Really fabulous wine for any occasion ... gorgeous rose color, charred bread on the nose ... Elegant sparkler in the french style with crisp acidity, a long finish, and gorgeous color and aroma.

We've all heard the story of Cleopatra's legendary powers of seduction over Julius Caesar and later, Mark Antony. Yet consider this. What if the tool of seduction wasn't Cleopatra's famed beauty, but her secret stash of a bright ruby red sparkling wine with a bouquet of roses and violets?

Ancient historians write of a sweet, aromatic wine with the distinctive flavor of musk and a candied, floral aroma. Over the years, historians - and connoisseurs of gourmet cuisine and good wine - have lost track of this wine, now believed to be made from the Brachetto grape (grown in areas in small towns in the provinces of Allesandria and Asti, Italy).

In the early years of the previous century, self-styled Brachettos made of moscato nero, malvasia, or aleatico grapes flooded the market unchecked. In 1992, the Consorzio di Tuela del Brachetto d'Acqui was founded to control the growth and development of the true Brachetto wine and in 1996, played a key role in obtaining DOCG (Designation of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin) status.

With its scintillating ruby red color and bouquet of rose petals and raspberries, this delicious, pleasantly sweet, effervescent wine is a natural to begin or end a romantic dinner, or break out for friends and family to enjoy for holiday parties and New Year's Eve. At only about 5.5% alcohol, Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG makes a great afternoon aperitif and pairs well with bitter chocolate, light sweets, fruit tarts, and Italian cookies such as Gli amaretti di Mombaruzzo, a traditional amaretti biscuit indigenous to the area.

In America, many celebrity chefs are discovering this increasingly popular wine as an adjunct to their tasting menus. Terence Feury of the celebrated Striped Bass restaurant in Philadelphia paired Banfi Brachetto d'Acqui Vigneto La Rosa 1998 with white nectarine carpaccio with cherry Breton and brown-butter ice cream when he was invited to prepare dinner at the prestigious James Beard House in NYC. An unconventional, creative way to use the wine is to freeze it into a granita (frozen flavored ice) to refresh the palate between courses.

According to the regulation of DOCG status of 1996, Brachetto d'Acqui must be produced from 100% brachetto grapes from the specified terroir. Brachetto grapes are harvested from the end of August to mid-September. The must soaks with the skins for two days in order to obtain the desired ruby color, then aged three months in the bottle. It should be drunk young to reveal its tantalizing scent of Bulgarian roses, must, and fruit.

DOCG status serves to establish the finer quality and characteristics of Brachetto d'Acqui compared to the more generic Piedmonte Brachetto. At a price of under $20 dollars a bottle, you don't have to wait for the holidays to roll around to try it. Try popping the cork in the heat of summer when your thoughts turn to rose. Or even in the dead of winter, for its rose perfume and effervescence is sure to cheer you up and remind you that warm, sunny days are just around the corner.

Marenco "Pineto" Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG 2005, $20.00

Imported by VIAS, Inc. - 212 629 0200 - http://www.viaswine.com

Honeyed notes of violets, honey, orange blossom and raspberry on the nose and palate, delicious.

"Braida" di Giacomo Bologna Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG 2005, $16.00

Imported by Vinifera Imports - 631 467 5907 - http://www.viniferaimports.com

Lush, aromatic bouquet with hints of ripe red fruit and fragrant rose.

Gatti Piero Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG 2005, $9.99

Imported by Summa Vittis, Inc. - 707 933 0906 - http://www.summavitis.com

Intense and aromatic, with notes of rose, strawberry, and wild cherry.

Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG 2005, $16.00

Imported by Banfri Vintners - 516 626 9126 - http://www.banfivintners.com

Dark wild cherry on the nose and palate, along with strawberry and roses. A perfect foil for bittersweet dark chocolate.

Cantine Neirano Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG Dolce V.S.Q.P.R.D., $10.00

Imported by Biagio Cru & Estate Wines - 516 299 4344 - http://www.biagiocru.com

Sweet and delicate, with accents of raspberry, rose, and wild cherry.

Or, you can try http://www.wine-searcher.com

You know Freixenet – of course you do! With production over 200 million bottles a year, it’s America’s favorite Cava (sparkling wine) for dinner parties, birthdays, and special events. Yet the story of why Freixenet controls market share and how it was able to hold on to it for so long is a story that goes back over a hundred years . More specifically, it  centers on the strong roots of this family-owned company, its obsession for quality, and the forward-looking vision of its CEO.

Today I’m standing outside the quaint, old-fashioned looking Freixenet winery on a sunny October day in the tiny town of Sant Sadurni d’Anoia in the region of Catalunya, where 95% of the total production of Cava is made. In Spain, Cava production is less a “region” than a production area that is spread through 160 municipalities that also include the Basque country, Navarra, La Rioja, Aragon, Valencia, and Extremadura.

The parking lot lot appears empty save for a classic car in the shape of a sparkling wine bottle, and inside the cool reception area, employees and the few visiting guests appear calm and relaxed. In the foyer one can see ancient black and white pictures of the founders, Pedro Ferrer and his wife Dolores Sala, along with photographs of the winery in its first incarnation as a small-scale operation.

How amazed they would be to see the result of their energy and hard work.

Cava creates happiness with its joyous bubbles and delicious taste. By law, it is produced in the “traditional method” like Champagne, a process that takes many parts.

Grapes of Cava

The primary grapes for making sparkling wine (Cava) are Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada. Like champagne, each of the grapes give the wine a different characteristic. Macabeo adds acidity and finesse, Xarel-lo adds body and structure, as well as alcohol. And Parallada produces a low alcohol wine that also adds aroma.



1st Fermentation

Grapes are whole-bunched pressed in a vary gentle pneumatic press, with the first and second press juice clearly defined.

They are inoculated with yeast from Freixenet’s famed “yeast” collection with the result being the lower alcohol “base wine.” It is usually a rapid fermentation as fruit and fermentation esters are not desired.

Its All About the Yeast

Producing 200 bottles of sparkling wine a year means that quality control is key. An individual who buys and loves a certain Freixenet wine needs to know it will taste exactly the same way when he purchases another bottle.

One of the key ways that the experts at Freixenet maintain quality is through the scientific creation of specific indigenous yeast that will ensure a complete fermentation and also help the sparkling wine achieve the characteristics favorable for flavor, safety and stability.

It is also important to realize that the strain of yeast used for the first fermentation will usually be different than the yeast used from the second fermentation, as different outcomes are desired.

Yeast 101

Yeast is a hot topic today in the news (at least, among wine geeks). As you may suspect, there are two camps. One camp believes in natural or indigenous yeast. Since yeast is present on the bloom (or skin) of the grape, it is naturally present in the winery. The challenge is that indigenous yeast often needs “help” to bring the grapes to a complete dry fermentation. Wild yeast can mean “uncertain” and “unpredictable” yeast that can stop for any number of reasons.

Pilar Urpi Bonell, the chemist who holds the title of “Jefe de Laboratorio” at Freixenet, leads the white-coated team responsible for sourcing the indigenous yeast of the area and using the magic of modern science to make it more stable. 




The indigenous yeast is selected from the local Penedes Region, isolated, and then processed to have specific desirable characteristics.

Blending

The next step is to blend the varieties, and age the base wine. By law it is 9 months for Cava, 30 months for a Gran Riserva Cava.

Riddling

A century ago, an individual would deftly twist each bottle each day to move the yeast towards the neck of the bottle, so it can be removed upon disgorgement. Today this task is handled by riddling machines (sometimes called a gyropalette) that shorten the process.

Discorging

After the allotted time of maturation, a machine takes each bottle, freezes the neck, and allows the internal pressure to push the yeast plug out. Dosage (wine, yeast, and the desired level of sugar) tops it off to the required sweetness level.

Freixenet’s success allowed it to build up the kind of reserves that enabled the company to purchase other properties to add to its crown of jewels, most specifically Sigura Viudas nearby, which was named for the founder of the famous brand.

To read more about the terroir of Penedes and meet Sigura Viudas’ vineyard manager, Sebastia Raventos Pascual, vineyard manager, click here.

To read about the history of the Freixenet family, click here.

Barefoot Sparkling Wines

Just in time for the holidays, affordable (around $10) sparkling wines! Barefoot bubbly has won several Gold Medal awards, and is very cutely packaged with the familiar "bare footprint" right on the bottle.

I popped the cork for a pre-xmas office party, and the crowd devoured the Moscoto sparkler before I could taste. The Rose sparkler -- with flavors of Strawberry and Peach -- was also popular.

Barefoot wines

 

The company also makes some fruity varietal wines ... overall a playfully themed, affordable beverage that added a sense of pre-holiday fun to warm up a chill day.

Think of a Ferrari and you think of a gorgeous sports car, right? A sleek, sexy icon of pleasure that personifies quality and luxury. So when I was first poured a glass of sparkling wine called Ferrari, I made the obvious assumption: the producers wanted to cash in on the automobile’s aura of allure.

“Ferrari is a very common last name in Italy,” says charming winemaker Marcello Lunelli (aren’t Italians always charming?) whose family has owned the famous, award-winning brand for more than 50 years. “It is like Smith or Jones in America.”

Marcello goes on to explain the exciting story of his family, which begins in romance novel fashion with the birth of Ferrari’s founder, Giulio Ferrari, in Trentino, Italy in 1902. Ferrari was the first to successfully plant Chardonnay grapes and make sparkling wine in the “Metodo Classico” style, soon winning the first of many international awards. In his will, the childless Ferrari left his wine estate to his neighbor and friend, Marcello’s grandfather, who, with his sons, took the winery to even more exalted levels.

Yet ironically, this sparkling wine shares much in common with the sports car, especially given its “luxury” status in the world’s sparkling wine world. If you are new to sparklers, one of the key components of quality is the method by which the wine undergoes its secondary fermentation.

Quality sparklers, such as those found in the Champagne AOC and also Italy’s Trenta DOC (home of Ferrari), are fermented in the bottle in which they are sold. This is called the “Methode Champagne” or “Traditional Method” in France, and the “Metodo Classico” in Italy.

Another component is the careful selection of the grapes grown on the best terroir (customarily a delimitated region with rules and regulations with regard to viticulture and vinification) with only the most perfect, ripe grapes selected. The third component is the ability of the wine to age.

Long popular in Italy, Ferrari sparkling wines are now making their way to America, and on a recent roadshow I was one of a select number of journalists invited to taste the wines in a seminar led by Marcello, and with cuisine prepared at the very elegant, very historic Barbetta restaurant.

During the informal seminar, Marcello said his top wine, the Riserva del Fondatore, spends more time on the lees (dead yeast cells, which give the wines their character, flavor, and body) than the DOC rules call for in order to give the wine more richness and complexity.

Barbetta is indeed an elegant restaurant with a stellar chef. During the reception, its gracious owner, Laura Maioglo, explained that her father has owned it since 1906. The cuisine was inspired by Piedmont, home of Ms. Maigolo’s ancestors.

Two Ferrari sparkling wines were served as sparkling aperitifs with canapés such as Prosciutto and melon, smoked salmon, and miniature Parmigiano nests filled with fonduta. We sipped our sparkling aperitif choice of Ferrari Brut, made of 100% chardonnay grapes, or Ferrari rosé, (60% pinot noir, 40% chardonnay).

The Brut was straw yellow in color with an aroma of golden apples and palate of ripe fruit and bread crust. The rosé, salmon pink in color, had an aroma of strawberries, hawthorn, and red currants which was subtly matched on the palate.

During lunch — the usual Italian feast of a salad (Rollatine of Pimontese Robiola in Grilled zucchini), two pastas (Gnocchetti ai formaggi Piemontesi followed by Risotto al rosé Ferrari) and a choice of entrees (I enjoyed Pacific Swordfish over a ragu of Lentils and warm balsamic vinaigrette) — we heard interesting and colorful tidbits of Marcello’s life. Luncheon wines included Ferrari Trento DOC Perlé and the privileged opportunity to experience a vertical tasting of the winery’s flagship wine, Riserva del Fondatore.

About Riserva del Fondatore

Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore (“Founder’s Reserve”) is a “cru,” a Blanc de Blancs made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes. Just as founder Giulio Ferrari discovered when he planted chardonnay on the Maso Pianizza vineyard with its unique terroir, the resulting wine is an expression of a specific time (vintage) and place (the vineyard).

There is a story to this Founder’s Reserve, as well. Marcello’s uncle Mauro, who studied wine in France, was convinced that a great Metodo Classico wine can age just as well as a red wine. In 1972 he hid several bottles of a Ferrari wine from his father and brother and nurtured them on a daily basis.

Eight years later, he revealed the aged sparkling wine, had his uncle and brother taste it, and received an enthusiastic response. To date, Riserva del Fondatore has received many accolades from a myriad of prestigious publications and foundations, and top scores from publications such as Wine Spectator.

Tasting notes on Riserva del Fondatore

1999 Vintage - Lemon gold in color, fine bubbles (always a good sign of a superior sparkling wine), and faint brioche on the nose. The palate is dry, with hints of acacia and Hawthorne.

According to the winery, 1999 had more rainfall than average for the zone in the last ten years. The summer was marked by heavy rains, yet when harvest began there was warm sunshine with dry and windy weather and marked differences between day and night temperatures (perfect for retaining acidity in the wine).

1994 Vintage - Lemon gold in color, rich and complex, yeasty with aroma of buttery brioche on the nose and palate, lively with bubbles.

According to the winery, the weather in 1994 was characterized by average temperatures and snow during the winter. The harvest was early under favorable conditions at the start, and luckily the perfectly ripe grapes were harvested before the atypical rains at the end of September.

1992 Vintage - Lemon gold in color, somewhat shy on the nose, lively acidity on the palate with flavors of buttered toast.

According to the winery, 1992 was characterized by challenging weather, including dramatic heat, rains, and attacks of downy and powdery mildew. Saving grace was the marked differences between day and night temperatures that are idea for ripening grapes grown in high hillside vineyards.

1989 Vintage - Lemon gold in color, fine bubbles, buttery brioche on the nose and palate.

According to the winery, very good growing season with little drama, yet the last part of august was characterized by low minimum night-time temperatures thus favoring the accumulation of sugars and the development of aromatic substances on the grapes. Picking began the first week in September, giving the winery excellent base wines with finesse and high acidity levels.

1986 Vintage - Lemon gold in color, a sherry nose (some suggested a whisky nose) and wet leaves. Quite rich and complex.

According to the winery, abundant rain showers in April and a very hot May contributed to the vines’ vegetative cycle starting early. From May to July there was little rain, which brought upon attacks of coulure. As seems to be the trend in this winery, great weather right before and during harvest saved the vintage and marked it as one of the most long-lived.

1993 Vintage - A bit darker than the others, richer and definitely more complexity and texture on the palate. Rich in flavor, texture, and a unique character.

According to the winery, the growing season was relatively unremarkable save for unusually high night time temperatures which is not particularly good for keeping acid in the grapes. But at the beginning of the harvest the weather conditions changed and the night time temperatures dropped, resulting in a chardonnay perfumed with good body and high fixed acidity.

All in all, a wonderful opportunity to taste delicious, even historic, wines with such a personalized history. After hearing so much about the life and passions of founder Giulio Ferrari during lunch, and his persistence to make top quality sparkling wine in the Trenta DOC of Trentino, Italy, I began to feel as if I was tasting a bit of Mr. Ferrari’s spirit with every sip.

“This sparkling wine goes so well with food!” our hostess exclaims, lifting a fluted glass on a chill winter evening. “I always thought sparklers were for aperitifs or dessert!”

As we celebrate 2009, let us also celebrate the end of all “rules” about sparkling wines and champagne. As you explore the world of sparklers, you will find that even though they glitter with celebratory bubbles we adore for special occasions, they are a wine like any other. Just as some wines are “food wines” and some are better as an aperitif to stimulate the appetite, so are sparklers.

Recently I came across an incredible food wine with a very sci-fi sounding name. It is Mumm’s DVX, vintage 2000, which has such an aromatic, toasty, yummy vanilla nose and full, powerful palate it can pair with a wide variety of foods.

First, more about the wine. You have probably heard the Mumm name before, and that’s important. When you bring a hostess gift, it really is all about bringing a universal high-end brand name that carries recognition and cachet. Though most hosts and hostesses know they have the option of reserving your gift for another occasion and not serving it in your presence, you always want to stretch yourself to bring a signature brand. After all, your gift represents how you value your host as well as yourself.

Mumm’s DVX is clearly not their entry level brand. The curious three letters of this premium offering represent Guy Devaux, who was born in northeastern France, a region famous for its production of Champagne wines. After his wine education he began his career at the Institut Oenologique de Champagne in Epernay. In 1960 he moved to Northern California and ultimately helped create a signature style of sparkling wines that can rival that of France’s Champagne region.

Winemakers select grapes for DVX from more than 45 separate vineyards and 90 different lots. Only 14 small lots of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir made it into the 2000 DVX release. As is typical in Champagne, France, individual lots are kept separate during fermentation to highlight individual vineyard character.

I had not heard much about this wine when I brought it to the dinner party, but I knew and trusted the Mumm’s name and suspected this higher-end choice would be fantastic. As soon as the wine was uncorked during the first course of curried butternut squash soup, I knew I made the right choice. The sparkler seductively offered a delicious aroma and palate of grilled bread, nutmeg, vanilla bean, and ripening apples in the cellar on a cold fall day. Enchanting on its own yet it went so well with the soup. Mentally I began to create other potential pairings: curried crab appetizers, buttery rich lobster, especially with a vanilla sauce.

Wine Spectator rated this wine 91 points, and Wine Enthusiast 94 points. DVX 2000 really gives over-priced champagne wine a run for its money. This year, wine choice is all about value combined with quality – which is what DVX is all about.

However, staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle Lynne Char Bennett posted a menu in her paper that seems as if it would, in fact, be idea ... assuming your guests love champagne as much as you. Even though sparkling wines of all types symbolize celebration, not everyone is wild about finishing more than a glass. That is, except for the Germans, who import more sparkling wine than anyone else in the world.

My own "love" (?) for champagne improved remarkably after I had to study for a very intense exam in which students for the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust were expected to know everything that had ever been written about every sparkling wine produced in every country in the history of the world. This means grapes, the way the wine is produced, options the wine makers have, the climate, and related elements. Then, of course, a blind tasting to make sure a candidate knows her Cremant de Die from her Grand Cru.

Anyway, here is a clip of Ms. Bennett's ideas for an all champagne dinner. If you attempt this, please use the comment feature to share your pairings ...

"Appetizer: Filet Mignon Tataki

Sparkling wine pairings usually stick to the white grapes. Serving nearly raw beef with brut breaks the mold right at the start, signaling your guests to prepare for an extraordinary evening.

The beef is a rich base for important pairing partners - the condiments - that actually make the match. The condiments' salt and tartness moderate the fat in the beef, and are tempered in turn by the brut's zingy acidity.

Other options: More conventional appetizers such as crowd-pleasing garlicky shrimp, scallops or crab cakes are all enhanced by brut's citrusy character."