Archive for Sparkling Wine

When you think of Australia you think of a fun-filled country full of spirit and jovial people. And the burgeoning wine business in Australia is very similar. Most of the reds are light and flavorful, but lack the depth of European or California reds. My wife and I are not big white wine drinkers, but on a recent celebratory trip to Emeril’s Restaurant in New Orleans, I decided on a bubbly white wine from Australia, a 2006 Wolf Blass Brut.

We were both pleasantly surprised and happy with the selection. The white was light and not too dry or sweet. The slightly fruity flavor and effervescent bubbles were a perfect accompaniment to our happy evening and wonderful meal.

The $36 restaurant bottle price was a good value.

Saturday night at home with no children (which is hard to accomplish when you have 4 kids)! We decided to make a light dinner of Blueberry Salsa Chicken and an Escarole Salad (you can read about this in our sister publication, TastyThoughts).

After dinner we decided to lay on the living room floor and watch Michael Clayton (read reviews of the movie in FlickRev). To go with our lounging and cinematic release, we had a bottle of Villa Conaro Prosecco Extra Dry.

For those of you who like the effervescent sensation of spumante, but do not like the heavy sweetness that comes with the bubbles, this is the bottle for you. This prosecco, which comes from Veneto, Italy, is a light straw-colored bubbly wine. My WTB and I had three or four flutes each and did not get the aftertaste or heavy feeling you get from most sparkling wines.

A sharp cheese and a baguette would be lovely partners for this delightful, moderately priced wine selection.  It also would make an excellent addition to a martini, giving a small amount of carbonation to lighten the drink.