Get Bubbly!

Champagne Punch in New Orleans

2008-07-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

>

I just came back from Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, the Lollapalooza of serious bartending and spirits. I'm not sure how one captures everything that took place - the tastings, lectures,parties and general naughtiness - but here goes.

The opening night featured a reception by the Pernod Ricard brand Beefeater's Gin, one of the event's major. The party featured a super cool bar carved completely from ice. The list of cocktails on offer were embedded in the bar! I made my way up to the bar, and ran into Desmond Payne, the master distiller at Beefeater's He's been at it for 40 years, using a recipe for Beefeaters originally created by a pharmacist named Burroughs. He points out that of all the spirits, gin is the one that gets its flavors from the unique blend of botanicals created by the distiller.

Though the Burroughs punch looks pink and very innocent, it had a definite tart bite with a bittersweet finish. And punches seem to be getting fashionable again; Julie Reiner's new bar Clover Club in Brooklyn features cocktails served in bowls for a crowd.

Have a Fizzalicious Fourth!

2008-07-04T13:42:00.001-07:00

Hope your Fourth of July is a full of fun and fabulous explosions of laughter, fireworks and fizz!

The World's Most Luxurious Ham

2008-06-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

Whether it's prosciutto, serrano or country, ham is one of my favorite things to eat with bubbly. The crisp wine like cava is a perfect foil for the ham's richness. But there's ham and then there's jamon iberico, an unctuous, ultra-expensive Spanish ham that tastes of nuts.

The Food & Wine Classic at Aspen brought my first taste of jamon iberico a couple years ago. Chef Jose Andres was serving deep pink slivers with a smear of soft cheese on a Spanish flatbread. The chef confided that it wasn't available in the US yet, but that he'd brought over a couple legs himself.

It's finally available to the rest of us, now that the U.S. government decided that this ham was OK for import. Jamon iberico, which comes from a special black-haired hog, is still rather rare and pricey. Then there's the crema of the ham world: jamon iberico de bellota. The bellota means the hog ranged freely eating acorns and wild plants, which gives the meat a uniquely sweet and nutty flavor.

Shelling out $12 for 5 little dribbles of iberico at Cesar in Berkeley last week, I was a bit miffed. But the price came into perspective a couple days later at Dean & Deluca in St. Helena. After a funny double-take, I bought considerably less than a quarter pound and knew we'd savor every bite.

Sex & Cocktails

2008-06-04T16:04:00.000-07:00

If you're like half of the country (I'm talking the female half), you've probably seen the new Sex & The City movie this weekend or planning to go see it soon. It is long (2.5 hours) but was lots of fun, like an afternoon of catching up with some old girlfriends you haven't seen for a while named Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda. And I was glad to see Jennifer Hudson adding some color to the mix.

Not to give anything away, but their quintessential cocktail - The Cosmopolitan - makes an appearance again in a key scene or two.

I love Cosmos, but in the interest keeping things fresh and since I'm the Bubbly Girl, I created a new version that's more in line with current cocktail mixing trends. My Sparkling Watermelon Cosmo uses fresh watermelon juice (just toss it in the blender, puree and strain) and gin - the new white spirit - topped with bubbly, in this case Piper Sonoma Brut sparkling wine.

Enjoy!

Sparkling Watermelon Cosmo
Makes 1 cocktail
2 ounces cold sparkling wine or champagne
2 ounces fresh watermelon juice
1 ounce gin
1.5 ounces Alize Red Passion
Juice of 1/8 lemon
Lemon twist

Add cold bubbly to a martini glass. Add watermelon juice, gin, Alize Red Passion and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker and shake 30 times or until your hands are freezing. Strain into the martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

Buy This Book!

2008-05-14T19:28:00.001-07:00

I started wearing lipstick in 7th grade; by the time I was in college I was a connoisseur of luxurious, deep red lipsticks that set off my dark brown skin. Which brought me to Poppy, a cool line of matte lipsticks I found at Barney's New York. Little did I know the creator was a teen-ager from Australia.

Cut to several years later when I started working on a book on appreciating everything fabulous about sparkling wine and champagne. I planned to call it The Bubbly Girl's Guide, because I knew that loving champagne also went with personality traits like being daring, having a vision for your life and not letting naysayers get at you.

I wanted to include vignettes talking to Bubbly Girls about what inspires them, which brought me back to Poppy King. Now with a new line of lipsticks called Lipstick Queen, she shared some insights into her creativity and drive. She was absolutely one of my most fun interviews ever! Besides telling me she adored Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label, Ms. King said:

About being happy: It’s a conscious decision to participate in your own sense of the joy in life.

About success: “If you want to look for failure, you can find that everywhere, but … remember that all the success stories we see around started on an idea and a whim and a risk,” she said. “It all depends on your goggles you view the world with. If you put on your success goggles, you’ll see that too.”

Now you can learn the rest of her story and be inspired by her wise and witty insights in "Lessons of a Lipstick Queen" (Atria, $23) on sale now at Amazon.com.

There's nothing like a good book and a glass of bubbly to set the wheels of inspiration turning!

Tales from the Kripta

2008-03-16T23:42:00.000-07:00

My junior high Spanish didn't school me on "rayuela," the word for hopscotch. But it's in my vocabulary permanently after a visit to Rayuela, the Lower East Side restaurant that skips between different Latin cuisines to present an intriguing and delicious menu. Rayeula has attracted savvy celebs like Chris Noth, Mo Rocca, Amy Winehouse and sexy Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin, who celebrated a birthday there.

The restaurant is modern yet warm, done in pale woods, accented by candles in alcoves that recall a hopscotch pattern and a live olive tree imported from California that stretches toward a second story skylight.

Chef Maximo Tejada, who worked with Nuevo Latino padrino Douglas Rodriguez, calls his cooking "estilo libre" because its a modern, freestyle cuisine completely inspired by Latin styles of cooking and ingredients. We visited the Caribbean, Mexico, Spain and South America with dishes such as a silky ceviche with guanabana and lychee; guacamole spiked with crab, carica (Brazilian papaya) stuffed with duck confit and crab-stuffed piquillo peppers in a tantalizing cilantro allioli.

Oh, and I loved Coming up Roses, a subtle cocktail with rose nectar, lime and champagne created by mixologist Junior Merino. But I really got a kick out of a rare bottle of cava that sommelier and co-ower Hector Sanz pulled out of his stash. Kripta Gran Reserva, created by winemaker Agusti Torello, comes in a stunning amphora-shaped bottle. Sanz assures me that the wine inside the handmade bottle is equally amazing, perhaps the best cava ever created.

You don't have to worry about this wine ever losing its cachet; the only U.S. store I could find with any inventory has just four bottles. I did find a source though for Torello's high-end cava vinegar, made from the same grapes as his famous wines, but sour grapes just aren't quite the same thing.

Bubble Bath

2008-03-06T09:44:00.001-08:00

I'm in New York City this week, the capital of all things sparkling and fabulous. And am I ever enjoying the luxury of staying in a suite at the venerable St. Regis Hotel.

The room is done in beautiful shades of gold accented with pinstriped wall coverings, bombe chests and a secretary trimmed in brass scrolls, a marble fireplace and lots of chandeliers.

But the most decadent surprise awaited in the bath, where I found the menu for the signature Krug champagne baths. Just ring the butler (every floor has one) and he'll conjure up a rose petal bath with Krug Rose; a Maison du Chocolat and Krug Grande Cuvee bath; or the Ultimate with four ounces of Osetra caviar and a magnum of Krug definitely designed for sharing!

As the price tags for these baths range from $525 to $1650, you can always resort to B.Y.O.K.

Goldfinger! -- A Cocktail Recipe

2008-02-15T22:11:00.000-08:00

Sure V-day 2008 has come and gone, but romance is a 365-day-a-year pursuit, no?

Browsing on Splendora's "What To" Blog when I found a mention of The New InterCourses: an aphrodisiac cookbook by Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge. The book offers recipes using well-known aphrodisiacs like chocolate and oysters as welll as some lesser known functional foods such as artichokes, edible flowers, figs and even black beans.

Of course, this list would be incomplete without champagne. Here it comes in a honey and Cognac cocktail called Goldfinger.
Cheers!

Valentine's Goodie Recipes

2008-02-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

So you want to make a Valentine's Day dinner for your sweetie. I don't blame you for wanting to stay in and have an intimate evening instead of being stuck at some restaurant with strangers. Here are a few tips for stress-free entertaining:

Create atmosphere with unscented candles, flowers and mood music or a movie in the background.

Keep it light (nobody wants to be too full later in the evening).

Finger foods are fun and sexy.

Create a sensual menu with different tastes and textures.

Here are some foolproof recipes for easy, impressive and romantic foods.

The menu: Ravishing Rose Cocktail
Smoked Salmon Chips with Creme Fraiche and Chives
Panna Cotta with Rasperries
Best Chocolate Cupcakes Ever

A pink cocktail is a must for Valentine's and I can't think of anything more romantic than the flavor of roses. It's just an added bonus that rose water is prized for its calming and aphrodisiac qualities.

If you want to take the V-Day theme further, make raspberry ice cubes by taking a small heart-shaped mold and filling it with a combination of strained raspberry puree, water and a splash of raspberry liqueur or Alize Red Passion; freeze overnight.

Ravishing Rose Cocktail

2 ounces Sence Bulgarian Rose Essence (at Whole Foods & BevMo)
1 tablespoon raspberry puree
3 ounces chilled brut sparkling wine, like Sofia

Add the rose essence and raspberry puree to a champagne flute. Top off with chilled brut sparkling wine or champagne. Garnish with a fresh raspberry or a heart-shaped raspberry ice cube.

Whether its a cocktail party or dinner, I love making a meal out of finger foods and appetizers. Smoked salmon and potato pancakes is great, but the pancakes can be a bother. This potato chip version will be one of your favorite party appetizers; just be sure to use good quality wild smoked salmon that's not too salty.

Smoked Salmon Chips with Creme Fraiche and Chives
12 large natural-style ridged potato chips (use the kind for dipping)
12 one-inch by 1-1/2 inch squares of smoked wild salmon
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream
fresh chives, snipped into little pieces

Select your 12 perfect chips and lay them out on a platter. Fold over a piece of smoked salmon and place on top of a chip. Top with a dab of creme fraiche if using or sour cream and a few pieces of chives. Repeat with the remaining chips. Eat immediately or they'll keep in the fridge for an hour or two.

Suggested Bubbly Pairing: Iron Horse Wedding Cuvee (hint, hint)

I love the creamy and delicate Italian dessert panna cotta, which means cooked cream. It's like a creme brulee without the crunchy topping and truly the easiest thing ever. This recipe is from Mark Bittman's classic "How to Cook Everything" (Macmillan, 1998) and it always works. Garnish with fresh raspberries, or make a compote of raspberries, blueberries and a splash of your favorite liqueur heated gently in a saucepan or the microwave.

Panna Cotta
1 cup milk
1 (1/4 ounce) package unflavored gelatin
1 vanilla bean
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
Assorted berries or a mixed berry sauce

Pour 1/2 cup milk in a medium saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let sit for 5 minutes so gelatin blooms or puffs up slightly. Turn heat to low and cook, stirring until the gelatin dissolves completely.

Cut the vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Scrape out the black seeds; add seeds and pods to the pot along with the rest of the milk, cream and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until steam rises from the pot. Turn off heat, cover and let steep for 15 to 30 minutes.

Remove the vanilla pod, and pour the mixture into six custard cups or little bowls. Chill until set, about 2 hours. Serve in the cups or dip cups in hot water for 10 seconds, loosen the edge with the tip of a knife and invert onto dessert plates. Serve the same day with berries or sauce if you like.

Suggested bubbly pairing: Nivole Moscato d'Asti

For most people, any kind of chocolate is irresistable on Valentine's Day, but for me it has to be bittersweet and baked into a moist little cake. Adapted from a Nancy Silverton recipe, these decadent cupcakes studded with dark chocolate fill the bill.

Best Ever Chocolate Cupcakes
Makes 12 large cupcakes or 48 mini ones

1 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
One 1/4 ounce package dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
1-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted and cooled, plus extr for greasing pan
5 eggs
1-1/3 cups coarsely chopped bittersweet chocolate
powdered sugar

Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar over yeast in a small mixing bowl. Pour lukewarm water over sugar and yeast. Let sit until yeast softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup flour and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Sift together cocoa powder, remaining 1 cup sugar and remaining 3/4 cup flour. Make a large well in the center of te dry ingredients and pour in butter, eggs and yeast mixture. Whisk together liquids and gradually incorporate the dry ingredients. Keep whisking until everything is thoroughly mixed. Stir in chopped chocolate.

Spoon batter into muffin tins that have been lightly greased with melted butter, filling to the rim. Bake at 375 on middle rack until cakes are firm to touch, 18 to 20 minutes for regular size or 7 to 8 minutes for minis. Dust with powdered sugar while warm and serve right away, though these keep very well for a few days in an airtight container. To make a chocolate ganache frosting, place 4 ounces chopped chocolate and 1/4 cup heavy cream in a Pyrex cup. Microwave on medium until the chocolate starts to lose its form. Whisk together into frosting.

Suggested bubbly pairing: Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui

Fancy Food Show Finds

2008-01-31T23:18:00.000-08:00

Twice a year, foodies, restaurateurs and gourmet store owners flock to the Fancy Food Show to find the latest new food and beverages products. For the first time, the winter show was held in San Diego, bringing 14,000 foodies and lots of new trends from around the world.

With sparkling cocktails on the brain as always, here were some of my favorite finds:
Golden Star Tea a white jasmine tea with a slight sparkle, Golden Star Tea is presented as a adult beverage for someone who doesn't want alcohol. I found its fragrant aroma and taste and slight fizz enchanting. The owners say in March it will be available in New York, LA, San Francisco and on their website.

Bulgarian roses - the most prized in the world for their delicious fragrance - go into making Sence Rare European Rose Nectar that has a subtle flavor that combines rose with with a hint of citrus. The fact that the curvy glass flacon resembles a perfume bottle doesn't hurt. I'll be using it to make a sparkling Valentine's Day cocktail for NBC San Diego on Feb 11.

Rocca dei Forte is an Italian range of wines by Togni SpA that offers spumante - aka sparkling wine - from several major regions of Italy. Their new affordable line launching in the US this spring includes four offerings: Prosecco, Brachetto, Asti and Verdicchio. Each has a dark bottle with a bright capitol letter on front corresponding to the name of the wine. The biggest revelation was the Spumante Verdicchio, a light and crisp wine primarily made in the Marches with hints of nuts and warm spices. It's a very imformative web site as well -- assuming you speak Italian.

Let Freedom Ring

2008-01-21T08:26:00.000-08:00

I wasn't able to make it to the Martin Luther King Champagne Brunch in Jackson, Miss. this morning, but I'll still be celebrating this amazing man's legacy in my own way. I definitely believe that I wouldn't be me, doing the things I'm doing today, had it not been for the Civil Rights Movement that Dr. King energized in the early 1960s.

And as a writer, I've always admired the way he delivered speeches so that it felt like his powerful words were cascading over you. I'm glad video footage of the historic "I Have a Dream" speech delivered on Aug. 28 1963 during the March on Washington still lives. These are two of my favorite alliterative passages:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will they be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood."

If you're off today, don't miss The Dream Lives: A Martin Luther King Day Special on Oprah. My friend, the super-smart and bubbly Janet Lee, is one of the producers who worked really hard on this show, so I know it will be meaningful and moving.

What to Drink with Bubbly

2008-01-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Saturday night I went over to my friend Janye and Richard's for a dinner party. Even though it was last minute, I decided to whip up some Parmesan Mashed Potatoes from Cook's Country magazine. It's a basic Yukon Gold mashed potato recipe kicked up with Parmigiano-Reggiano and Asiago.

They're so delicious, the first time I made them, I got a marriage proposal ... from a 23-year-old. I was jonesing for them again the next morning. So last night's mashed potatoes became potato patties, carefully browned in a little olive oil in a cast iron skillet. They were the perfect base for smoked salmon, garnished with creme fraiche and some chives snipped from the rain-soaked garden.

The richness of the salmon, and the beautiful pinky color were calling out for rose, so I answered by opening a bottle of Blason de Bourgogne Cremant de Bourgogne Cuvee Rose Brut one of my $10 favorites from Trader Joe's. Yes, it is a mouthful, fortunately with hints of red currant, raspberry and refreshing acidity.

Happy B-day to Us!

2008-01-03T12:11:00.000-08:00

Not that I celebrate it or anything, but I wanted to send a b-day shout out to my pal Jeff, the regional director for the fabulous Champagne Henriot. We met at a wine dinner at Addison at the Grand Del Mar last year and discovered that not only did we share a love of bubbly, but that we were both born on January 3 in the same year. (No, I didn't say what year.)

It turns out Jan. 3 was also an auspicious day for the champagne house now known as Veuve Clicquot. That was the day in 1772, when the ambitious young Philippe Clicquot first placed an ad in the Gazette de France announcing the launch of a little wine business under the Clicquot name. The czars of Russia loved the stuff, and they've been golden ever since.

Other cool happenings on Jan. 3 according to the site www.history.com :
1841 Herman Melville headed to the South Seas
1987 Aretha Frankling inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1990 The last daily Peanuts comic strip is published
1999 Chicago and the Midwest digs out from the Great Blizzard

And on this day in 2007, the erudite food scientist Harold McGee wrote a Curious Cook column for the New York Times on whether any good can come from mixing absinthe and champagne. It's a cocktail known as "Death in the Afternoon" that Ernest Hemingway conributed to a book of celebrity potions published in 1935.

I stuck to Prosecco during my delicious lunch at Cafe Chloe, but now that absinthe is again legal in the U.S. perhaps I'll have to sample Hemingway's tipple next January 3.

Last Minute Bubbly Cocktail Party

2007-12-31T09:58:00.000-08:00

Sure it's the 11th hour for New Year's Eve celebrations, but don't we all entertain that way these days?

This morning on San Diego's NBC 7/39, I did a live segment on how to create a fun interactive bubbly cocktail party with elements from your local grocery store. I actually spent about 30 minutes at Trader Joe's, picking up all the elements. The idea is to put together several complementary flavors of mixers and garnishes and let guests make their own drinks. Be sure to set out a shot glass so people know what they're doing!

Start by frosting the glasses with lemon sugar.

Add 1 ounce liqueur like:
Cointreau or Grand Marnier
St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur or Lychee Vodka
Chambord or Raspberry Eau de Vie

Add 3 ounces of a fruity mixer:
Lemonade Concentrate at double strength
Tangerine Juice
Sparkling Cranberry Juice

Top off with 2 to 3 ounces favorite brut bubbly: Chandon Brut Classic
Fantinel Prosecco
Segura Viudas Aria Brut Cava

Garnish with assorted fruits and herbs:
Raspberries
Currants
Blueberries
Tangerine
Mint
Rosemary
Thyme

Cheers and have a safe New Year's Eve!

Coupe Comeback

2007-11-03T00:27:00.000-07:00

It seemed in poor taste to be prattling on about champagne while half of San Diego County, where I live, was on fire. But now that most of the fire threat has passed, bring on the bubbly!

It seems that old-school champagne glasses, either called coupes or saucers, are making a comeback. Articles in both Food & Wine and the egalitarian Family Circle have touted the return of this retro style of glass. Uber-designer Marc Jacobs is leading the way, with his collections of crystal glasses for Waterford. Two of the designs I liked best -- the Elizabeth and the Irene -- were out of stock, though the Colette with its graceful swirl was available for $59.50 a stem.

The couple fell out of favor because its shallowness makes the bubbles in champagne disspate quickly. And like the martini glass, it's easy to wind up with half your drink on the floor.

Then again, as this Orrefors shot shows, the coupe is a beautifully simple shape, that has a feminine grace to it, as opposed to the tall champagne flute, which is definitely masculine. Though girly, snopes.com says its quite unlikely that the coupe was modeled after the breast of either Marie Antoinette or Madame Pompadour, as legend goes.

One tittilating tale they don't disprove is the one about the prospective dancers for the Folies Bergere. The story goes that dancers whose breasts fit inside the glass had a shot of making the topless revue, those who overflowed were out of luck.

The Bold & The Beautiful: Take the Class

2007-10-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

I still remember my surprise at tasting Krug Champagne for the first time. It was exceedingly elegant, but at the same time offered richness of flavor and power that I'd never expected to find in a champagne glass. Or at least I didn't until I tasted sparkling shiraz from Australia.

If you're interested in exploring the gutsier side of champagne and sparkling wine, then come visit my class "The Bold & The Beautiful" at the upcoming San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival. I'll be exploring some of my favorite intensely flavored sparkling wines and champagnes and pairing them with some deliciously unexpected foods.

Here are the details:
What: The Bold & The Beautiful
Time: Noon to 1 p.m.
Date: Thursday Nov. 15
Place: San Diego Wine & Culinary Center
200 Harbor Drive (between 1st & 2nd)
Cost: $45 per ticket

Only in Vegas

2007-09-11T12:33:00.000-07:00

Apparently Laker star Kobe Bryant took conspicuous consumption to a whole new level recently at the glitzy premiere of the nightclub Blush in the Wynn Las Vegas Resort.

According to a report on Blackvoices.com, Bryant noticed celeb poker player Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari order two bottles of Roederer's Cristal at $1,400 a pop.

Not to be outdone, Bryant ordered five bottles for himself and his wife Vanessa.

Esfandiari upped his ordered to 10.

Bryant ended the champagne shoot-out by ordering 15 bottles and then leaving the club.

I just wanna know who drank the $21,000 in bubbly the Bryants left behind??

P.S. In case you're wondering there's a hefty nightclub markup on Cristal. It's selling for a bargain price of $250 at BevMo.com

The Bubbly Bachelorette

2007-08-27T23:23:00.000-07:00

I've always loved Forbes.com's listing of the best and most expensive champagnes each year, but now I have a whole new appreciation for web site. Apparently the clever editors at Forbes.com have decided that a woman who loves bubbly and knows her way around a restaurant menu is pretty date-able. Still, imagine my surprise at being named San Diego's most Eligible Bachelorette!

San Diego was ranked as the nation's seventh best city for singles in Forbes.com's annual State of the Singletons report (my title, not theirs.)

It's pretty flattering, but then again once I learned it was online, I've panicked every time my office phone rings and there's an unfamiliar male voice on the other end.

Good Karma

2007-08-12T16:32:00.000-07:00

I was more than a little curious when I heard that a guy from San Diego had launched his own brand of sparkling wine. Patrick Wilson says he wanted to create a sparkling wine people could enjoy every day. I'm guessing he called it Karma since people associate it with the word "good."

Karma comes in a 187ml single serving bottles. It debuts at Elle Magazine's Style 360 Lounge during New York Fashion Week and goes on sale in nationally this month. But being the Bubbly Girl, I was able to get a preview.

Karma has a distinctive peach and melon aroma and flavor, which is what I expected since it's made from chenin blanc grapes from California's Central Coast. I like the taste, but for my palate, it's too fizzy -- a hallmark of a carbonated wine.

Since it's so bubbly on its own, I thought Karma would be perfect mixer in a sparkling cocktail. Here's my first effort:

Golden Karma
Makes 1 cocktail

2 ounces Canadian Club Whiskey
1 tablespoon orange marmalade
juice of 1/4 lemon
2 to 3 ounces Karma sparkling wine

Add whiskey, marmalade and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until well chilled. Strain into a martini glass. Top off with sparkling wine.

What Champagne Do Master Sommeliers Drink?

2007-08-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

I have a new little piece of jewelry: a red and silver pin from the Court of Master Sommeliers. I picked it up recently after 55 other wine lovers and I passed the introductory exam given at Tavern on the Green in New York City.

Fred Dexheimer, Brian Koziol, Laura Williamson and "dean" Wayne Belding - Master Sommeliers who know a frightful amount about wine - spent two days giving a whirlwind lecture on every major wine region in the world. We tasted 22 wines, evaluating them aloud on sight, aroma and taste in order to conclude what kind of wine it was, where it was made and when.

Ultimately, the test was easy, but at the same time, it wasn't in that it got rather detailed on points like villages in the Cru Beaujolais. At 4 p.m. we gathered in suspense, waiting for our names to be called, and knowing that not everyone passed.

Anticipating a celebration, the MSs served Joel Falmet, a grower champagne that I'd never tasted before. It's a well-regarded champagne made in limited quantities that wind up at restaurants or shops in NYC, such as Harlem Vintage., where the brut sells for $29.99. I'm including a picture of the label, courtesy of Pamala Baur, in case you ever spot it on a wine list.

Fortunately, my name was one of the first called! Did I ever savor the crisp, green apple taste of that champagne!

Then classmates Jason, Jennie, Kerianne, Gilat (high scorer on our test) and I strolled down Central Park West to Jean-Georges, where we celebrated, decompressed and laughed over a bottle of Duval-Leroy Rose.

Questions: Sulfites and Booze in Bubbly

2007-08-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

A curious Bubbly Girl named Thelma wrote to me wondering about the amount of alcohol in a bottle of champagne and sulfites in wine. Since I had to do a bit of research, I figured I'd share it with the rest of you.

First, it's probably safe to remember that all 750 ml or 25 or so ounces in a bottle of bubbly contain alcohol. But it's true that 4 ounces of champagne aren't nearly as potent as 4 ounces of Cognac.

According to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, one 5-ounce glass of wine has the same amount of alcohol as 1.5 ounces of vodka or 12 ounces of beer. Doing the math, one bottle of champagne has the equivalent alcohol as drinking 7.5 ounces of hard liquor.

But when drinking bubbly you can't forget about the carbonation. Not only do those tiny bubbles tickle your nose; they also speed the alcohol into your system, giving it a more potent effect than the equivalent amount of still wine or vodka.

Moving on... sulfites are these naturally occurring substances, often found in small amounts in wine and beer as a natural byproduct of fermentation. They're also added to many foods like shrimp, frozen potatoes, dried fruit and wine, because they're a great preservative. The Food and Drug Administration estimates that added sulfites make 1 in 100 people itchy, short of breath or worse.

If added sulfites in wine are a concern, you may want to look into wines made with organic or biodynamic processes, and often minimal amounts of added sulfites. I'm not sure its possible to make sparklers sans sulfites, but a couple responsible producers include Albet i Noya in Spain, which makes an organic cava called Cava Can Vendrell and Fleury, the first champagne maker to go biodynamic in 1989.

Tasting Parties Part 1: Chocolate

2007-07-20T04:59:00.000-07:00

I'm gearing up for another segment on KNSD 7/39 this morning -- but at least I can get some sleep since it's for Streetside San Diego, which starts at 10 a.m.

The topic du jour is tasting parties -- a great way to combine fun with a little education. Tasting parties are about exploring one single food or drink and getting to know how its flavor changes depending on how or where it's made. The goal is finding what appeals to your palate.

I presented ideas for a chocolate tasting party, which can be done with chocolates made with different percentages of cocoa, which the range of Scharffen Berger Chocolates shows wonderfully. The line goes from a 41 percent cocoa milk chocolate to an 82 percent cocoa dark chocolate.

Then there's the Lake Champlain Select Origin chocolates, which show the differences between chocolates sourced from Tanzania, Sao Thome (an island off Africa) and Grenada.

Or if you want someone else to do the work for you, pick up an assortment of chocolate desserts from the best bakery in town. Michele Coulon Dessertier in La Jolla makes a range of mini choclate desserts from white chocolate and passion fruit tartlets to chocolate truffle cake to mini cheese cakes to bittersweet chocolate and cherry cake.

The chocolate theme inspired me to make up a fizzy chocolate cocktail, that recalls the old-fashion ice cream sodas my mom made working at College Pharmacy in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It goes upscale with in a champagne glass and sipped through a Christofle silver champagne straw. I know, the sake sounds weird, but trust me!

Chocolate Sake Soda

This would be divine with a bittersweet chocolate ganache as its base, but if you don't feel like making that, Hershey's chocolate syrup works just fine.

1 tablespoon chocolate ganache or syrup
1 ounce Kahlua coffee liqueur
4 to 5 ounces Zipang sparkling sake, chilled
1 tablespoon vanilla ice cream

Add chocolate ganache or syrup to a champagne flute. Next add the Kahlua and stir lightly to combine. Slowly add the sparkling sake, so it doesn't fizz over your glass. When the bubbles subside a bit, add the vanilla ice cream. Serve immediately.

Recipe by Maria Hunt "The Bubbly Girl" All rights reserved.

Summer White Wines

2007-07-15T22:11:00.000-07:00

Sure I'm the Bubbly Girl, but you didn't think that meant I always drink wine with bubbles? You did? Oh, well sorry to burst your bubble.

Actualy I enjoy a range of well-made wines from all over the world, carbonated and otherwise.

Last Thursday, I shared some of my favorite Summer White Wines on this segment on the KNSD 7/39 morning show -- at 6:45 a.m.!

Since it's hot outside, summer is the time to drink wines that are both light on the alcohol (less than 14 percent) and high in acid, which makes your mouth water.

Here's the list of wines that I presented, along with some Super Sips.

Albarino -- A racy white wine from Rias Baixas region of Spain, albarin~o has flavors of ginger lime and kiwi. It's great with seafood, especially scallops.
Mar de Frades Albarin~o 2005, 16.99 at BevMo

Riesling -- This elegant and electric wine is best made in Germany, where it picks up flavors of peach, lime and minerals. Try it with sushi, sashimi or spicy Asian food.
Zilliken Riesling Butterfly 2005, $16.99 at BevMo
Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling Eroica 2006, $19.99 BevMo

Chenin Blanc -- This lush and refreshing wine is well known in France, where its made into fruity Vouvray, but they're also great from cool areas of California. Tasting of melons and honey, chenin blanc excels with rich seafood like lobster or grilled chicken.
Husch Chenin Blanc, $8.99 at BevMo
Francois Pinon Vouvray 2005, $16.99 at BevMo

Sauvignon Blanc - This is a clean tasting wine, classically made into Sancerre in France, but well-crafted all over the world, especialy in New Zealand. Its herbal and grapefruit flavors make it great with goat cheese and hard- to-pair veggies like asparagus.
Pastou Sancerre Cotes de Sury, $18.99 at BevMo
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2006, $13.99 at BevMo

Prosecco -- This crisp and fresh tasting grape grows best in the soaring hills east of Venice, Italy. With flavors of green apple and citrus, this gently sparkling wine is ideal with prosciutto ham and cheeses.
Fantinel Prosecco, $9.99 at BevMax
Zardetto Prosecco, $12.99 at BevMo

Charmat, I'm Sure

2007-07-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

Even though it's been a part of winemaking since the early 1900s, it took the Oxford English Dictionary nearly 100 years to add the word "Charmat" (shar-MOTT) to its esteemed list of official words.

As you lovers of bubbly may know, the Charmat process is one of the common ways that still wine is transformed into bubbly. Also known as the tank or bulk method, it was invented somewhere between 1907 and 1910 by a Frenchman named Eugene Charmat.

Wine is added to a temperature-controlled tank like the one above, along with some yeast and sugar. The tank is then closed. The yeast and sugar start to ferment, which causes CO2 gas to be released into the wine.

Charmat is faster and less expensive than methode champenoise and is also best for preserving delicate aromas and flavors found in some grapes. It makes wine with fewer bubbles than champagne.

So next time you enjoy a glass of Prosecco or Moscato d'Asti, be sure to toast Mr. Charmat.

Lemon Sparkler -- Happy 4th of July

2007-06-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

I've already dug my sparklers out for the Fourth of July - both the kind you light with a match and the ones that have corks. It should be hot, but what better way to cool off than with a crisp, lemony cocktail made with a splash of sparkling wine.

This Lemon Sparkler recipe comes from the folks at Barefoot Bubbly, a line of affordable, sip-by-the-pool wines that's part of the E & J Gallo empire. The lemon flavor comes from limoncello, a bittersweet lemon liqueur that's a traditional digestif all over Italy, but especially in the south.

Lemon Sparkler
1 1/2 oz limoncello

1 1/2 oz fresh sour mix

3 oz Barefoot Bubbly Brut Cuvée

Lemon twist

Fresh mint leaves

Directions: Combine the limoncello and sour mix in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into chilled martini glass. Top off with Barefoot Bubbly. Garnish with a long lemon twist & mint sprig.

If you don't get your fill during the day, The Winesellar & Brasserie, a well-stocked wine shop and restaurant in the Miramar area, is hosting a tasting called Champagne and Friends from 5 to 7 p.m. on the 4th. The exact wines are a secret, but judging from their ad, you can count on tasting something made by Gruet, a fine French style sparkling wine house based in New Mexico.