ajc.com 2008 Holiday Guide

A scene from a conversation in a quiet corner of an Atlanta restaurant.

Longtime Wine Guy fan: Hey, Wine Guy, isn't it time for your annual champagne column?

KULERS UNCORKED GIL KULERS Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators and teaches in-home wine classes. You can reach him at gil.kulers @winekulers.com or by clicking on his photo above. Related: • More on food and drink 2006 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Villages  Why Australians shake the wine: It's a gas  2005 Greg Norman California Estates Petite Sirah  Good wine is more than alcohol percentage  2006 Kendall-Jackson Vineyards and Winery Grand Reserve Chardonnay  HOLIDAY GUIDE How not to be the jerk of the party  Northside's top stories in 2007  New Year's resolutions shrinking  A how-to for the perfect thank-you

Wine Guy: You know how I feel about that.

Fan: Yes, guy, I know that cold, bubbly drinks are better during the hot, summer months, but think of the readers.

Wine Guy: Yeah, yeah, I realize that they've been conditioned by the oenological industrial complex to drink sparkling wine every holiday season, but I want no part of it.

Fan: After a long uncomfortable silence. Boy, there sure are a lot of different sparkling wines, aren't there?

Wine Guy: Sure there are. Almost every winemaking region has some sort of sparkling wine tradition ... and sparkling wines from Champagne, France — the classic model for most bubblies — are just the tip of the iceberg.

Fan: Do tell.

Wine Guy: Well, take the Loire Valley, for instance. They make sparkling wine out of chenin blanc grapes. This imbues them with a light, lemony, floral quality. Some of them also maintain a bit of honeylike sweetness that make them great with fruit-based desserts. Heck, I've had fruit swimming in Loire Valley sparkling wine as a dessert.

Fan: Don't they make bubbly in Alsace, France, too?

Wine Guy: Yes. Some of my favorite. They call it crement d'Alsace and they use a blend of grapes such as auxerrois, pinot blanc, pinot gris, pinot noir and riesling. By the way, that's what they call the sparkling wine from the Loire, too.

Fan: What?

Wine Guy: Crement de Loire. This keeps people from confusing them with capital "C" Champagne, which is a region, not a generic name for sparkling wine.

Fan: That's interesting. You should do a column on that some day. Any "champagnes" made outside of France?

Wine Guy: Sparkling wines! And, yes, I do love those simple, unpretentious bubblies from northern Italy called proseccos. Prosecco is actually the name of the grape, but the good stuff comes from a place called Conegliano-Valdobbiandene near Venice. They remind me of a tart lemony cream soda.

Fan: Sounds delicious. But do sparkling wines have to be white?

Wine Guy: No way. Lots of bubbly comes from red grapes. In fact, two of the three grapes used to make Champagne are red grapes, but they just don't use the coloring pigments from the skin. Some winemakers just use a little bit of the red to produce beautiful pink sparklers.

Fan: But no red bubbly, though, right?

Wine Guy: Funny you should mention red bubbly. I was just bringing over a couple of bottles of sparkling shiraz from Australia for my office holiday party.

Fan: I thought you said bubbly was just for the summer time?

Wine Guy: Well, I guess sparkling wines do impart a certain celebratory quality to festive occasions.

Fan: So you'll write a column? People are interested.

Wine Guy: No way! I'm sticking to my principles.

Fan: So tell me about that crazy sparkling shiraz you've got there.

Wine Guy: Pouring two glasses. Aren't they pretty with their light purple foam? You know, theoretically we shouldn't be enjoying this wine. The reason we don't see too many red sparkling wines is that the tannins in the grape skins — which give these wines their deep red color — rob the wine of its refreshing acidity and bright fruitiness.

Fan: Wow! It is different, but I could like this. So much for theory, huh?

Wine Guy: Here, try it now with some chocolate mousse drizzled with raspberry sauce.

Fan: Oh, my goodness! To die for!

Wine Guy: Yes, I find the sparkling shiraz to be particularly good with a lot of different foods, even slightly sweet dishes.

Fan: Surely, there must be American sparklers, too, right?

Wine Guy: There are a bunch of wineries in California that have built a great reputation for quality sparkling wines. Many of them, such as Moet & Chandon, Taittinger and Roederer, came from Champagne in the 1970s. Sonoma's Gloria Ferrer sparkling wine has its roots in northeastern Spain. Others, such as Schramsberg and Iron Horse, figured out the secrets of the Champenois and make beautiful, soulful wines at half to a quarter of the price you'd pay for a bottle of real Champagne.

Fan: So sparkling wine doesn't have to be expensive?

Wine Guy: Not at all. Some sparkling wines from Spain (where they call their bubbly "cava" so it is not confused with Champagne) go for under 10 bucks. The ubiquitous, black-bottled Freixenet and Marques de Gelida in the bright orange bottles are mmm-mmm-tasty.

Fan: So, guy, what kind of sparkling wine would I find in your wine cellar?

Wine Guy: Well, I can't afford the expensive stuff, but that doesn't mean I drink cheap-tasting stuff. One of my all-time favorite bottles of bubbly comes from, of all places, New Mexico. Gruet has made quite a reputation for itself. I'm particularly smitten by its blanc de noir (which means it is a white wine made from red grapes). And for 15 bucks, I'd challenge anyone to find better.

Fan: I really think you should do a story on sparkling wine for the holidays.

Wine Guy: It's funny. In some strange way I get this feeling I already have.

Nonvintage Pommery Brut Royal, Champagne, France

• $42

• Two thumbs up

• A great compromise between fruity domestic and French styles with lots of flavors of apple and lemon, but with more than just a hint of toasty yeast.

Nonvintage Rumball Coonawarra Cuvee Sparkling Shiraz, Coonawarra, Australia

• $27

• Shirazlike aromas and flavors of meaty, dark berries but also with notes of mocha, chocolate and fresh raspberries. It has a barely noticeable amount of sweetness, which makes it great with lightly sweet desserts. Also fine with blue cheeses.

2003 Marques de Gelida Brut, Cava

• $11

• Two thumbs up

• Lemon, lime and pineapple fruit aroma and flavors. It has a fair amount of acidity and is somewhat sweet for a brut, but it is better for the added body.

2003 Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee, Sonoma County/Green Valley, Calif.

• $30

• Two thumbs up

• A standout among the many bubblies made by Joy Sterling, it is more fun than complex. It has a raspberry cream quality with a bitter lemon finish. Seems to cry out for fried foods.

Nonvintage Gruet Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine, New Mexico

• $16

• Two thumbs way up

• Tastes way beyond its price tag. It has refined fruit flavors of lemon, lime, orange and green apple that aren't overbearing. It also has a champagnelike minerality and a yeasty, doughy accent that adds to its complex nature.

Note: Wines are rated on a scale ranging from thumbs down, one thumb mostly up, one thumb up, two thumbs up, two thumbs way up and golden thumb award. These are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents or a local distributor.