{"id":331,"date":"2008-12-23T10:34:11","date_gmt":"2008-12-23T17:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danthewineguy.com\/?p=331"},"modified":"2009-02-21T22:56:04","modified_gmt":"2009-02-22T05:56:04","slug":"331","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/?p=331","title":{"rendered":"Close Out the Year With a Versatile Champagne or Sparkling Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many of us seem to restrict our buying of Champagne and sparkling wines to the last couple of weeks in December. That\u2019s a shame, really, because the versatility and compatibility of these wines with a wide variety of foods makes them an ideal beverage virtually any time of year.<\/p>\n<p>Prices can run the gamut from downright cheap sparkling wine (with quality to match) to borderline ridiculously expensive French Champagne; while styles and flavors can vary from fruity to sweet to bone dry. That\u2019s reassuring news for <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mummnapa.com\/assets\/images\/products\/pictures\/brut-rosse.jpg\" alt=\"null\" \/>infrequent buyers, who can be relatively confident of having their needs fulfilled \u2013 no matter what their taste preferences or budgetary constraints might be.<\/p>\n<p>Italy\u2019s<strong> Banfi Vintners<\/strong> has a couple of excellent sparkling wine choices. The <strong>2007 Rosa Regale<\/strong> (about $22) displays a lovely, light ruby color with aromas and flavors of fresh strawberries and a slightly sweet finish. The<strong> Non-Vintage Brut <\/strong>(about $24), available in scant quantities, is full of toasted apple flavors that melt into granny smith apple as the dry, crisp finish kicks in.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Mumm Napa Valley<\/strong> always seems to consistently produce a nice variety of delicious, well-priced sparkling wines. The <strong>Brut Prestige <\/strong>(about $20 &#8211; $24) has generous melon, citrus and lemon cream flavors, while the <strong>Brut Ros\u00e9 <\/strong>(pictured at left, about $24 &#8211; $28) is a bit headier, with a beautiful, pale pink hue and touches of berry flavors. These wines can be paired with virtually everything on your hors d\u2019oeuvres menu, from fried foods to creamy dips to pat\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re a stickler for serving true Champagne and don\u2019t want to break the bank, the <strong>Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Reserve <\/strong>(about $36 &#8211; $45) makes a great choice. Delicate floral aromas, flavors of pear and hazelnut, and a clean, dry finish combine to make this a wonderfully complex, yet elegant Champagne.<!--7b45181ee25a14917865562cd4b52734--><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many of us seem to restrict our buying of Champagne and sparkling wines to the last couple of weeks in December. That\u2019s a shame, really, because the versatility and compatibility of these wines with a wide variety of foods makes them an ideal beverage virtually any time of year. Prices can run the gamut from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-the-bellingham-herald"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.danthewineguy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}