Tag: sparkling wine

Our June 2022 Toast Will Be in Praise of Half Bottles

Once upon a time, we were known to friends as the couple who always had a half bottle of something sparkling chilling in the refrigerator if they had a reason to celebrate! We bought cases of the very well-made but relatively inexpensive Gruet Blanc de Blanc and Blanc de Noir to pop open when someone landed a new account, received good news, or simply felt like a quick celebration of a lovely day.

Memories of these spontaneous toasts sent us out to stock up on more half-bottles of great sparkling wines.

At the Urban Grape, we chose three selections: NV Bruno Paillard Premiere Cuvee Extra Brut 375ml (Champagne, FR) at $40, NV Guy Larmandier Cramant Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs 375ml (Champagne, FR) at $42, and just for fun the Hakutsuru "Awa Yuki" Sparkling Sake (Japan) at $8.

We popped open the Bruno Paillard for a quiet anniversary celebration.

It was highly recommended by the Urban Grape staff as a Champagne that would fit our taste. It is a fabulous food wine and stood up to the big flavors of our stinky cheese, salumi, and focaccia. It was a spot-on recommendation and we'll pick up a couple more bottles on our next South End walk.

Here are the labels for a few 375ml bottles of old favorites we'll add to our next Gordon's Wine order!

When dining out, we love enjoying great bottles of wine with friends. However, when it's the two of us, we choose from the wines by the glass. We would love to have more half-bottle options on wine lists. That will only happen when more of us order the half-bottles restaurants do offer. We enjoyed this half bottle of Deutz Classic Brut Champagne on the Select Oyster Bar patio!

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2022 Penny & Ed Cherubino ( Labels courtesy of Gordon's Wine)

June 1, 2022
Our June 2022 Toast Will Be in Praise of Half Bottles

Once upon a time, we were known to friends as the couple who always had a half bottle of something sparkling chilling in the refrigerator if they had a reason to celebrate! We bought cases of the very well-made but relatively inexpensive Gruet Blanc de Blanc and Blanc de Noir to pop open when someone landed a new account, received good news, or simply felt like a quick celebration of a lovely day.

Memories of these spontaneous toasts sent us out to stock up on more half-bottles of great sparkling wines.

At the Urban Grape, we chose three selections: NV Bruno Paillard Premiere Cuvee Extra Brut 375ml (Champagne, FR) at $40, NV Guy Larmandier Cramant Grand Cru Brut Blanc de Blancs 375ml (Champagne, FR) at $42, and just for fun the Hakutsuru "Awa Yuki" Sparkling Sake (Japan) at $8.

We popped open the Bruno Paillard for a quiet anniversary celebration.

It was highly recommended by the Urban Grape staff as a Champagne that would fit our taste. It is a fabulous food wine and stood up to the big flavors of our stinky cheese, salumi, and focaccia. It was a spot-on recommendation and we'll pick up a couple more bottles on our next South End walk.

Here are the labels for a few 375ml bottles of old favorites we'll add to our next Gordon's Wine order!

When dining out, we love enjoying great bottles of wine with friends. However, when it's the two of us, we choose from the wines by the glass. We would love to have more half-bottle options on wine lists. That will only happen when more of us order the half-bottles restaurants do offer. We enjoyed this half bottle of Deutz Classic Brut Champagne on the Select Oyster Bar patio!

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2022 Penny & Ed Cherubino ( Labels courtesy of Gordon's Wine)

June 1, 2022
We’ll Toast March 1, 2022 with Raventos i Blanc and Remember Being with Friends

Friends delivered a bottle of Raventos i Blanc to us on Christmas day. They knew it was one of our favorite wines and sometimes hard to find. We saved it for March 1st because we knew we would need the lift that this bit of sparkle and the kindness of special people throughout the pandemic will provide on the day that marks two years since we gathered with friends inside a restaurant.

It is also a wine that reminds us of Provincetown since we discovered it there. Today's photos are from that time, and here is the post about our discovery.

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2014-2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

March 1, 2022
We’ll Toast March 1, 2022 with Raventos i Blanc and Remember Being with Friends

Friends delivered a bottle of Raventos i Blanc to us on Christmas day. They knew it was one of our favorite wines and sometimes hard to find. We saved it for March 1st because we knew we would need the lift that this bit of sparkle and the kindness of special people throughout the pandemic will provide on the day that marks two years since we gathered with friends inside a restaurant.

It is also a wine that reminds us of Provincetown since we discovered it there. Today's photos are from that time, and here is the post about our discovery.

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2014-2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

March 1, 2022
We’ll Open 2022 with Roco Winery 2020 RMS Red Brut

As we enter 2022 with the hope for a better year for one and all, we'll raise a glass of 2020 RMS Red Brut from a winemaker we think of like an old friend, Rollin Soles of Roco Winery. While we know and love Rollin's wines, both at his own Roco and during his years at Argyle, this is a new wine for us. It is 100% Pinot Noir and our first red sparkling wine!

Here is what Rollin has to say about his 2020 RMS Red Brut:

"This inaugural Sparkling Red Wine Pinot Noir brings Instant Holiday Cheer! This dark ruby colored sparkling wine delivers a lively pink bubbling froth around the edge of your glass as it is poured. The fruit, spices, and yeasty aromas include cranberry, crab apple, black raspberry and a hint of grape soda. There also are essences of pecan, sweet Genovese basil, and pine cones. On the palate, look for immediate cranberry, dried currant, and Brooks plums with a persistent pomegranate core and a finish that begs for ham and turkey and mushrooms. The truly velvety tannin grip is spiced with pecans, cinnamon, and nutmeg, making this wine a potentially amazing Biscotti dunker!"

We have some biscotti on hand and are ready for dunking!

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007, we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Here are the front and back labels:

We purchase our bottle directly from the vineyard as a part of a holiday purchase. While supplies last it is available from ROCO for $50 a bottle.

We subscribe to the vineyard's newsletter and were thrilled to support this lovely couple and their hard work to make great wine and support Oregon's Willamette Valley winemaking community.

You can learn more about the vineyard team here.

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2021 Penny & Ed Cherubino and seasons greetings photo of Rollin and Cory courtesy of Roco Winery

January 1, 2022
We’ll Open 2022 with Roco Winery 2020 RMS Red Brut

As we enter 2022 with the hope for a better year for one and all, we'll raise a glass of 2020 RMS Red Brut from a winemaker we think of like an old friend, Rollin Soles of Roco Winery. While we know and love Rollin's wines, both at his own Roco and during his years at Argyle, this is a new wine for us. It is 100% Pinot Noir and our first red sparkling wine!

Here is what Rollin has to say about his 2020 RMS Red Brut:

"This inaugural Sparkling Red Wine Pinot Noir brings Instant Holiday Cheer! This dark ruby colored sparkling wine delivers a lively pink bubbling froth around the edge of your glass as it is poured. The fruit, spices, and yeasty aromas include cranberry, crab apple, black raspberry and a hint of grape soda. There also are essences of pecan, sweet Genovese basil, and pine cones. On the palate, look for immediate cranberry, dried currant, and Brooks plums with a persistent pomegranate core and a finish that begs for ham and turkey and mushrooms. The truly velvety tannin grip is spiced with pecans, cinnamon, and nutmeg, making this wine a potentially amazing Biscotti dunker!"

We have some biscotti on hand and are ready for dunking!

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007, we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

Here are the front and back labels:

We purchase our bottle directly from the vineyard as a part of a holiday purchase. While supplies last it is available from ROCO for $50 a bottle.

We subscribe to the vineyard's newsletter and were thrilled to support this lovely couple and their hard work to make great wine and support Oregon's Willamette Valley winemaking community.

You can learn more about the vineyard team here.

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2021 Penny & Ed Cherubino and seasons greetings photo of Rollin and Cory courtesy of Roco Winery

January 1, 2022
For November 2021 We’ll Raise a Glass of Cerdon, Renardat-Fâche and Have a Dessert Party

Our monthly toast for November 2021 will be a rare, slightly sweet sparkler- Cerdon, Renardat-Fâche 2019. A few factors influence this choice. This wine is organic. It's from, "The Bugey, halfway between Lyons and Geneva, is one of the tiniest and most obscure wine areas in France," according to importer Louis/Dressner. It is made with Gamay and Poulsard adding a new grape for sparkling wine to our life list. And finally, it's 8% Alcohol by Volume. That is a rare find. All these factors checked some boxes on our preference list.

Here's some fascinating information on this producer and this wine from the importer.

Aware that it was slightly outside our choice for drier wines, we have decided to use its ability to step in after a meal as an excuse for a dessert party! Today we'll wander the neighborhood and pick up a few desserts to sample with this month's selection. Perhaps some of the favorites from our memory photos above.

Trying wines from different places, made with other grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

We purchased our bottle at Gordon's for $23.99.

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post: Join Us as We toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017-2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino

November 1, 2021
For November 2021 We’ll Raise a Glass of Cerdon, Renardat-Fâche and Have a Dessert Party

Our monthly toast for November 2021 will be a rare, slightly sweet sparkler- Cerdon, Renardat-Fâche 2019. A few factors influence this choice. This wine is organic. It's from, "The Bugey, halfway between Lyons and Geneva, is one of the tiniest and most obscure wine areas in France," according to importer Louis/Dressner. It is made with Gamay and Poulsard adding a new grape for sparkling wine to our life list. And finally, it's 8% Alcohol by Volume. That is a rare find. All these factors checked some boxes on our preference list.

Here's some fascinating information on this producer and this wine from the importer.

Aware that it was slightly outside our choice for drier wines, we have decided to use its ability to step in after a meal as an excuse for a dessert party! Today we'll wander the neighborhood and pick up a few desserts to sample with this month's selection. Perhaps some of the favorites from our memory photos above.

Trying wines from different places, made with other grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month!

We purchased our bottle at Gordon's for $23.99.

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post: Join Us as We toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017-2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino

November 1, 2021
We’ll Toast September 2021 with a Reliable Favorite, Raventos i Blanc

We usually enjoy a glass of Raventos i Blanc de Nit Cava sitting at the bar at Select Oyster Bar. These days we are dining at a table on the little patio and this wonderful wine is not on their wine list at the moment.

Sometimes you just want a sure thing, a winner, a favorite, something you know you'll love. That's how we're feeling this month. And, this cava fills the bill. With a bit of delayed rain perhaps we'll be able to share it with friends on the roof deck. We were able to have a wine-sharing with two special people last month and it really made our week!

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month! However, we have a bottle in our wine rack and plan to enjoy it tonight.

We purchased our bottle at Gordon's Fine Wines & Liquors for $26.99.

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018- 2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino

September 1, 2021
We’ll Toast September 2021 with a Reliable Favorite, Raventos i Blanc

We usually enjoy a glass of Raventos i Blanc de Nit Cava sitting at the bar at Select Oyster Bar. These days we are dining at a table on the little patio and this wonderful wine is not on their wine list at the moment.

Sometimes you just want a sure thing, a winner, a favorite, something you know you'll love. That's how we're feeling this month. And, this cava fills the bill. With a bit of delayed rain perhaps we'll be able to share it with friends on the roof deck. We were able to have a wine-sharing with two special people last month and it really made our week!

Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we have raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month! However, we have a bottle in our wine rack and plan to enjoy it tonight.

We purchased our bottle at Gordon's Fine Wines & Liquors for $26.99.

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast…

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we've covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2018- 2020 Penny & Ed Cherubino

September 1, 2021