{"id":40,"date":"2008-11-04T02:02:04","date_gmt":"2008-11-04T02:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=40"},"modified":"2008-11-04T02:02:04","modified_gmt":"2008-11-04T02:02:04","slug":"sparkling-wines-and-champagne-recommendations-for-your-holiday-parties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=40","title":{"rendered":"Sparkling Wines and Champagne Recommendations for Your Holiday Parties"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Champagne\"\"ChampagneThis year we decided to schedule our Champagne<\/strong> and Sparkling Wine<\/strong> blind tasting well before the holidays.\u00c2\u00a0 We wanted you to have the reviews and recommendations well in advance of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and, of course, New Year's Eve.\u00c2\u00a0 Our panel tried 18 different sparklers.\u00c2\u00a0 We recommended 11 of them.\u00c2\u00a0 We scored 3 of them Very Good+ and the remaining 8 as Very Good.\u00c2\u00a0 Best of all, several of our recommendations are quite affordable\u201d\u201dterrific news during these challenging economic times!<\/p>\n

\"GloriaOur sparkling wine winner came from Gloria Ferrer<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 As a matter of fact, the Gloria Ferrer portfolio rocked!\u00c2\u00a0 All three submissions were recommended.\u00c2\u00a0 The first place winner was the Gloria Ferrer non vintage \u201cBlanc de Noirs\u201d\u009d<\/a> $20<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 The panel scored this wine 90 points.\u00c2\u00a0 This Ros\u00e9 sparkler is balanced, quite bubbly, clean, and creamy with very tasty cherry and ripe strawberry flavors with hints of smoky toast.\u00c2\u00a0 Here's the best news, the panel pegged this wine to cost between $25 and $60.\u00c2\u00a0 \"champagneSince it only costs $20, you might consider buying\u00c2\u00a0a few bottles\u00c2\u00a0for your holiday parties or to toast the New Year!\u00c2\u00a0 <\/strong>It's a great value.\u00c2\u00a0 Don't forget to save a bottle for Valentine's Day.\u00c2\u00a0 This pink sparkling wine is perfect for Valentine's Day!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our second place wine also came from Gloria Ferrer.\u00c2\u00a0 The Gloria Ferrer non vintage \u201cSonoma Brut\u201d\u009d<\/strong><\/a> $20<\/strong> was also a panel favorite and a good deal.\u00c2\u00a0 The panel also scored this wine 90 points.\u00c2\u00a0 This option is pale yellow in color with very fine bubbles.\u00c2\u00a0 The panel said they would pair this wine with scallops or swordfish.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of the panelists said they would pay $25 to $40 for this very impressive value sparkler.\u00c2\u00a0 It's always great when a wine tastes more expensive than it costs!<\/p>\n

\"CharlesOur third place wine is a classic from Champagne.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the second year in a row that we have recommended the Charles Heidsieck “Brut R\u00e9serve” Champagne<\/a> $55<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 This wine scored 89.95 points so we gave it the 90 point nod of Very Good+.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially, since I scored it 92 points.\u00c2\u00a0 It offers fine bubbles and opens with an aromatic citrus like bouquet.\u00c2\u00a0 It is terrifically balanced and is very tasty with apple-like flavors and a touch of minerality.\u00c2\u00a0 The panel would pair this elegant Champagne with broiled scallops.\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our fourth place wine is also from the Heidsieck family.\u00c2\u00a0 The Piper Heidsieck non vintage “Brut” Champagne<\/strong><\/a> <\/strong>for $42<\/strong> scored 88.64 points or Very Good.\u00c2\u00a0 This Champagne from Piper Heidsieck seems to be very popular every year. We found it to be balanced, with nicely integrated acidity, and it displays very tasty citrus flavors with slight hints of butter.\u00c2\u00a0 The panel would pair this Champagne with broiled scallops or fettuccini Alfredo.\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our fifth placed finisher also came from Champagne.\u00c2\u00a0 The <\/strong>1999 Nicolas Feuillatte vintage “Blanc de Blanc Brut” Champagne<\/strong><\/a> $46<\/strong> had very fine bubbles and opens with an attractive apple-like bouquet.\u00c2\u00a0 The panel scored this wine 88.57 points, Very Good.\u00c2\u00a0 The panel thought this Champagne would pair perfectly with appetizers<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 They suggested pairing it with spring rolls and crab English muffins.<\/p>\n

\"HermannOur sixth place sparkler is from the Finger Lakes in upstate New York<\/strong>.\u00c2\u00a0 We think that Hermann Weimer makes some of the best Sparkling Wine from that region.\u00c2\u00a0 The 2002 Hermann J. Wiemer “Blanc de Blanc”<\/strong><\/a> $30<\/strong> finished in sixth place and scored 88.14 points from the panel.\u00c2\u00a0 The 2003 Hermann J. Wiemer “Blanc de Noir”<\/strong><\/a> $25<\/strong> finished in seventh place with a score of 88.\u00c2\u00a0 This Very Good sparkler made of mostly Pinot Noir is smooth and elegant, with light lemon like flavors with a hint of melon.\u00c2\u00a0 These two options are a terrific representation of the quality of the sparkling wine that can be found in the Finger Lakes.<\/p>\n

Listed below are the remainder of our recommended Champagne and Sparkling Wines
\n8)\u00c2\u00a0Domaine Ste. Michelle 2001 “Luxe”<\/a><\/strong> (Columbia Valley, WA) $23<\/strong> (87.86)
\n9) Gloria Ferrer 2001 “Royal Cuv\u00e9e Brut”<\/a><\/strong> (Carneros, CA) $32<\/strong> (87.83)
\n10) Domaine Ste. Michelle NV “Blanc de Blancs”<\/a><\/strong> (Columbia Valley, WA) $12<\/strong> (87.5)
\n11) Piper Heidsieck NV “Ros\u00e9 Sauvage Brut”<\/a><\/strong> (Champagne, France) $50<\/strong> (87.33)<\/p>\n

In conclusion, there are quite a few terrific sparklers for you to choose from.\u00c2\u00a0 Readers can enjoy options from France, California, Washington, and even the Finger Lakes.\u00c2\u00a0 All of these options will make your holiday season quite joyful!\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cheers,
\nKen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year we decided to schedule our Champagne and Sparkling Wine blind tasting well before the holidays.\u00c2\u00a0 We wanted you to have the reviews and recommendations well in advance of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and, of course, New Year's Eve.\u00c2\u00a0 Our panel tried 18 different sparklers.\u00c2\u00a0 We recommended 11 of them.\u00c2\u00a0 We scored 3 of them Very […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,36,83,15,79,78,80,81,23,24,37,82,40,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blind-tastings","category-champagne","category-christmas","category-finger-lakes","category-food-pairings","category-france","category-holiday","category-new-years-eve","category-new-york","category-rose","category-sparkling-wine","category-thanksgiving","category-valentines-day","category-wine-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}