Sips and tips
By CHRIS SHERMAN and Times wires
Published December 27, 2006
Know you bubbly
A little help with this week's champagne shopping:
- Champagne: Champagne refers only to sparkling wine made in the traditional way from grapes grown in a limited area around Reims, Ay and Epernay in northeastern France.
Wines made elsewhere in France and the rest of the world should properly be called sparkling wine or other terms, such as mousseux, sekt, cava or spumante.
- Sweetness: Champagne and sparkling wines run from sweet to dry in taste. Brut is the driest, extra dry is actually sweeter than brut, and demi sec is the sweetest.
- Non-vintage: Most sparkling wines do not have vintages because they are blends of wines made in different years. They are blends of chardonnay, pinot noir and other grapes.
- Blanc de blancs: Wine made entirely from chardonnay and other white grapes, usually lighter and more graceful.
- Blanc de noirs: Wine made from pinot noir and other red or black grapes, without the color of a rose, but similar richness in flavor and texture.
- Prices: The main line of most French houses sells for between $30 and $40, with their roses and vintages priced from $50 to $80 and their fanciest bottlings still higher.
Better American sparklers, those from California vineyards and from French-American combines, offer the best values, starting between $18 and $25. Schramsberg, Iron Horse, Kristone, Chandon, Mumm Cuvee Napa and Roederer all make food-friendly roses and blanc de noirs.
Chris Sherman, Times food critic
Gifts for the host
Going to a New Year's Eve party and want to take a gift for the wine-loving host? Consider wine books, tasting glasses and wine gadgets.
Places to shop include better retail wine stores, many of which have wine accessory sections, and the big-box home shops like Bed Bath & Beyond and Linens-n-Things. Some ideas:
- Riedel O Champagne Glass ($25 for 2): The latest addition to the popular O series of stemless, dishwasher-friendly versions of Riedel's premium Vinum glasses, this glass sits on a ribbed hollow pedestal. The elegant tulip-shaped bowl is specifically designed for champagne, prosecco and other sparkling wines.
- The Oxford Companion to Wine, Third Edition, edited by Jancis Robinson ($65; Oxford University Press): This newly updated edition is as cheeky and irreverent as ever, and even more informative, with new color illustrations and entries on wide-ranging topics. It's a valuable reference book and great fun just to read.
Washington Post