In the event you haven’t noticed, it’s June. In spite of the storms that have kept us inside for the beginning of the month, there is plenty of sunshine in our future. With June comes the time for marriages, sporting events, outdoor parties and gala celebrations of all kinds.
Because of its elegance, champagne has become the traditional drink for celebrations. Unfortunately, French champagnes are expensive, and all too often, consumers will shy away from them because of their cost.
An alternative lies in inexpensive sparkling wines, which sell in the $3-$5 range, but they have little at all to recommend them, except their low price.
Barefoot Cellars comes to the rescue with their affordable Barefoot Bubbly line of decent sparkling wines.
Barefoot Cellars Bubbly Brut Cuvee ($10)Brut indicates the wine is dry and made in the French style.
This wine, although dry, is a fresh, bright and extremely enjoyable sparkler that has been made exclusively from chardonnay grapes.
The wine displays classical yeast and bread aromas with hints of citrus, which then carry over to the flavor and even beyond, ending in a long finish.
Barefoot Cellars Bubbly Premium Extra Dry Chardonnay Champagne ($10)Leave it to the French to misname a wine. In their infinite wisdom or, perhaps, sense of humor, they refer to this style as extra dry; it’s not.
There is an added sweetness that is not often found in chardonnay sparkling wines, which helps to propel this wine to new heights of fun and enjoyment.
The wine features green apple and citrus in the aroma and flavor, ending in a delightfully creamy and toasty fresh-fruit finish.
This wine is not the typical nose in the air, raised pinky style of sparkler, but rather a wine that can be served in glass tumblers, amid noisy friends and family.
Barefoot Cellars Bubbly Moscato Spumante Champagne ($10)It appears the Italians are not as finicky as the French about the names of their wines. For years, the French have griped about anybody using the name champagne for anything but a genuine French champagne, while the Italians took absolutely no interest in the name.
Barefoot Bubbly uses both of the names for this wine, invoking the American tradition of “who cares.” If you like the Italian Asti Spumante, wait until you taste its California cousin.
As with all spumante wines, the flavor is sweet, accenting the aroma of jasmine, orange blossoms and honey, along with a delightful raisin-like component which is further enhanced by the carbonation.
Barefoot Cellars Bubbly Pink Moscato Champagne ($10)This bubbler's attractive pink color heralds the traditional aromas of jasmine and Mandarin oranges, complemented by red raspberry, strawberry and cherry. Here too, the aroma migrates to the flavor.
This is not really a wine; it is more of an experience that you will surely enjoy.
Barefoot Cellars Bubbly Red Moscato Champagne ($10)Once again, it is the traditional moscato flavors and aromas of jasmine and Mandarin oranges that dominate, but in this case, they are joined by the typical red wine flavors of cherry, pomegranate and raspberry.
Now you can pick the wine to not only delight your palate, but to also enhance the color of the table you on which you are presenting.
Despite their reputations, sparkling wines and champagne should not be reserved solely for celebrations.
They are wines that can function anywhere a wine is called for, up to and including meals. There is no reason not to serve a sparkling wine with dinner.
No matter how simple or ornate the dinner may be, a sparkling wine can raise even the lowly meatloaf to the heights of a gourmet dinner.
Nixa resident Bennet Bodenstein is a wine columnist and helps manage ArticlesOnWine.com with his wife, Sheila. He can be reached at frojhe@suddenlink.net.
