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Wine Under $20

French Sparkling Wine and Champagne from $15 to $40

French Sparkling Wine And Champagne for New Years

While New Year’s Eve is not the only time to pop a cork on some bubbly, it’s certainly the most popular night for it. If you were ever unsure of what to pour in your glass while you toast to the New Year, I’ve got you covered. I visited CBS 12 WPEC and brought three French sparkling wines that are affordable and delicious. Whether you prefer a true Champagne, or a more affordable Cremant d’Alsace or Cremant d’Bourgogne, these three options will delight you and your guests on New Year’s Eve or any time.

I have previously recommended Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne, as I feel it’s a French sparkling wine that offers great quality for the price. The Perle d’Aurore Brut Rose is a Burgundy wine made from 80% Pinot Noir & 20% Gamay, and is bottle fermented for at least 24 months, much longer than the legal requirement of 9 months. This enables the lees, or yeast used in fermentation, to add both aroma and complexity to the palate. I mention the flavor profile in the tv segment above, and for $15.99, I feel this is a bottle of bubbles to have on hand for any occasion that calls for a toast, such as making it through another Monday!

Louis Bouillot Perle d’Aurore Rosé Brut

The Albrecht family has been cultivating vineyards since as early as 1425, with major developments beginning in 1930 after the phylloxera crises. Lucien Albrecht lead the family estate and has been assisted by his son Jean Albrecht since 1980. Albrecht sparkling wines have been recommendations of mine previously, and I believe they continue to offer great quality for the price. At only $19.99, the Brut Reserve makes a great budget friendly alternative to Champagne.

Jean Albrecht Brut Reserve French Sparkling Wine

While Eric Roby and I discussed that the French sparkling wines will be close to the Champagne in the above TV segment, there is still indeed a difference. Champagne is not only about a name, or the premium soils in which the grapes are grown. It’s about hundreds of years of tradition making only Champagne, focusing talents and honing the skill to produce a premium product. There are some amazing Champagne houses producing excellent bubblies, and Mailly is indeed one. Their vineyards are Grand Cru, some of the top quality soil to produce Champagne grapes. Made from 75% pinot noir and 25% chardonnay, this non-vintage Champagne is a combination of wines of one single crop, with reserve wines more than 10 years old. The blend then ages in French oak barrels up to 15 years old. The result is a dry, elegant sparkling wine that has beautiful notes of yellow apple with green apples on the finish. Elegant sophistication for only $38, which I purchased at my local Total Wine store.

Mailly Grand Cru Brut Reserve Champagne

I hope your New Year’s Eve toasts all come true, and hope you toast with some of these French sparkling wine options. These and the other budget friendly sparkling wine options I recommended on CBS this week are available at Total Wine. You can follow Total Wine on twitter, and find their website on their profile.

Let me know what you serve this New Year’s eve!

Toasting The New Year On A Budget

Instead of Champagne toast New Year's Eve with these budget friendly Sparkling Wines

Celebrate New Year’s Eve with Sparkling Wine

Looking to toast to your family and friend’s good health and happiness this New Year’s Eve, but not spend a fortune? There are plenty of sparkling wine options available if you don’t want to splurge for Champagne. I visited CBS 12 and chatted with Eric Roby and Michele Wright to talk about three sparkling wines under $13 that are perfect for ringing in the New Year, or any time!

While the Gruet family started off making Champagne in France, in the 70s they migrated to New Mexico, and after meeting other European wine makers, started making sparkling wine. Over 4,000 feet above sea level, their vineyards are cool at night, prolonging the growing and ripening periods, offering great fruit for their various sparkling and non-sparkling wines. The Gruet NV Brut costs only $12.99 at Total Wine, and many other wine retailers, but doesn’t lack the flavors of more expensive bubblies. Made from 75% chardonnay and 25% pinot noir, this non-vintage sparkling wine offers great flavors of green and yellow apple, with slight toasty notes.

Gruet NV Brut Sparkling Wine For New Years

If you like more dry styles of sparkling wine, Cava is a great option. With less fruit and more tart flavors, the Conde de Caralt Brut is a good option at $7.99. Made by Freixenet, I like the dry, tart style of this sparkler. There are some notes of apples, and some citrus, but the fruit is very faint. This is a good sparkling wine to mix cocktails, especially if you like making mimosa as it doesn’t end up being too sweet! Cava generally has a budget focused price point, and I’ve recommended Rondel cava in the past.

Conde de Caralt Brut Cava

Prosecco is a light, delicious sparkling wine style from northern Italy. From Treviso, located in the Veneto region of Italy, the Luna d’Or Prosecco is made of Glera grapes. For $12.99, this refreshing sparkling wine has fruit forward flavors of melon, apricots, and citrus, and is perfect for those who like a little more fruit in their sparkling wines. Prosecco is a great option for a toast on New Year’s Eve. I’ve recommended Lemberti’s Prosecco in previous New Year’s Eve segments!

Luna d’Or Prosecco for your New Year’s party

Check back later on, as I’ll be posting another CBS 12 segment on French sparkling wine and Champagne that won’t break the bank. I’ll also have some other options for bubbles that I’ve had in recent weeks that have been fantastic, such as the Barons de Rothschild Champagne that for $99 at Total Wine is a great classic Champagne from a prestigious producer.

We Don’t Drink Enough Vouvray

Tasting five Vouvray wines

When people ask me to recommend a sweeter white wine, Vouvray is usually what comes to mind. However, all that is Vouvray is not sweet, and it’s definitely a wine we don’t drink enough of. Vouvray is a region in France’s Loire Valley, and is located east of Tours, in the Tourain district. The primary grape grown in Vouvray is chenin blanc, though arbois is a rarely used grape that can be found in the region. The wines can range from dry to sweet, and about 40% of them are sparkling wines, while the rest are of course, still. I recently participated in a virtual “Twitter Taste Live” of five wines from Vouvray, and I can’t really say anything bad about any of them.

Marc Bredif 2010 Vouvray sec white wine

The Marc Bredif 2010 Vouvray had a funky, pungent cheese nose. Great way to start a wine review, don’t you think? The palate, however was nothing like that. The palate is full of nectarine and apricot nectar, and is slightly effervescent. There are secondary flavors of almonds or marzipan that were quite pleasant. There was some nice acidity that comes through as citrus flavors. All in all a solid $16 wine.

All of the Vouvray wines in this post were sec, or dry, with little residual sugar left after fermentation. However, the fresh, fruit forward palate makes them appear almost sweet.

Sweetness of Vouvray Most Dry to Most Sweet	Sweetness of Champagne Most Dry to Most Sweet
sec demi-sec moelleux doux	brut natural extra brut brut extra dry sec demi-sec doux

Vouvray is a very food friendly wine, and can be paired with fruit, almonds, chicken, shellfish, seafood, and pork. However, don’t leave out cheese, as a tremendous range will pair, including cheddar and goat cheese.

Tasting the Bourillon Dorleans Vouvray $20

Next up, the Bourillon Dorleans 2010 Vouvray, La Coulee d’Argent. This was a very dry, crisp white wine with beautiful white floral scents in the bouquet, and a palate of ripe stone fruit with a bracing citrus finish. Stone fruit is a general term for peaches, nectarines, apricots, and this white wine had a little hint of all of them. A number of my fellow wine writers thought this was a stand up and take notice wine. The acidity, that citrus I keep mentioning, makes this a very food friendly wine. Fatty fish, cheese, lobster and shrimp are all great options. For $20, worth giving a try.

Domaine des Aubuisieres 2011 Vouvray

The 2011 Domaine des Aubuisieres Vouvray Cuvee de Silex was more dry and acidic than the other wines of the evening. Cuvee de Silex is a blend of chenin blanc from three different vineyards, each are composed of silex, a flint and sand based soil. This was a glass of muddled green apple with lime juice to flesh it out. There were interesting nuances of baking spice on the palate, specifically the finish, that balanced the fruit nicely. There was minerality on the palate, the flint coming through from the terroir, or earth. Another $16-18 wine that a number of other wine writers found favorable too. Pamela liked the idea of pairing this white wine with pike fish with Beurre Blanc!

2011 Francois Chidaine Les Argiles Vouvray

We moved to the 2011 Francois Chidaine Les Argiles Vouvray. This French white wine has a very fragrant nose, with a palate that had a lot of floral notes and a big, spicy finish. A number of other tasters found a lot of minerality and acidity on this wine, and I really did not. I found it to taste of white flowers, baking spice, and honeysuckle. Another French white under $25!

Champalou Vouvray 2010

The last wine of the evening was the 2010 Champalou Vouvray, imported by Kermit Lynch. Just 12.5% ABV, this is a great lunch wine! Big flavors of nectarines surrounded by white jasmine flowers on both the bouquet and palate, this wine was beautiful. There was that flinty minerality that is common to all the Vouvray wines we had this evening, but it was subtle, not overpowering. There were some comments that perhaps this was the most “New World” of all the wines, tasting the least French. However, several people found that this wine opened up beautifully, becoming a bit more lean and crisp, and having the flabby flavors unwind and dissipate. For $15, this would work nicely with a grilled or broiled white fish like sole or snapper for lunch!

All of these wines were samples, part of a Tastelive.com blogger event. I am always grateful to participate in these events because not only does it expose me to wines I may not have had before, but the team at Tastelive knows that I’ll only write about wines I would serve to you when friends visit me!

I have a few takeaways for you from this French white wine tasting

Vouvray is made from chenin blanc grapes
Vouvray is a more fruit forward, and often sweeter white wine
Vouvray is very food friendly, especially fish, shellfish, chicken, and cheese
Vouvray can be found from $15-20, and can rock your socks off
Vouvray can work nicely for Thanksgiving, it will pair with the turkey, ham, and some sides
Vouvray can age, and has been known to be fresh and delicious 5, 10 and even 40 years old
Vouvray can benefit from a little air. All of the wines tonight changed over a few hours
Vouvray pair with your Halloween candy, though look for demi-sec or sweeter

I’ve brought Vouvray to the CBS12 studios before, as a recommendation for Delicious white Wines From France. It’s definitely something we need to sip more of! So,when was the last time you said “Hey, Vouvray” when ordering wine? Leave a comment below, and let me know!

Mushroom Soup, Red Wine & A Giveaway

using Harry & David soup mix for a great meal

Harry & David soup mix gets doctored

I learned about Harry & David’s new wine collection during a media trip with 12 other food writers. One of them was Sandy Coughlin, of Reluctant Entertainer. While Sandy is anything but a reluctant entertainer, her site and book are focused on helping those who are. Sandy offers tips and tricks to make even the most novice entertainer look like Martha Stewart. Sandy made our first night in Oregon spectacular, since hosting 12 people who write about food or wine can’t be easy. Using products from Harry & David’s store, she threw an amazing dinner party. One of my favorite items of the night was her mushroom soup, and I was blown away to learn it came from a bag, with some added love. I could not wait to come home and make the soup myself, and pair some wines with it. Keep reading, and I’ll show you how Sandy kicked up this soup, talk about the wines that pair, and tell you how you can win a gift basket from Harry & David.

A hearty meal of Harry & David mushroom soup and pinot noir

Mushrooms go well with many dishes, and many wines. People saute mushrooms for burgers or steaks, fold them into omelets, or grill them and eat them on their own. In terms of wines, mushrooms will go well with a host of them, including cabernet sauvignon, unoaked chardonnay, malbec, zinfandel, and of course pinot noir. In fact, there are some who think that the perfect mushroom pairing is pinot noir, whether from Oregon or Burgundy, or even California. I happen to be in that camp, and decided to buy two bottles of pinot noir at the grocery store while picking up the fixings for the soup.

Francis Coppola 2010 Directors Cut Pinot Noir

The first grocery store pinot noir I picked to pair with the mushroom soup was the Francis Coppola 2010 Directors Cut, Sonoma Coast, California. The lighter of the two options for the pairing, the Coppola ’10 Director’s Cut pinot noir has a bouquet of field strawberries, with earthy notes surrounding the red fruit. The acidity was noticeable on the nose, along with some smoky scents. The palate was a bit more fruit forward, more red raspberries on the palate than the strawberries on the nose, with a nice mix of smoke and cooking spices. The soup tames the fruit a little, and works very nicely. For $18.99, this was a well made, fresh pinot noir with nice length and good acid for food without being noticeable.

Laetitia Estate Pinot Noir 2010

The second grocery store pinot noir was the $21.99 Laetitia 2010 Estate Pinot Noir, Arroyo Grande Valley, California. Not a very expressive bouquet, dusty red raspberries mix with faint scents of cocoa. The palate shows round red raspberries, fresher than the notes on the nose. There is a good bit of sweet spice from the oak used to age the wine, but it’s well integrated. The finish is long lasting, with those sweet spices turning into a dusting of black pepper. There are medium tannins, noticeable but not gripping. With the soup, the red fruit tastes a little darker, with some earthy notes more prominent.

win a Harry & David cheese and salami basket

I am a “put your money where your mouth is” kind of person. While my expenses for this trip were paid by Harry & David, I purchased quite a bit of their products before being invited on the trip. I only write about products, wine or businesses I believe in. I’ve long believed in the quality that Harry & David offers, and now Harry & David wants to make a believer out of you. I am excited to offer a giveaway of one of Harry & David’s gift baskets, one focused on pairing with wine. The rules of the giveaway are simple:

Giveaway Open to US Residents Only, employees of Harry & David and their relatives are not eligible
Giveaway runs from Monday October 22nd 7:00am EST through Wednesday October 24th 11:59:59 pm EST
Enter by leaving a comment below stating why you want to win this Harry & David cheese and salami basket
Bonus Entries are available for the following (each require a separate comment)
Tweet the following then comment below: Wine, Mushroom Soup & a @HarryandDavid gift basket giveaway by @mmwine http://budurl.com/hadsalm
Like then comment below: Like both A Good Time With Wine on Facebook and Harry and David on Facebook
From the A Good Time With Wine Facebook page, share this post then comment below
Limit 4 entries per person

The description of this Harry and David gift basket is fantastic. Two gourmet new world Beehive cheeses and two handcrafted old world Creminelli salamis make this gift a savory delight for any meat and cheese lover. Award winning cheese coupled with some of the finest gluten and dairy free salami out there make for a lovely anytime gift. I’ll post a few wines to pair with it in the near future.

Add most of one leek to the soup

Sandy inspired me to doctor up the soup, not that it needed it. For one bag of Harry & David Wild Mushroom & Leek soup mix, you need two tablespoons of butter (in addition to the package directions), one leek, and two medium portobello mushrooms. Slice and rinse the leek with water, and pat dry. Melt the butter in a large skillet on a medium heat, then add the leek. Saute for 4-5 minutes, until they are tender.

Saute leeks until tender

Slice portobello mushrooms and saute with leeks

Slice the portobello mushroom in half-inch pieces, and add to the tender leeks. Saute for another 5-8 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender. Then, add to the soup mix in your 5 quart pot or bigger, and cook according to the package instructions.

Enjoy Harry & David Mushroom Soup with pinot noir

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! Harry & David will ship the winner the basket directly, and you’ll have a good time with wine!