Champagne & Holiday Wine Buying
My Life in Bubbles
By Don Clemens
I can’t help it. Whenever the Winter Holidays approach, I begin to really crave wines that are loaded with bubbles. It’s not that I don’t like them during the other seasons, but there is just something about bubbly and the ending of another year that makes me feel somewhat like the Roman god, Janus. I find myself looking both backward to the past and forward to the future. (If THIS year, 2020, doesn’t make you want to look forward to the future, I’d like to have some of whatever you’re having...)
WINE REVIEWS
VINE EDUCATION
Dazzling Sparkling Wines for Any Occasion
While it may seem a bit unusual to be in a celebratory mood this New Year’s given the pandemic, there is much to celebrate with the passing of 2020. As this year of challenges comes to a close, there is a vision of more prosperous times ahead with vaccines on the horizon and an eventual easing of restrictions. We have embraced spending more time dining in at home while sharing a special closeness with our family. What we are looking for is some sparkle in our lives and there is a plethora of wine buying choices from Champagne, Prosecco, Cavas and other bubbly.
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LIFESTYLE
Elevate Your Holiday Meal from Heritage
Have you been scratching your head to come up with an idea to make this year’s isolation holiday special? I discovered one restaurant that has designed a stunning take-out dinner for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. How about foie gras and mushroom-stuffed Beef Wellington? Caviar anyone?
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Guy Meikle, owner and chef at Heritage Restaurant and Caviar Bar is hoping to help people entertain their immediate family gatherings by having an inspiring meal. “We want to bring light to the darkness that’s been this year,” said Guy.
WINERY
PROFILE
Schramberg Vineyards
Diamonds in the Rough
I have been captivated by sparkling wines for decades traveling through the French Champagne regions of Reims and Epernay and California’s North Coast. When thinking about Champagne, you instinctively consider the elite of Krug, Salon, Dom Ruinart and Cristal. Schramsberg Vineyards in Napa Valley is in a class by itself and should be honored among the expertly crafted sparklers in the world. In fact, Schramsberg J Davies consistently ranks among the top tete de cuvee’s in blind tastings. Schramsberg has a storied past and a historical list of achievements that have become the cornerstone of Champagne styled “méthode traditionelle” sparkling wine in the US.