It's bubble time!

How can you celebrate the end of the year without drinking bubbles?

Even for broke students like us, we cannot spend our last days of 2013 drinking the same wines than all year long. For this special occasion, all of us went out to buy one bubbly bottle in his hometown. Here are the few bottles we found!

                         1)       La Gioiosa et Amorosa, Prosecco Superiore D.O.C.G., Coop.fi ,5,79 € 

This Sparkling Wine is a Brut version, obtained from the local grape variety Glera.

-           Color: +             Bright straw, enlivened by the bubbles of the perlage.

-           Nose: ++           Vegetal notes and hints of crusty bread.

-           Mouth: ++         Aromas of citrus fruits combined with an attractive liveliness on the palate.

      

      It is best served at 7°-9° C, with even quite elaborate fish or vegetable based hors d’oeuvres, pasta and rice dishes featuring seafood, baked fish recipes, or it can be drunk throughout a meal.

2)      Saracco, 2012, Moscato d'Asti D.O.P., Bottiglieria Vignoli (FI), 11€ 

-           Color: +              Straw yellow with greenish hues, fine perlage

-           Nose: ++            Orange blossom, peach and thyme (primary aromas)

-           Mouth: +++        Intense, elegant and persistent. The sweet sensations are well balanced by a pleasant  acidity and fruity aromas typical of Muscat grapes.

The low alcohol content makes it a very easy, pleasant wine perfect to finish a meal with dessert, or               alone as a nice mid-day break.

           3)       Aizpurua, Txakolina, Arraina Arnoa, 11€

      Traditional feezy white wine from Basque Country. The vineyard is right next to the Atlantic ocean, which gives a lot of freshness to the wines. They grow Courbu, Petit Courbu and Gros Manseng to make Txakolina, a very low alcohol wine slightly sparkling.

-        Color: +               Pale yellow with green hints

-        Nose: ++             Medium + intensity, aromas of citrus and pears displaying iodine hints.

      -        Mouth: +              Fresh and energic; dominated by the citrus aromas; medium + acidity ; feezy.

Simple and fresh sparkling white, it could surprise many people looking for an unusual sparkling wine.Perfect match with oysters.

           4)        Cidre Brut, Distillerie des Menhirs, Super U,  2,60€

        Why always drink sparkling wine? If you want bubbles, you can go toward another sparkling alcohol: Cider. Especially if you want something local and you’re not from a wine region…Made from apples, you can find cider everywhere! And for a very low price.

                        -       Color: +               Amber with gold reflects.

                        -       Nose : +/-            Baked apples, white fruits, strong fermentation.

                        -       Mouth : +             Dry and acidic, short intensity, nice finale on jammy apples.

      It’s hard to make a classic Christmas dinner with cider, but it goes pretty well with goat cheese, vegetables…For the price, it’s definitely a good idea, even if we can’t compare it to sparkling wine.

        5)            Patriarche père & fils, Chardonnay brut - Monoprix - 5,99 €

-      Color: +                 Limpid and nice pale yellow.
-      Nose: +/-               Fresh, very light citrus notes.
-      Mouth: +                Good acidity, no bitterness, fruity with nice bubbles not too big.

    Very good value for money! This is not a special wine but you will not be disappointed by the quality. If you are late and close to a supermarket, this is a good choice.

Hope we will have enlighten some tricks to have good bubbles for Christmas and new years eve! Don't hesitate to buy other sparkling wine than champagne, especially if you have a low budget. In all the wine producing region, there is sparkling wine that will perfectly fit with an appetizer!

( For those who are in Bordeaux and absolutely found of Champagne, be aware of the soon opening of "Call me Bubbles", a Champagne bar already successful in Paris! Stay tuned.)

Drink cheap. Drink well!
(And Merry Christmas to you all!)