If you forgot to make dinner reservations for you and your sweetheart for what is probably the most commercially hyped-up day of the year after Christmas and Halloween; don’t sweat it — yet. You still have time to save the day.
Forget the chocolate-covered strawberries. With the right bottle of bubbly and a thoughtful picnic basket, you’ll be as good as a knight in shining armor.
There are many choices available. As we all know, all champagnes are sparkling wines, but not all sparkling wines are champagnes. There are many quality wines however, that are made using similar methods as those utilized to make champagne; except that they’re not made in the French region named Champagne.
Below is a short list of bubbles that you might consider, starting with the most affordable.
Jacques Pelvas Provence Brut rosé NV, Provence, France
This is a well-balanced wine made from 100% Grenache. In a lovely pale pink hue, it offers a solid dose of effervescence along with complex aromas of quince and strawberry.
Pairs well with most seafood and great with sushi. Inexpensive.
Santome Prosecco Extra Dry NV, Veneto, Italy
100% Glera, the name of the grapes that are used to make Prosecco, Smooth, fresh and light with a rich mousse and a combination of softly muted sweetness, aptly made with a touch of acidity. Here’s a wine that’s a perennial crowd pleaser. Very affordable.
Graham Beck Brut Rosé NV, Robertson - Cape Town, South Africa
Blended from chardonnay and pinot noir and crafted in the Cap Classique Méthode, this wine harmoniously brings together a smorgasbord of delightful aromas and flavors including hints of cherry and berries as well as fresh lavender and oyster shell fragrances. Affordable.
Riefle Crêmant D’Alsace Brut NV, Alsace, France
An extremely well-balanced blend of 25% each auxerrois, chardonnay, pinot blanc and pinot grigio. You’ll enjoy aromas of Golden Delicious apple on the nose in a fine and creamy foam with orchard fruit flavors on the palate, with a dry finish. Affordable.
Bruno Paillard Champagne Première Cuvée Extra Brut NV, Reims — Champagne, France.
This is a very special wine and is the signature offering from this illustrious Champagne House. It is carefully assembled from 45% pinot noir, a portion of which is allowed to undergo first fermentation in barrels, 33% chardonnay and 22% pinot meunier.
Some of their reserve wines, cellared since 1985, can also be included into the blend but the actual exact and final composition remains a family secret.
The wine then spends three years on the lees with an additional minimum of five months after disgorgement. The Extra-Brut denomination means that it contains less than 6 grams of sugar per liter. Opulent ... but worth it.
If you really want to impress your sweetie, get one of each.
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