Tag Archives: Sparkling wine

White Wine of the Week | White Wine Reviews

Finca Flichman Extra Brut Sparkling Wine

Cost: Average price $10.99

Where buy now: Zipp’s Liquor Store

Grapes: 80% Chardonnay, 20% Malbec

Region: Mendoza, Argentina

Vintage: N/A

Finca Flichman Sparkling Wine

I love the band Boston. I think they are awesome. I remember waiting in line for “The Demon”- a roller coaster at Six Flags Great America. To get your adrenaline levels even higher, they’d pump classic rock tunes while you wait. With their tune “Smokin’” a-blaring, my similarly coiffed (read: big) girlfriend warbling along, I thought, “Yep, they got the goods.”

This memory got me thinking: what wine would rock dudes drink? I know, I know- I’m sure their fair share of Jägermeister, whiskey, beer and whatever else they have on hand flow like water, but what about the vino? The easy answer would be champagne: celebratory, popping corks, liquid fizzing and oozing all over them and their groupies. A barbaric, animalistic kind of simile if ever there was one.

I think I’ve found that wine, nay, bubbly. But, at this price point, you can afford to spray it all over you and whoever else flashed the security guard.

This week’s white is not actually white, but a pale, orangish pink. It is in it’s own category, actually, but since it does contain 80% Chardonnay, this is what I offer up to you. (Cleveland: are you ready to rock?!?!?) Straight outta City Pages Best of 2012 Liquor store, Zipps, I bring you Finca Flichman Extra Brut! This wine is all suds and fun. Persistent bubbles overfloweth like sweet sounds from a Marshall stack, while the orangey pinkish hue jazzes it up like a good pair of leather pants. Yeah, it’s cool, and cool people drink pink wine.

This is a great wine to have on hand for any occasion. It’s light, a little fruity, a little citrusy, a little dry, and definitely not shy on bubbles. When you’re done drinking it, you can belch with the best of ‘em. (I drank this down with popcorn, ‘cause that’s how rock ‘n roll I was on a Monday night.)

With a $10 price point, bring it to a birthday party, toast to someone’s good fortune, get naked and shake it all about – or all the above. However you unleash your inner rock star, grab this sparkling wine and turn it up to 11.

White Wine of the Week | White Wine Reviews

Perelada Brut Cava

Cost: Average price $13.99

Where buy now: Surdyk’s $12.99

Grapes: Blend of Macabeo, Parellada and Xarello

Region: Spain, near Barcelona

Vintage: Aged at a minimum 15 months before bottling

Perelada Brut Cava
Perelada Brut Cava

I am a Prosecco fiend. I love it! It pairs well with food and cheese or is lovely on its own. So, when the wine tasting began with this Spanish Cava [“Cava” means caves], I was curious how this was going to compare. I typically only drink sparkling wine, mainly Prosecco, during fancy pants occasions so I didn’t know much about other sparkling wines. [That is, other than the efficient manner Champagne can make a right ass out of anyone.]

Let me impart some of the knowledge I learned: First, the Spanish drink more bubbly than the rest of the world. Second, sparkling wine is lighter in alcohol than other wines (but I’ll try not to hold it against them). What does that all mean? It means the Spanish must make a good enough bubbly to sip all day long. If this is the “Kool-Aid” those loco Spaniards are handing out, I might just follow them to Jonestown.

The glittering, pale golden Cava compares a bit in flavor to Prosecco but the bubbles are a little more vigorous. This is something I thought I wasn’t going to like, but they’re nice, agreeable little bubbles –persistent but not annoying. The aroma wasn’t strong, but light and refreshing. The taste wasn’t overwhelming, just mildly citrusy and pleasant. Pick up a bottle along with some manchego cheese, creamy brie and fruit and you’ll have a lovely time. I plan to sip this all summer long aside grilled fish, sautéed mushrooms and mixed greens. Now, if this was $40, I wouldn’t say it was a knock-out, but for around $10, I’d say this is a great buy!

So why don’t we drink more bubbly? We’ve been conditioned to only bring it out on special occasions: toasting the happy new couple, a birth, or to ring in the New Year. But since sparkling wine has a lower alcohol content than most wine [this Cava is around 11%], perhaps we should be sipping this baby more often! No need to wait for some grand promotion (even if you deserve one), or any singular awesome, life-changing event- just pour yourself a glass and celebrate you being you.

This, my friends, has become my New Year’s resolution: drink more sparkling wine.