, but that’s ok.

You might not feel like you have much to celebrate. Or you might feel like 2011 left you strapped for cash and not in the mood to splurge on fancypants wines. We hear you. But you should still drink, trust us. We might recommend you try the Piper Sonoma Brut Cuvee ($15). We drank this on our one week anniversary (awwww, ok, we’ll stop making you gag). It’s pleasantly carbonated, with enough kick to make you forget the tanking stock market and tar sands pipeline. It is smooth and playful, with hints of lemon and grass, or maybe even lemongrass. This one was easy to drink, but had no aftertaste or undertones. After a while, the lack of real flavor left a papery taste on our tongues. But this could be a good choice if you or your friends don’t really like sparkling wine and aren’t willing to go out on a limb with something that will knock you in the face with musky flavors.

If you are looking for some musky musk (we recently watched the Wizard of Oz), and you’re feeling like New Year’s Eve is a great time to spend a little more than your average reveler, we may have something right for you. Try the Veuve Clicquot Vintage Brut 2002 ($78). This is one of the champagnes we tried on our honeymoon, at a lovely little Italian restaurant in Carmel, out on their adorable covered courtyard (ok, now you can vomit). While we were still decompressing from the stress that surrounds a wedding, we were able to enjoy this refreshingly smooth champagne. It paired perfectly with our dinner, was tart but not sweet, and probably tasted even better because it was served to us out of a bucket of ice next to our table. We’re pretty sure everyone else in the restaurant was staring at us in awe. That’s how we do it!

But no matter what you do, make sure you’re drinking something that makes you smile. As long as it’s champagne. Or sparkling wine. Just do it right, ok guys? See you in the new year!

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.

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.