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Tag: bubbles

  • Our November Sparkler Is 2013 RMS Brut from Rollin Soles’ ROCO Winery

    We'll celebrate the first of November 2019 with a bottle of 2013 RMS Brut from Rollin Soles' ROCO Winery. This wine is very special to us because we have had the pleasure of meeting the winemaker and are longtime fans of his wines.

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    Howie Rubin from Bauer Wine & Spirits was kind enough to bring in a small stash of this limited supply wine and let us know when it arrived. He remembered how much we love the Argyle sparkling wines made under Rollin Soles' direction during his years as the winemaker at that outstanding vineyard. 

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    We were not about to wait for November 1st to try this wine! We've been looking forward to it since we heard that ROCO had released its first sparkler. Fortunately we had a birthday to celebrate and popped a cork on our first bottle. We'll open and enjoy another this evening.

    Please notice the big, full wine glasses in the top photo. You want big glasses because this is a big wine in the tradition of the great Champagne houses. It is full of layers of flavor and exuberant bubbles. 

    Here are Rollin's winemaker's notes:

    “Seamless flavor has become an RMS Brut Hallmark.  Complex fruit mix of plum, red skinned apple, and yellow cherry is lifted upon bracing citrus acidity.  Aromas of cherry, and Anjou pear are framed by vanilla spiced, shortbread-like yeastiness. Despite high acidity, the mid-palate has a beautiful creamy, vanilla, and cracked yeast impression.  Sit back and savor the very long, fresh finish, another RMS Hallmark.” – Rollin Soles, Winemaker

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    We purchased our bottle on sale at Bauer Wine for ~$30. 

    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! Join our sparkling resolution with your own monthly toast.

    Related Posts:

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

    Argyle’s Rollin Soles Talks Wine with BostonZest

    March Sparkles with Argyle’s 2001 Extended Tirage Brut – It’s a Sure Thing!

    Oregon’s Argyle Brut to Light-Up July!

    Our Sparkling Resolution

    Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

    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: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Another Taste of Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises for Our June Toast

    Tonight we'll toast the month of June with a bottle of Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises. Sometimes the choice of a sparkling wine to feature for our monthly toast is made by visiting our favorite wine shops. Other times we pull a bottle from our wine rack. This bottle had a note added to the side with our trusty Sharpie glass and bottle markers. This bottle will bring extra smiles tonight because it was a gift from a friend who we hope will enjoy it with us. 

    IMG_4325

    Here is a full report about this bottle of "grey pearls" (as the name is translated) when we featured it a few years ago.

    Wine Lovers Tip

    We highly recommend adding a set of these markers to your wine supplies.

    You can use them to mark the price and where you purchased a wine or, as here, note who gave it to you. Not only do we enjoy sharing gift wines with friends when they visit again, but we also enjoy the wines more ourselves because they're part of a friendship.

    IMG_4322

    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!

    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: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Another Taste of Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises for Our June Toast

    Tonight we'll toast the month of June with a bottle of Patrice Colin Les Perles Grises. Sometimes the choice of a sparkling wine to feature for our monthly toast is made by visiting our favorite wine shops. Other times we pull a bottle from our wine rack. This bottle had a note added to the side with our trusty Sharpie glass and bottle markers. This bottle will bring extra smiles tonight because it was a gift from a friend who we hope will enjoy it with us. 

    IMG_4325

    Here is a full report about this bottle of "grey pearls" (as the name is translated) when we featured it a few years ago.

    Wine Lovers Tip

    We highly recommend adding a set of these markers to your wine supplies.

    You can use them to mark the price and where you purchased a wine or, as here, note who gave it to you. Not only do we enjoy sharing gift wines with friends when they visit again, but we also enjoy the wines more ourselves because they're part of a friendship.

    IMG_4322

    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!

    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: ©2019 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Bollinger Special Cuvée Champagne Wraps Up Our Year of Monthly Toasts with Favorite Sparkling Wines

    As our year of monthly toasts with old favorites comes to an end, we will enjoy a bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvée Champagne. It ticks all the boxes for what we love in a Champagne.

    IMG_2471

    We often will compare Pinot-forward sparkling wines to Bollinger when judging what we like or don't like about them. This outstanding cuvée is the perfect choice to complete our goal of toasting each month in 2018 with an old favorite instead of auditioning twelve new contenders. Besides, enjoying time with old friends is always a good idea.

    Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we've raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month. We invite you to join our Sparkling Resolution and raise a glass of something sparkling on the first of each month in 2019!

    IMG_2475 (1)

    Here's what the winemakers tell us about Bollinger Special Cuvée Champagne.

    For people like us who just buy a bottle of wine and enjoy it because we know we love it, taking a fresh look at the official notes can actually give us different nuances to look for and enjoy.

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    Details

    "Blend: 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Meunier. Over 85% Grands and Premiers crus. 

    Maturation: cellar aged for more than twice the time required by the appellation. 

    Dosage: moderate, 8 to 9 grams per liter."

    6a00e54fc42bb88834016767f20185970b-800wi

    Tasting Notes

    "To the eye: a golden colour, distinctive of black grape varieties; very fine bubbles. 

    To the nose: a beautiful aromatic complexity ; ripe fruit and spicy aromas ; hints of roasted apples, apple compote and peaches. 
    On the palate: a subtle combination of structure, length and vivacity ; bubbles like velvet ; pear, brioche and spicy aromas, notes of fresh walnut."
     
    Bollinger is a Champagne to share with special friends to celebrate life's special moments or to pop open when the wine itself is to be the occasion.

    We purchased our bottle at Federal Wine and Spirits, but it is widely available and can occasionally be found at bargain prices. Expect to see it in the $60 to $70 range.

    Here's to 2019. Cheers!

     

    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 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Bollinger Special Cuvée Champagne Wraps Up Our Year of Monthly Toasts with Favorite Sparkling Wines

    As our year of monthly toasts with old favorites comes to an end, we will enjoy a bottle of Bollinger Special Cuvée Champagne. It ticks all the boxes for what we love in a Champagne.

    IMG_2471

    We often will compare Pinot-forward sparkling wines to Bollinger when judging what we like or don't like about them. This outstanding cuvée is the perfect choice to complete our goal of toasting each month in 2018 with an old favorite instead of auditioning twelve new contenders. Besides, enjoying time with old friends is always a good idea.

    Trying wines from different places, made with different grapes, and produced by different methods adds spice to our monthly ritual. Since 2007 we've raised a glass of sparkling wine to greet each new month. We invite you to join our Sparkling Resolution and raise a glass of something sparkling on the first of each month in 2019!

    IMG_2475 (1)

    Here's what the winemakers tell us about Bollinger Special Cuvée Champagne.

    For people like us who just buy a bottle of wine and enjoy it because we know we love it, taking a fresh look at the official notes can actually give us different nuances to look for and enjoy.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834016767f2467e970b-800wi

    Details

    "Blend: 60% Pinot Noir, 25% Chardonnay, 15% Meunier. Over 85% Grands and Premiers crus. 

    Maturation: cellar aged for more than twice the time required by the appellation. 

    Dosage: moderate, 8 to 9 grams per liter."

    6a00e54fc42bb88834016767f20185970b-800wi

    Tasting Notes

    "To the eye: a golden colour, distinctive of black grape varieties; very fine bubbles. 

    To the nose: a beautiful aromatic complexity ; ripe fruit and spicy aromas ; hints of roasted apples, apple compote and peaches. 
    On the palate: a subtle combination of structure, length and vivacity ; bubbles like velvet ; pear, brioche and spicy aromas, notes of fresh walnut."
     
    Bollinger is a Champagne to share with special friends to celebrate life's special moments or to pop open when the wine itself is to be the occasion.

    We purchased our bottle at Federal Wine and Spirits, but it is widely available and can occasionally be found at bargain prices. Expect to see it in the $60 to $70 range.

    Here's to 2019. Cheers!

     

    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 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Toasting August with the Flame and Spark of Nino Franco Faìve Brut Rose!

    In this year of favorite wines and friendship, we will be toasting with a bottle of Nino Franco Faìve Brut Rosé. A wine has to have special meaning for us to take it with us to Provincetown. This year a bottle joined us there in spring and another will join us with friends to toast August.

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    We must explained the name of this lovely Rosé. "Faìve, from the Venetian dialect, are the small gilded red tongues of flame and sparks rising towards the sky from a great fire, lightly and freely carried by the wind."  Sylvia Franco told us the pronunciation is Fie-EE-vay!

    P1010651

    Our stash of Faìve was hiding in plain sight on the top of a bookcase. We've been rationing this harder-to-find wine. But the time has come to enjoy this special bottle and share the experience with friends. Then we'll go hunting for a new supply!

    P1010650

    Here is what Nino Franco says about this special Rosé from their collection:

    • "Variety and Grapes: 80% Merlot 20% Cabernet Franc.
    • Vinification Technique: Short skin and must contact at a low temperature to obtain the right colour. The first fermentation in steel tanks and the second one in “cuve close”.
    • Type: Rosé Brut.
    • Colour: Rose petal -like pink.
    • Flavour: Perfume of small red fruits. Mineral and floral notes.
    • Taste: In the mouth, pleasurably fresh. Dry with soft tannins and persistent bubbles.
    • Matching: Well paired with mortadella, meat and mushroom dishes, fish or vegetable soups. Excellent with “Lasagna”, “Parmigiano" or the typical Italian dish “vitello tonnato” .
    • Serving Temperature: 6° – 8° degrees" (~ 43°F – 46°F)

    While we are enjoying this old friend from our wine rack, we hope you'll pull a bottle you have been saving and join our sparkling resolution as we toast the new month of August 2018. 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 is an earlier post about this wine from 2015!

    We Toast the Month of May with Nino Franco Faive Rosé Brut

    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 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Toasting August with the Flame and Spark of Nino Franco Faìve Brut Rose!

    In this year of favorite wines and friendship, we will be toasting with a bottle of Nino Franco Faìve Brut Rosé. A wine has to have special meaning for us to take it with us to Provincetown. This year a bottle joined us there in spring and another will join us with friends to toast August.

    P1010641

    We must explained the name of this lovely Rosé. "Faìve, from the Venetian dialect, are the small gilded red tongues of flame and sparks rising towards the sky from a great fire, lightly and freely carried by the wind."  Sylvia Franco told us the pronunciation is Fie-EE-vay!

    P1010651

    Our stash of Faìve was hiding in plain sight on the top of a bookcase. We've been rationing this harder-to-find wine. But the time has come to enjoy this special bottle and share the experience with friends. Then we'll go hunting for a new supply!

    P1010650

    Here is what Nino Franco says about this special Rosé from their collection:

    • "Variety and Grapes: 80% Merlot 20% Cabernet Franc.
    • Vinification Technique: Short skin and must contact at a low temperature to obtain the right colour. The first fermentation in steel tanks and the second one in “cuve close”.
    • Type: Rosé Brut.
    • Colour: Rose petal -like pink.
    • Flavour: Perfume of small red fruits. Mineral and floral notes.
    • Taste: In the mouth, pleasurably fresh. Dry with soft tannins and persistent bubbles.
    • Matching: Well paired with mortadella, meat and mushroom dishes, fish or vegetable soups. Excellent with “Lasagna”, “Parmigiano" or the typical Italian dish “vitello tonnato” .
    • Serving Temperature: 6° – 8° degrees" (~ 43°F – 46°F)

    While we are enjoying this old friend from our wine rack, we hope you'll pull a bottle you have been saving and join our sparkling resolution as we toast the new month of August 2018. 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 is an earlier post about this wine from 2015!

    We Toast the Month of May with Nino Franco Faive Rosé Brut

    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 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • September’s Toast with Champagne Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs

    This month we are chilling a bottle of Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs. It's an organic, biodynamic, grower Champagne from a small producer. You may have noticed that we toast with a lot of wines similar to this one. Like many of you, there are flavor profiles, business philosophies, importers, and regional terroirs that we prefer over others. This wine checks a lot of boxes on our preference list.

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    Humboldt Importers describe this wine maker well, "Located in the Cote des Bar in the Aube region to the southeast of the Marne, the Barbichon family have been growing Champagne grapes for 4 generations. Today Robert Barbichon produces a range of elegant, stylish Champagnes with bright mineral-driven fruit and just a hint of toast."

    And (here's the part we especially like) Humboldt Importers characterize the Blanc de Noirs Brut NV as, "Crafted of pure Pinot Noir, it exhibits a creamy nose filled with bright white fruit, chalk/mineral notes and a crisp, elegant finish. 100% Pinot Noir from the Cote des Bar."

    Screen Shot 2017-08-16 at Wednesday August 16 20172.33.32 PM

    One of the fun things about this bottle is that it's a "Transatlantic Bubbles Selection." This is a new import category to us. But reading about their love of sparkling wine and the places where their selections are served makes us open to other wines from their portfolio. 

    They say:

    "Transatlantic Bubbles LLC. specializes in finding and importing grower-producer Champagnes that offer superior quality at a better cost to the customer. We are a trusted supplier in the growing niche market for recoltant-manipulant Champagne."

    We're looking forward to raising our glasses to the extension of this lovely summer that we have declared, "… will not end until October 15th, at the earliest!"

    We purchased our bottle of Champagne Robert Barbichon Blanc De Noirs Brut at City Liquors in Cambridge for ~ $45.

    IMG_4250UPDATE: (09.02.17) We had such high hopes for this Champagne and, well … at the risk of stooping to a cliché, "It exceeded our highest expectations!" We chilled the wine to ~ 55ºF and began tasting while enjoying some thinly sliced pork loin, pepper-flavored boursin, Jasper Hill Moses Sleeper (cows milk cheese inspired by French Brie), figs, and local cherry tomatoes – why skimp?

    This combination added to the enjoyment of the Barbichon Blanc De Noirs Brut which only improved as it warmed.

    Penny was haunted by a flavor she was experiencing tasted in the fruit of this wine. Then she realized it was like the charred, caramelized pineapple served with our Jamaican jerk chicken wings plate at Little Donkey. I liked the wine's yeasty character and hints of chalk.

    We both agreed that the full, rich, round, "elegant finish" remained throughout our meal. And, the best news, we saved some more of this lovely bottle of bubbles for today. 

    We are buying another bottle the next time we find this little gem! 

    Cheers!

    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.

    Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books …

    The Food Lover's Guide to Wine

    The New Wine Lover's Companion

    The Wine Bible

     

     Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Screengrab from Transatlantic Bubbles LLC

  • August Pops Open with Jo Landron Atmosphères Sparkling Wine from the Loire

    We look at each new month as a gigantic bottle of sparkling wine just waiting to be uncorked!

    IMG_1882

    And, since the label of our August bottle of bubbles from Jo Landron Atmosphères appears to feature a figure leaping with joy, as if launched from atop a just opened magnum, well … we couldn’t resist.  

    However coincidental all of the this may seem, our selection does remain true to our Sparkling Resolution of selecting a worthy wine to toast the arrival of a new month. 

    Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at Monday July 31 20171.52.09 PM

    In 1990, when my father Pierre Landron retired, he told me, “Make quality, it will always pay off.” – Jo Landron 

    Jo Landron Atmosphères Sparkling Wine from the Loire is 80% Folle Blanche, 20% Pinot Noir has some tasty Tasting Notes to recommend it:

    • The quintessence of freshness
    • White peach combined with floral notes of jasmine
    • Mineral notes driven by the ocean influence displaying saltiness
    • Very refined bubbly and zesty finish.

    (A Thomas Meunier Selection)

     

    • distinctive minerality – vital and balanced
    • perfectly acidic and rich in texture and beading
    • fragrant notes of lemon zest and oil
    • hints of red apple … strawberry

    (Ooh, my favorite!)  

    IMG_1869

    • 100% Estate, biodynamically grown and hand harvested
    • impressive depth and clarity
    • racy citrus and fresh peachy fruit
    • lots of rocky, earthy complexity
    • deliciously bready texture
    • crunchy fresh finish also makes it extremely food friendly
    • label, designed by the unconventional French artist Michel Tolmer

    Bibendum Wine Co.

     

    • "The aromatics are … delicate, floral, with a white stone and white peach character …
    • A very gentle palate
    • some lightly honeyed fruit cast against a minerally background
    • A very attractive wine, a delicately poised style, but with plenty of acid and grip to give it form."

    Chris Kissack, winedoctor.com

    Now you know why we can’t wait to try this highly praised wine!

    And, as always, you’re invited to help us celebrate the arrival of a new month with all the hope and promise that it will be the very best ever! Here’s to August!

    We purchased our bottle of Atmosphères Sparkling Wine at City Liquors in Cambridge for ~ $20.

     

    And, Here’s More About: 

    Our Sparkling Resolution

    Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

     

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

    Details:

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

  • August Pops Open with Jo Landron Atmosphères Sparkling Wine from the Loire

    We look at each new month as a gigantic bottle of sparkling wine just waiting to be uncorked!

    IMG_1882

    And, since the label of our August bottle of bubbles from Jo Landron Atmosphères appears to feature a figure leaping with joy, as if launched from atop a just opened magnum, well … we couldn’t resist.  

    However coincidental all of the this may seem, our selection does remain true to our Sparkling Resolution of selecting a worthy wine to toast the arrival of a new month. 

    Screen Shot 2017-07-31 at Monday July 31 20171.52.09 PM

    In 1990, when my father Pierre Landron retired, he told me, “Make quality, it will always pay off.” – Jo Landron 

    Jo Landron Atmosphères Sparkling Wine from the Loire is 80% Folle Blanche, 20% Pinot Noir has some tasty Tasting Notes to recommend it:

    • The quintessence of freshness
    • White peach combined with floral notes of jasmine
    • Mineral notes driven by the ocean influence displaying saltiness
    • Very refined bubbly and zesty finish.

    (A Thomas Meunier Selection)

     

    • distinctive minerality – vital and balanced
    • perfectly acidic and rich in texture and beading
    • fragrant notes of lemon zest and oil
    • hints of red apple … strawberry

    (Ooh, my favorite!)  

    IMG_1869

    • 100% Estate, biodynamically grown and hand harvested
    • impressive depth and clarity
    • racy citrus and fresh peachy fruit
    • lots of rocky, earthy complexity
    • deliciously bready texture
    • crunchy fresh finish also makes it extremely food friendly
    • label, designed by the unconventional French artist Michel Tolmer

    Bibendum Wine Co.

     

    • "The aromatics are … delicate, floral, with a white stone and white peach character …
    • A very gentle palate
    • some lightly honeyed fruit cast against a minerally background
    • A very attractive wine, a delicately poised style, but with plenty of acid and grip to give it form."

    Chris Kissack, winedoctor.com

    Now you know why we can’t wait to try this highly praised wine!

    And, as always, you’re invited to help us celebrate the arrival of a new month with all the hope and promise that it will be the very best ever! Here’s to August!

    We purchased our bottle of Atmosphères Sparkling Wine at City Liquors in Cambridge for ~ $20.

     

    And, Here’s More About: 

    Our Sparkling Resolution

    Our Sparkling Resolution Winner’s List

     

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

    Details:

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