Champagne

35th Boston Food & Wine Festival makes a splash

35th Boston Food & Wine Festival makes a splash

Posted on by Pat and David
Forgive us for writing a little late in the day. We were out late last night cavorting with several hundred wine lovers at the Boston Harbor Hotel (70 Rowes Wharf, Boston; 617-748-1878, bostonharborhotel.com). We were all attending the gala launch of the Boston Food & Wine Festival. Veuve Cliquot bubbles greeted us at the VIP reception in the hotel's luxurious John Adams Presidential Suite for opening remarks by hotel manager Stephen Johnston. A small selection of reserve Bordeaux and Burgundies poured by Gordon's Fine Wine & Liquors (gordonswine.com) (above) paired with another table representing a broad selection of mostly California wines. Those were just the aperitifs. The hotel has a spectacular location on Rowes Wharf, and the ballrooom-sized Wharf Room makes the most of the...Read More
May your New Year bubble over with joy!

May your New Year bubble over with joy!

Posted on by Pat and David
Popping open a bottle of sparkling wine seems like an occasion in itself. But when we perused our Google Photos feed with the search term ‶champagne,″ we were reminded of occasion after occasion of good times, good food, good drink, and good company. See the photo montage for a taste of cava, crémant, Champagne, Prosecco, or just plain sparkling wine. Cheers! Prost! Salud!
Gruet sparkling wines just keep getting better

Gruet sparkling wines just keep getting better

Posted on by Pat and David
We've been drinking Gruet wines for about 25 years now, and we hope to keep drinking them another 25. That would be something to celebrate—which is appropriate for an American winery that produces sparkling wines that rival good Champagne. Quality can always be had at a premium price, but entry-level Gruet Brut starts at $15. That's hard to beat, even if you step down to bulk-process California sparklers. The top of the line—a grand rosé that sits three years on the lees—is only $39. (Those are winery prices.) When we're in Gruet country, we always try to stop at the Albuquerque tasting room (8400 Pan American Freeway NE, Albuquerque; (505) 821-0055, gruetwinery.com). For one thing, this space has the full line of Gruet wines, including...Read More

Doyle shows Irish hospitality, sip by sip in London

Posted on by Pat
Nothing says “welcome” like a good hotel bar. I certainly found that to be the case at the three Doyle hotels (www.doylecollection.com) in London. (That's the Bloomsbury Club Bar above.) The family-owned collection launched in Dublin in 1964 and made its first foray into the British capital twenty years later. The Marylebone The Marylebone (47 Welbeck Street, +44 20 7486 6600) was the first Doyle property in London, but a recent renovation has given it the most contemporary design of the three hotels. The clean lines and bright, warm colors strike a perfect balance between modern style and good old-fashioned comfort. The Marylebone's 108 Bar has an entrance right off the sidewalk. It's just a short walk from Marylebone High Street, the main shopping drag...Read More

Drinks rival meals during Lexus Gran Fondo

Posted on by Pat and David
As wine and Champagne flowed throughout the weekend of the Lexus Gran Fondo, summer cocktails on the lawns stole the spotlight. For the opening night lawn picnic, the Chatham Bars Inn concocted a pair of perfect summer drinks. The flute (above) contains a Beach Plum Royale. Ingredients include orange simple syrup and a dose of beach plum liqueur. The hotel staff makes the liqueur when beach plums are in season, They lay down the liqueur to age and use it throughout the year. A generous pour of Veuve Clicquot Brut tops the glass. Bubbles buoy up a thin rim of orange peel, keeping it in suspension halfway up the glass. The deep goblet holds a spectacular ginger-infused version of Sangría. Lillet Rosé forms the base....Read More

And the winning Champagne is…

Posted on by Pat and David
What was our best bubbly of 2015? We've been fortunate this year to enjoy some spectacular sparkling wines, from a range of proseccos to an elegant pink Franciacorta to several cavas and crémants that we simply drank without taking notes or photographs. (Even wine and food writers are entitled to a day off.) But the champagnes of Barons de Rothschild (www.champagne-bdr.com) really took us through the seasons. We started off in warm weather with the non-vintage brut, which is the company's anchor champagne. It's blended with 60 percent chardonnay (mainly grand crus in the Côte des Blancs) and 40 percent pinot noir (principally from the villages of Verzenay, Ay, Mareuil-sur-Ay, and Bouzy). It has a Rumpelstiltskin straw-gold color, a faintly yeasty aroma, and fine and...Read More