A smaller crowd than usual didn't stop us from polishing off 12 different bubblys. The first wine we opened, an inexpensive Italian prosecco, stole the show early -- charming, with more sophistication than its $11 price should permit, I'll be buying more of that one. Other bargains were an $18 rose from Alsace and a $14 chenin blanc bubbly from the Loire.
Otherwise, the "champagnes-from-Champagne" proved why they do it better than anyone else, and the 1996 vintage bottle brought by John Ashley was the consensus crowd favorite. The 1996 is no longer available at retail, sadly. But the others made a good case for reaching over the $30 mark for the "real thing." Every one we opened was good, IMHO, but the Perrier-Jouet is the bargain (on sale for $29 at D&M) and the Bollinger is the reliable "impress your friends" bottle ($35).
Most of these can be purchased at K&L Wines, on 4th St (www.klwines.com). Another great place to buy champagne in SF is D&M Liquors on Filmore St. (www.dandm.com).
***1. Silvano Follador Prosecco Valdobbiadene Extra Dry $10.99 -- AWESOME value! This is a direct import by K&L from the wine makers, so get it there while you can!
2. Allimant Laugner Cremant d'Alsace Rosé NV $17.99 -- lovely rose from Alsace, 100% pinot noir, with more heft that you expect from rose bubbly, and a good deal.
3. Sumarocca Brut Reserva Cava $9.99 -- Spain makes lovely, affordable bubbly called "cava" -- but this is NOT one of them. #1 blows it away for $1 more.
***4. Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut $28.99 -- the inexpensive offering from the house of the "flower bottle". Excellent, and a great bargain at under $30 on sale. For just a few dollars more, head and shoulders more interesting than your typical Veuve Cliquot yellow label or California sparkler.
5. Bollinger Special Cuvee $35.99 -- there is a reason so many champagne lovers are loyal to Bollinger, and this tells a good part of the story. This is the basic, nonvintage Bollinger bottle, and it was bright and lively, but balanced and sophisticated. A reliable choice when you're willing to spend $35 on a bottle of "real" champagne.
6. Tarlant Brut Zero Champagne $26.99 -- small producer in Champagne, with a more distinctive style than the "big house" styles of #4 and #5. I tasted a strong hint of grapefruit rind, almost like a NZ sauv blanc. Very nice.
***7. Gosset Grand Millesime 1996 ~$50 -- brought by the incomparable John Ashley, the consensus favorite of the evening, like a fine, complex wine that happens to have bubbles. So much more going on than the nonvintage Champagnes. If you can find this, buy it. Current vintage on shelves is the 1999, and runs about $65. No idea if it's as good as the 1996, tho.
8. Ariston Aspasie Brut Prestige Champagne $34.99 -- from a small producer, all 1998, even tho it's not marked as vintage. Excellent stuff, competes on equal footing with the Bollinger.
9. Gloria Ferrer Brut Sparkling Wine $14.99 -- unfair to ask this California sparkler to compete after the fancy Frenchies, but this is a nice, clean, reliable, inexpensive, widely-available choice. But #1, #2 and #12 had more character for about the same $$, showing why "the road less traveled" can be fun.
10. Cerdon de Bugey (methode ancestrale) Caveau de Mont St. July $14.99 -- a sweet rose (well, not dessert-wine-sweet), well-liked by the crowd, very pretty color, lovely happy fruit flavors, a good deal for something sophisticated and surprising to serve as an aperitif or with a dessert of fresh summer fruit.
11. Piper Heidsieck Brut NV Champagne $22.99 -- another reliable, widely available bottle from one of the big champagne houses. Very good, but not the measure of either #4 or #5 (but cheaper!).
12. Château du Hureau Saumur Sparkling $13.99 -- French, but not from Champagne, and made from 100% chenin blanc. Excellent value, very brisk, in a minerals-and-chalk style. Would be excellent with oysters!
