New Years Eve, a night where we all stay up to midnight and if you don’t drink bubbly, you do so when the ball drops.
My New Years Eve is usually low key, I spend it with friends. We cook a nice meal, drink some nice wine, laugh and at midnight pop a bottle of bubbly. The last thing we want to do is purchase a bottle of bubbly that will break the bank. After all, we have all the Christmas bills to pay off.
Sparkling wine doesn’t have to be expensive. You can find some nice bubbly as inexpensive as $7.98 and even Champagne for under $35.
I did a little shopping in the local liquor store and here is what I purchased for the evenings festivities and the brunch I am going to on New Years Day. (have to bring a hostess gift)
For $7.98 I found a really nice Canva – Cristalino Cava Brut. Cava is a sparkling wine made in Spain and is from Catalonia region. There are three main grapes that go into the wine, Macabeo, Paralleda and Xarello. It is made in the same way they make Champagne where the second fermentation happens in the bottle. Taste wise, you will get a dry elegant sparkling wine that shows hints of fruitiness. Cava is great value and inexpensive. Personally, it’s a go to for me.
There are many other sparkling wines produced in France that are very reasonable priced. This Willm Blanc de Blancs Cremant Brut is a sparkling wine dominated with the Pinot Blanc grape. There is also a touch of Riesling and Chardonnay to it. It is produced in the Alsace region of France. It retails for $10.99. It will have hints of floral and show some fruitiness.
Another bubbly I’ve become a fan of is Gruet. Gruet is made in New Mexico and the owners hails from Bethon, France where they’ve been producing Champagne from 1952. In 1989 they released their first New Mexico wine an 1987 Brut and Blanc de Noirs, Their wines retail for about $12.99. Sparkling wine produced in the states with a French pedigree.
If you insist on bring a bottle of Champagne from the Champagne region of France I found an inexpensive (at least I thought it was) bottle of Monopole Heidsieck Blue Top that retails for $32.99. You will find some hints of breadiness on the nose which is characteristic of Champagne. It’s a great lead in bottle of Champagne that will please any palate.
No matter what you choose to pop on New Years Eve, enjoy! I wish you a happy and healthy New Year.
