Need a good champagne for New Year's Eve?!
Answers: Hello everyone! I want a nice champange for my husband and I to bring in the New Year. Well I know NOTHING about champange. I do not want a expensive one but I want a one that will not get me drunk with the first sip. I also heard about dry and extra dry. HELP??!!
To get a little technical at first... Champagne can only be called champagne if the grapes are grown in the champagne region in France. Dry means that a sparkling wine is somewhat sweet (where is means the opposite in regular wine... I know, confusing!), and extra-dry means drier, but with some residual sugar left. There are varying levels of sweetness in sparkling wines, a good place to look it up is here:
http://www.greatpartyrecipes.com/rating-...
Now that we've got that out of the way, here are my 3 favorite sparkling wines, from around Europe:
Depending on how much you want to spend, if you're looking for something under $10, Cava, a type of sparkling wine from Spain, is a very good value. Cristalino brand Cava is relatively easy to find, and can go on sale for as low as $7 per bottle. It's light and fizzy, with crisp citrus notes.
Prosecco is a type of sparkling wine from Italy, and it's in the $10 to $20 range. A brand that's easy to find and pretty tasty is Zardetto, and it's usually about $14 per bottle. It's a little sweet, with a bit more flavor that the cava, and tastes a little of green apples.
Getting into real champagne, Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label is a very good champagne for a reasonable price. It can be had on sale, or at Cost Plus World Market, for around $40. You're getting into more nuanced flavors here, with apple, peach, and little earthiness and butteriness underneath. Very enjoyable.
All the wines I listed are crisp, clean, and a little sweet. I am not a fan of asti spumanti, as it is very sweet. Most sparkling wines are around the same alcohol content, about 12%-15% alcohol by volume. So unless you are very sensitive to alcohol, one sip will not get you drunk.
martini and rossi- ASTI the best champagne around
Korbel. It's affordable and delicious. Extra dry has hardly any sweetness to it and Brut has zero sweetnes. And that's all I can tell you about that. Sorry. Just ask the person that works in the store. Good Luck.
Mumms! You can't go wrong. And it's only about $20 a bottle. If you're unclear on dry and extra dry, that refers to the level of sweetness. They're not that sweet. If you want a sweeter bubbly, look for "demi-sec" or "cremant" on the label. Happy New Years!
I sincerely doubt you'll get drunk with the first sip unless you fast all day (and no, that is NOT a recommendation - please eat regularly!). However, if you want something to make you feel tingly with the first sip, I'd suggest Extra Dry Korbel. Its inexpensive and very easy to find and it tastes pretty darn good. You could also try Wilson Creek's Almond Flavored Champange if you don't typically like champange but do like most other mixed drinks.
To get an extra buzz going, try adding some liquor to your champange, like Grand Marnier or Raspberry liquor (or heck, go for crazy and try some chocolate with the raspberry).
Have fun - you sound like a fun and loving wife. I hope your guy appreciates the effort!!