Hot Pink Fizz for Your Next Pizza

This wine is hot pink. Don't believe me? I took a picture of it against the white backdrop of my GE dryer just to prove it.

You might ask yourself, "what is the point of hot pink fizz?" It's a good question. This is not a delicate rose, or a shell-pink sparkler, or anything subtle, profound, or even particularly memorable.

This is a "Whazzat?" wine. "What the hell is that stuff?" is most likely to be the question your guests and loved ones ask when you pour it. You can tell them that it is a gently fizzy frizzante wine from around Venice made from a grape that few have heard of called Raboso. I know, I know. Your cousin Marge doesn't care about that stuff, but it is the right answer. Raboso is a tannic monster with deeply-colored skins which helps to explain why it is so violently pink. It also explains why this wine has some serious grip to it, for all its foofy fizziness.

The NV Incanto Frizzante Rose is one of those wines that you have to have a lot of wine confidence to drink in front of other people. It's hot pink color, aromas of cherry, and tiny bubbles will be enough to make friends think you've lost your mind. But trust me, you haven't--especially if you are drinking a well-chilled bottle while eating a spicy pepperoni pizza on the deck on a warm, early summer Friday evening.

It has all the tannins of a dry red, the refreshing quality of a sparkler, and the crispness that you want on a warm day. There is a dry aftertaste, which just confirms this is no candy wine. But the combination of dryness, bubbles, and tannins makes it the ideal partner for pizza with spicy toppings, appetizer plates loaded with salumi, olives, and cheese, or just plain sipping on a warm afternoon.

You can get this unusual wine at Trader Joe's for around $5.99. At that price this is very good QPR, and it will set you back far less than the pizza or the gas required to pick the pizza up. These days, who can ask for anything more?

Holiday Food and Wine Strategy #3: Takeout

Holidays are full of traditions. Eggnog. Mistletoe. Dreidels. Latkes. Takeout.

Takeout is a tradition that goes back at least as far as ancient Rome. But during the holidays, there is no happier tradition in my opinion. To fully enjoy it, it's imperative that you stock up on specific kinds of wine and have them in the cabinet and waiting for your next needy moment. In my house, we don't like to spend more on the takeout wine than on the takeout itself--despite Dean & Deluca's latest and best efforts to get me to spend $395 on six bottles of wine because "nobody drinks fancy wine every day." Well, I think we can do a lot better than that, don't you? For far less than $395, here are some wines that go great with your takeout, and will leave you lots left of dosh left over for holiday shopping.

Riesling--This is what you need for incendiary takeout, such as hot Thai curries, vindaloo, and raging Szechuan cuisine. Go for something dry or off-dry for best results. There are lots made in the US and Australia that are not terribly expensive, or you can splurge slightly and get a bona fide German riesling kabinett like the 2005 Max Ferd. Richter Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett($16.95, Chronicle Wine Cellar; available elsewhere for between $15 and 27) It had full aromas of peach, peach blossom, and apple with a silky texture and flavors of apple, citrus, peach, and flowers that were distinctly off-dry.

Viognier--This is what you need for everything Asian that is not searingly hot, or spicy little chicken wings. If you like noodle bowls, pad thai, and mu shu, this is the wine to have on hand. Try the 2005 Domaine de Gournier Viognier, a producer recommended to me by Dr. Weingolb. (I got this as a sample from domaine547, and you can get it there for just $10.99). It was drier than most domestic viognier, with subdued citrus and apple aromas, and a predominantly apple palate.

Red Blends--These are vital for your pizza delivery nights, or for coming home to after driving through In-N-Out Burger. Blending several red varieties helps to keep the wine soft, affordable, and relatively inexpensive. There are lots of earlier reviews for red blends on the site, but we just enjoyed the 2004 Peterson "Zero Manipulation" red blend and highly recommend it for your house red this holiday season. ($12.49, WineQ) It is a carignane-based blend with additions of zinfandel and mourvedre, and it tastes a bit like an Italian red. High-toned red fruits (cranberry, pomegranate) are present in both the aromas and flavors. A bit of black raspberry is in there, too, if you reach for it. Nice acidity, not too much tannin--in short, a great food wine.

Lightly Oaked Chardonnay--Good with any bucket of fried chicken, or the rotisserie chickens from the supermarket, a lightly oaked chardonnay imparts enough richness to stand up to the bird, whether fried or roasted. One that we liked recently was the 2005 Egret Chardonnay. ($14.99, WineQ) This wine had rich aromas of vanilla and pear, with touches of white flowers. There were flavors of creme fraiche, apple, and pear with a touch of Mandarin orange at the very end. This was a creamy, slightly oaky chardonnay that paired well with food.

Sparklers--With everything else, from subs to salads, why not open an inexpensive sparkling wine? We had the NV Zonin Prosecco the other week, and it was a terrific bargain. ($5.99, Trader Joe's; between $5 and $9 from other merchants). This was the color of pale toast, and had aromas of lemon, bread dough, and apple. Lemon and white grapefruit dominate the flavors and produce a very light, refreshing wine that is great value.

Remember, this is supposed to be the season of joy. Put that cookbook down and get some takeout. There's plenty of time to make fricasee and beef daube later. After the packages are wrapped.

Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition (or a Poor QPR Zin)

Now that it's summer, our grill has been fired up and we are in full BBQ mode. One of the wines that goes well with spicy, tomatoey BBQ is zinfandel. We opened a bottle of zin to go with some superb pulled chicken sandwiches. Boneless chicken thighs were given a spicy rubdown and then grilled before being shredded and immersed in a tangy, molasses-enriched homemade sauce and piled on a roll. With coleslaw and some bread and butter pickles on the side, it was the essence of summer eating.

With our pulled chicken sandwiches we had a Bonny Doon Zinfandel made back in the day when Grahm was still doing wacky labels and hadn't gone all biodynamic on us. How could you resist this label? It made me think of Monty Python and I could just picture it sitting on a casual summer dinner table. The 2004 Bonny Doon Cardinal Zin ($16.99, Trader Joe's; available from many merchants for between $12 and $24) was a dark ruby color when it was poured. There were aromas of pepper and berry, but these were a bit muted for a zinfandel. Loads of berry flavors--blackberry, blueberry--and low levels of spiciness were accompanied by a distinctive peppery edge. At a relatively low 14% alc./vol., this was not as plush and velvety as many zinfandels are these days, but it lacked the spiciness of the best zinfandels. While the wine was certainly drinkable and had some moderate zinfandel characteristics, its relatively high price point might make you feel that you've paid to much for this wine once you've brought it home from the store. There are other zins out there that deliver more for far less money, so I'm calling this one a poor QPR wine. If you can get it for $12-$14, you may find this is good QPR, however.

I feel like I've been a bit jinxed lately, stuck in the poor QPR department as I go through a bunch of wines bought on impulse because I liked the label, or had never tried the producer, or was trying out a new varietal. It's all ok by me, because that's how you learn about wine and your own palate. But I'll be glad when I break this streak of bad wine luck!

In this Corner: the Bruiser from Bulgaria

Some wines announce themselves with with a gentle purr. This is not one of those wines.

This is a bare-knuckle prize-fighter of a wine, a big, bruising red that is not for the faint of palate. It is a wine that needs some careful handling to bring out its softer, more sensitive side. But it is unusual, and (like many prize-fighters) possesses an unforgettable character.

The 2005 Damianitza Rubin Uniqato ($7.99, Trader Joe's) is a red with good QPR. It is made from Rubin grapes, a cross of Nebbiolo and Syrah developed in Bulgaria in 1944. Unfiltered and full of sediment, it was dark garnet in color and full of mouth puckering tannins. In short, this was a wine that benefited from decanting, and would also benefit from some more time in the bottle.

I don't bother much with decanting in the normal course of things, though I probably should, but as soon as this went into my glass I thought, "OK, time to bring out the decanter." If you don't have a decanter, a clean jar or pitcher will do. What you are doing is getting some more air in the wine and, in this case, hoping to filter out the sediments by using a wine funnel with a screen on it. FYI, a mesh tea strainer works just as well and you probably have one in the back of the same drawer where you store your corkscrew. If you want to see someone demonstrate decanting, and what it can do for a wine, check out this video from Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV as he does a decantation!

After decanting this wine, the spicy aromas and indefinable black fruits detectable on first opening and sipping the wine gave way to herbal, fruity, and meaty flavors. The aromas and flavors developed along the grilled meat/grilled herb spectrum, with fruit taking a back seat. There were notes of cinnamon on the dry, dry finish.

Damianitza is in southwestern Bulgaria near the Greek border in Thrace's Struma River Valley. Founded in 1940 during the height of communist wine-making in the region, it was privatized in 1997. Not surprisingly, privatization has brought both challenges and opportunities to Bulgarian vintners and winemakers, and Damianitza is one of the wineries that is recognized for its efforts to bring the best Bulgarian wine traditions into the 21st century. Wine Report 2007 listed Damianitza among the 10 fastest improving wineries in Eastern Europe, for example. They bottle over 2,000,000 bottles a year, and use native grape varietals like Melnik and Rubin. JohnG over at Quaffability tried their Melnik a little while ago and was less than completely impressed. I'll try to open up my bottle soon and add my tasting notes to the mix.

In the meantime, if you want to try this affordable and easy-to-find Bulgarian wine, here are my recommendations for dealing with this young, brawny specimen: 1. decant 2. Serve it with hearty food, like steaks, grilled meat, or any robust fare that's not too spicy because trust me you do not want to accentuate the tannins in this wine. 3. Take your time drinking it and enjoy the way the flavors change with more air and time out of the bottle.

Brunch and Bubbles: the NV Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut

I adore Sunday brunches. Especially in LA, when it is the only time of the week you can set a time for a meal and actually have people from all over the city reach your house on time. That's because late Sunday morning is the only time of the week when the traffic jams occur outside dim sum restaurants and not on the freeways.

Mostly, though, I love brunches because time seems to move more slowly during the hours of 11 and 3 on Sundays. The light seems more golden. The flowers smell sweeter. And friends who make you laugh under most circumstances can make you hilarious for no good reason at all.

When I think brunch, I nearly always think "bubbles" right after. Sparkling wines, with their bright acidity and low alcohol, are perfect sippers for this occasion. And they can be cut with a variety of fruit juices and purees--raspberry, peach, orange, pink grapefruit--if you want to prolong the pleasure and cut the alcohol even further. But of course you don't want to pull out a vintage French champagne at a casual, friendly brunch. Save that for the big celebrations.

Instead, opt for a budget-friendly California sparkler, like the NV Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut ($14.99, Trader Joe's). Schramsberg was founded in 1862 by Jacob Schram, a German immigrant with a viticultural background. The winery fell into disuse and dereliction, and was rescued by Jack and Jamie Davies in 1965 who saw the enormous potential in the vineyard site and the caves that peppered the hillside. Their son, Hugh, now runs the place and makes a full line of sparkling wines. The Mirabelle Brut is made from a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir grapes from Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino. The juice is divided, some is aged, and then they are blended from many vintages until they achieve the Schramsberg house style.

The NV Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut was a very good QPR sparkler with a great deal of complexity for the price. It had a pale, buffed straw color and a nice, biscuity aroma that mixed with some hints of lemon. Citrusy, nutty, and toasty flavors enhanced the warmth of the afternoon, the soft spring air, and the companionship of good friends. It managed to be soft and refreshing, with its acidity and toast kept in nice balance and a soft, smooth bead/bubble adding to the pleasure that this wine gave.

We had the wine with an egg tart made with carmelized red onions, goat cheese, and pancetta from a great cookbook called California Home Cooking that makes the most of the local produce and foods from the great state of CA. Written by Michele Anna Jordan, author of the popular Cook's Tour of Sonoma, the recipe I used is not online, but some of her other wonderful recipes are and can be found by clicking here. With it we had a trio of salads pulled from Jamie Oliver and the Barefoot Contessa including smashed tomatoes and olives, pea and pesto, and a grilled zucchini salad with mint and basil. The meal tasted like a spring Sunday, and was the perfect companion to the sparkling wine.

If you haven't thrown a brunch lately, pick an upcoming Sunday, get some friends together, buy a few bottles of affordable bubbly, and settle in for a wonderful and relaxing afternoon. And don't forget to toast spring while you're at it.

Think Pink: the NV Blason de Bourgogne Crémant de Bourgogne Cuvée Rosé Brut

It's Valentine's Day this week--the time when you throw your New Year's diet out the window (if you haven't already done so), buy a box of chocolates, trawl supermarkets for flowers, and put together complicated dinner menus for the one(s) you love. And, even if you are averse to pink most of the year, you suddenly find yourself drawn to the color.

Fulfill your need for the pink stuff by trying this N.V. Blason de Bourgogne Crémant de Bourgogne Cuvée Rosé Brut ($7.99, Trader Joe's). A companion bottling to the regular brut sparkler from this winery I reviewed for WBW #28, the rose brut is salmon pink tending towards rose in color. There is not much of an aroma, but what you can smell is slightly biscuity like toasted bread. Once poured, there is lots of froth/mousse, and the bubbles/bead is a little rough and rasping on the tongue. Flavors of raspberry, toast, and yeast come through as you sip this wine. Brut rose wines are not as common as blanc de noirs and other pink or pinkish sparklers that are softer in style. This is not the smoothest brut rose you'll ever have, but it is still very good QPR. And, if you like your wine brut and pink, this is the way to go.

With this sparkler we had a fabulous pink pasta, as well, that I pulled off of Epicurious. Shrimp and bay scallops were tossed with garlic and oil, then added to a sauce made of tomatoes, clam juice, cream, and basil. This rich meal with its shellfish and tomato flavors responded very nicely to the brut wine, and of course it all looked fabulous together, too. If you are in the mood to bake, you can try your hand at this chocolate souffle cake from Cooking Light. It has a nice touch of orange from Triple Sec and deep, dark chocolatey gooey-ness and is surprisingly low in calories. It's a bit fiddly to make but you do need to make it in advance and refrigerate it, so you can hide all the work and whisk it out of the fridge, topping it with a dusting of confectioner's sugar and some orange peel at the last moment. Also: I think you could easily substitute 3 Tbs of Chambord for the OJ/Triple Sec and top with a smattering of raspberries if you want to stay on the pink/red/V-Day theme.

German Sparkling Wine: NV Schloss Biebrich Sekt

Do you know which nation consumes more sparkling wine per capita than any other?

No, it's Germany. I learned this fun fact from Golly over at Golly's Wine Drops, where he reviewed a different German sparker for you to check out when you're done reading this.

Every LA area Trader Joe's that I've been to in December has end-caps full of this German sparkler: the NV Schloss Biebrich Sekt ($3.99, Trader Joe's). While I tend not to find their $5.99 wines either exciting or particularly drinkable this is the third bottle of $3.99 wine from Trader Joe's that I've really enjoyed. It represented excellent QPR, and at that price I'd buy quite a few and put them away for the rest of the winter.

Bright and floral, this wine was almost as translucent and colorless as water. It had a modest apple aroma, and when the wine was poured in the glass there was an alarming amount of froth (ok, mousse for the geeks out there). Usually wines with lots of froth/mousse the bubbles are big and harsh, but the Schloss Biebrich bubbles were smooth and small. On the palate, there wasn't a harsh or bitter note, just warm pears flavors and a lingering impression of flowers on the finish. This wine is probably made with riesling grapes, but I can't find out much about it on the web, so that's just conjecture on my part. The Deutsches Weininstitut has a great article on German sekt sparklers, if you would like more information.

This wine is just a hair off-dry, and would be perfect with Indian food, Thai food, Szechuan food, and light appetizers. We had a yummy Asian fusion meal with it: a spicy sauced salmon with coconut rice topped with edamame and a fresh mango salsa (note: I subbed a salmon fillet for the chicken in the original recipe). This was perfect with the wine, and it would be a fast recipe to knock together for an impressive meal for guests who might drop by during the holidays.

Kitchen Sink Included: the 2004 Big House Red

I love red blends. I really do.

Especially when there is some rhyme or reason to them. Like the great value Australian GSM wines (blends of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre), where the wines are combined to soften the dustiness of the Grenache, tame the sweetness of the Syrah, and add the depth of the Mourvedre to the mix. A strange alchemy takes place in a carefully blended wine, one in which the varietal characteristics can still be discerned, but the whole is somehow greater than the sum of its parts.

Then there is the 2004 Big House Red ($8.99, Trader Joe's). This wine has everything in it--including the proverbial kitchen sink thanks to the inclusion of Montepulciano grapes--and it didn't make sense to me at all. I felt that earlier vintages of this wine did have a rhyme and a reason to the varietal blend. But this one has (no joke) 8 varietals in it: Carignane, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, Barbera, Syrah, Grenache, and Montepulciano. Heh? You drink it and think, hey, that's red. That's not to say that its not a quaffable red. It is. But it lacks that interesting varietal complexity that makes a wine worth drinking. Even though it's quaffable, there are such great red blends out there even in this price bracket I couldn't help but consider it poor QPR.

Readers who were fans of the widely available Bonny Doon Ca' del Sol Big House wines of the past will be interested to know that Bonny Doon sold the line to Big House Wines in late July 2006. My 2004 Big House Red, though apparently made before the line was sold, lacks the Ca' del Sol designation, and there is no mention of Bonny Doon (one of the great value wine companies in my opinion) anywhere on the label.

With the Big House Red we had fabulous roasted pork with savory fennel bread pudding from Cooking Light, brined for a few hours in a mixture of sugar, salt, and water. Rolled in crushed fennel seeds and minced garlic, then browned in a skillet before finishing it off it the oven, it was the best, juiciest roast pork we've ever had. The star of the meal was the bread pudding, which came out of the oven like a very soft stuffing after filling the whole house with aromas of bread, fennel, carmelized onions, and fontina cheese. This is a great meal for this hectic time of year since much of the prep can be done ahead, then it all goes in the oven for an hour, giving you lots of time to spend with guests or unwinding. And there was enough interesting flavors in the food to make a wine that tasted red a fair pairing.

This experience hasn't turned me off Bonny Doon, or even the new Big House label, but I think I will do some more reading of the back labels before I purchase another one. Hopefully this line of affordable blended wines will return to its roots and the winemaker will soon concoct a blend that is enticing and engaging, rather than just over the top.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #28: Sparklers!

Just in time for the holidays, Seattle's Culinary Fool is hosting this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday. The theme she set? Sparklers (but not champagne), which are perfect for holiday quaffing and gifting.

Wine Blogging Wednesday is the monthly wine blogging event started by Lenn Thompson over at Lenndevours, now in its third year and still going strong. Today wine bloggers all over the web will be popping their corks, pouring their sparklers, and picking up their pens to report their findings. In a few days the Culinary Fool will be posting a wrap-up of all the submitted posts, divided into budget sparklers good for parties, special splurges, and duds. I'll be sure to post a link to that roundup here on the site.

My contribution to this month's effort was to drink a sparkler from the Auxerrois region of Burgundy: the NV Blason de Bourgogne Cremant de Bourgogne Cuvee Brut (Trader Joe's, $7.99). This straw-colored sparkler had excellent QPR with its aromas of pears, apples, and the yeasty smell of lightly-browned toast. One of the things I look for in a sparkler is a relatively small bead--smooth bubbles, not too big, moving to the top of the glass in a syncopated stream--and this wine has the right stuff. When you sip this very dry, brut wine, you taste apples with a little bit of a nutty edge, and finally a tiny bit of pithy bitterness.

Maybe it was the sunny label that influenced me, but I swear this tastes like Veuve Clicquot yellow label champagne. This certainly qualifies as a budget-friendly sparkling wine that you can buy in quantity for your holiday party and serve without embarrassment. It is undoubtedly the best under $10 sparkler I've had, given my taste preferences.

The NV Blason de Bourgogne Cremant de Bourgogne Cuvee Brut is made by a co-op of four top-notch Burgundian growers: Cave de Buxy, Cave de Bailly, Cave La Chablisienne and Cave de Prissé. Readers from the UK will be more familiar with this wine than those in the US, since it features regularly in Tesco and Waitrose wine selections. Made with a combination of chardonnay and pinot noir grapes, you can find it in this brut blanc, and in a rose (review coming shortly). At this price, you can afford to buy both!

Thanks to Culinary Fool for a great holiday theme, and see you back here for the roundup.

Beating Riesling's Bad Rap: the 2005 Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling

Riesling gets a bad rap--it really does. This is unfortunate when there are good examples out there in the marketplace at rock-bottom prices. Like cru beaujolais, riesling is not fashionable right now, despite the fact that both types of wine go beautifully with food, are low alcohol, and great value. The American wine drinker (especially) has become so used to oaky, big, ripe wines, that many find riesling and beaujolais wines "thin," "light" (which many are, but they're meant to be, so this isn't a flaw so much as a flavor difference), and "not interesting."

If you would like to try out a riesling, and do so in a way that does justice to both it and to your dinner, order some Chinese or Thai takeout (we got Thai from Tongdang Thai Kitchen, our favorite local, for this experiment) and buy the 2005 Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling ($8.99, Trader Joe's). Stick the riesling in the fridge for 2 hours--not all day, or all week, since this blunts all the flavors when wine is served that cold. For more on serving temperatures, CellarNotes has a nice chart, as well as instructions on properly chilling wine.

The 2005 Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling is, as its label suggests, a dry riesling. Rieslings come with many different levels of sweetness, as a brief article on wine.com explains. So if you've had syrupy sweet riesling and sworn off the stuff, then you're missing out on a world of great taste because not all rieslings are like that. In fact, one of the great things about this wine is that their aromatic floral fruitiness can give the impression of sweetness, when on the palate all you taste is bone dry citrus and minerals. At the high end rieslings are amazingly complex and can be cellared for decades, the flavors and aromas changing each year. At the budget end, they are refreshing and easy to drink.

When Bonny Doon made this excellent QPR riesling, they blended grapes from Washington (75%) and the Mosel in Germany (25%) to produce a dry, Washington-style taste that retained the aromatic profiles of the riesling varietal characteristic of the Mosel. It had loads of citrus and herb aromas, with a touch of something floral. As you sipped this wine, there was a cascade of apples, grapefruit, and a touch of mint. And after you swallowed there was a nice crisp juiciness that made you want more. At 12% alc./vol. you could have some more, too!

Like all Bonny Doon wines, the 2005 Pacific Rim has great labels--in fact it has 3 great labels. On the front of each is the Pacific Wine Maiden in her shell, but on the back, visible through the pale straw wine, are images of either garlic, cilantro and hot peppers, or sushi. Wondering what to serve your wine with? There are the cues, right on the bottle. Anything really light and clean-tasting like sushi that can get overwhelmed by most wine, or anything spicy that will clash with the tannins in many wines. We loved it with our Tongdang mango chicken ma muang, spicy beef with cashews, and basil shrimp and eggplant.

Take a walk on the wild riesling side soon and if you know of other good value rieslings out there, post a comment here so we can enjoy them, too.

Cserszegi fuszeres! Gesundheit!

Last night I ventured into wine territory unknown, and opened up a bottle of the 2005 Hilltop Neszmely Woodsman's White (Trader Joe's, $3.99) from Hungary. What a find!

The 2005 Woodsman's White is made with the varietal cserszegi fuszeres, a cross between Irsai Oliver and a strain of gewurztraminer. What is Irsai Oliver, you ask? Irsai Oliver is itself a cross between Pozsony and Pearl of Csaba. If this doesn't send you to your wine encyclopedias and the internet to find out more, nothing will. This varietal is distinct for its citrus, gooseberry (think really tart granny smith and you're not far off if you've not had a gooseberry), and clove flavors. Nicknamed by clever marketers "the unpronounceable grape" you can impress your friends by practicing how to say it: Chair-saggy Fooser-raish. (No, I don't speak Hungarian but that's the phonetic spelling given on the back of the label.)

In a recent post comment, Ruarri drew attention to the significance of wine regions, like Hungary, where wine has been grown for centuries but whose wine is relatively unknown here in the US. Most familiar in the US are the sweet Hungarian Tokaji dessert wines, but there is an intriguing variety of other varietals and wine styles in the region. Finding such wines can be hard, but it's never going to get any easier unless we walk into our local wine shops and say, "Hey, do you have any Chair-saggy Fooser-raish?" (You might want to write the name down before you leave your house in case the wine merchant wants you to spell it). Meanwhile, it's a good idea to scour the bottom shelves at places like Trader Joe's where all kinds of unusual varietals can lurk, or seek some out at online merchants. And then tell those merchants that you liked it (if you did) afterwards, so that they are encouraged to go out and find more.

This wine had something of a split personality, but that could be an advantage in this case. It was pale straw in color and had the most amazing aromas: flowers, honey, apples, lemons, peaches all were noticeable and recognizable. I thought at this point the wine was likely to be sweet and perhaps even syrupy. But on the palate this wine was bone dry, with striking crisp and tart granny smith apple, mineral, and lemon peel flavors. The only note that I felt was missing was the clove you should get with this grape. But for the price, and given the varietal characteristics that it did show, I still feel that this was excellent QPR.

What should you eat with your Woodsman's White? We had some grilled chicken apple sausages and potatoes with a salad because I wasn't sure how sweet this wine was and was being careful to pick something that would be fine regardless. And, these foods were indeed wonderful with the wine. But I think it would be great with traditional Hungarian chicken paprikas (June Meyer has a great recipe online for you to try) or other dishes that use sour cream like chicken stroganoff. It would also be good with asian stir-fries (nothing too spicy), or other food that is highly aromatic yet can handle a lean, unoaked wine.

Tiny Bubbles--2005 Contadino Pinot Grigio Frizzante

My partner is at a conference up north and I'm on my own tonight so I get to make whatever I want for dinner and drink something fun, fizzy, and not so alcoholic that I'm going to be asleep by 7:30. The answer came to me from JohnG's blog, quaffability. (I nicked this picture from his blog--thanks, JohnG.) JohnG's site specializes in wine that's mostly from Trader Joe's and mostly under $12. As he says on the site, "we taste it so you don't have to." Check it out!

The 2005 Contadino Pinot Grigio Frizzante is fun to drink and available in my area at Trader Joe's for a staggeringly low $3.99. Even though it was frizzante, it had strong varietal characteristics of Pinot Grigio. Given these characteristics, and its unbelievably low price, I'm going to say this is excellent QPR.

I certainly wasn' t expecting much going in. Most wines that are this inexpensive have no varietal characteristics whatsoever--you know, the chardonnays that taste like microwaved popcorn and the merlots that taste like some indefinable Red Fruit. The packaging didn't help. Why put a wrap on a screwcap, for God's sake? It was really chilled down, so I let it sit in the glass for just a bit while I started dinner. Its tiny bubbles and lightly sparkling texture was evident. Frizzante on the label was, lets face it, a bit alarming when I saw it in the store, conjuring up horrible memories of nasty spumante. But spumante is BIG bubbles while frizzante is technically "semi-sparkling" and, more to the point, small bubbles.

I took a few sips while I was getting another Jamie Oliver roasted fennel dish ready to pop in the oven and marinating the lemon-thyme chicken. It was very pale in the glass, and the aromas were subtle and appley. The flavors were stronger apple, with a hint of lemon blossom (more an impression than a strong citrusy flavor, which you get with most pinot grigio). It was perfectly easy (too easy?) to drink without food. With food, it was even better, holding up well to the salty olives and anise flavors of the fennel, and to the herbs and lemon on the chicken.

This wine is not sweet, and it is not "bubbly." It is very easy to drink, however. Buy a few bottles for the last picnic of the season, or to have at cocktails this weekend, or even to sip while the kids carve pumpkins for Halloween.