Proprietor, The Wine Cellar & Tasting Room

Rumors of Champagne shortages for the Millenium are running rampant through the wine industry.  Are they true or is it a ploy to create panic among consumers who will stockpile their bubbly? 

Champagne and sparkling wines can be an enigma to most consumers.  Most of us still refer to anything sparkling as ‘Champagne”.  In years past, American producers of sparkling wines labeled their bottles Champagne creating this confusion.  By French law, if the grapes for the wine are not specifically grown in the geographic area of Champagne in France, it cannot be labeled Champagne.  It is technically sparkling wine.  Only in the last few years have we honored that law, and labeled those sparklers produced outside of Champagne, Sparkling Wine, Methode Traditionelle or Methode Champenoise (made in the same painstaking method as Champagne).

An n innovative monk named Dom Perignon invented the Methode Champenoise.  What to do with the grapes from the cold Champagne region of France?  It never seemed to get hot enough for the grapes to fully ripen and as a result you got these tart, green, very acidic wines that made you pucker. Dom Perignon figured out the method of allowing the wine to go through a fermentation in the bottle, freezing the neck of the upside down bottle and disgorging it (allowing the dead yeast cells to shoot out in the form of a plug) then fastening the bottle with a wire “cage” on top to contain the natural CO2 that would naturally occur.  The monk declared “ I see the stars” and so fine Champagne was born.

Champagne, or Sparkling Wine, for the millennium is terrible decision to make.  As a Champagne Geek, I certainly hope that the occasion will create a whole new generation of Geeks that will champion Champagne for the wonder that it is.  No other beverage on earth can prepare your palate for food as sparkling wine can; it is the perfect aperitif.  The bubbles tease and titillate your tongue; the absolute opposite of what distilled liquor will do, deadening your senses.  It does not have to be expensive to be enjoyable, values is sparkling wine abound, but the huge brands with splashy advertising always turn me off, it seems particularly true that in this category, each dollar spent for brand recognition is that much less spent towards producing a quality product.  I have selected these brands as those best values in their price categories for celebrating this New Year or the millennium.

Le Baron Blancs de Blancs Brut, France- $9.00

Cheaper than Korbel and light years ahead in finesse, Le Baron is very dry; delicate with pretty tiny bubbles and a nice yeasty flavor o f toasted bread.  No large party calling for Sparkling Wine should be without Le Baron.  If you are not a sparkling wine aficionado, this is the place to start.

Hacienda Brut Methode Traditionelle, California, $13.00

Fun Bargain.  Lean and racy Sonoma Sparkler with clean apple flavors, long finish and