Let's Talk about Bubbles

I like bubbles. In my bath and in my glass. The trick is finding good bubbles. For your bath, you want lots of bubbles and you want them to hang around a long time. In your glass, you also want lots of bubbles but you want them to disappear quickly. I recommend Lush Bubble bars for your bath. But how about your glass?


The trick with bubbly is finding one that isn't going to send you to the bank for a second mortgage. I'm a big fan of Dom Perignon but I don't stock that as a house bubbly. So, what do I stock? I've gone through a few selections this year and I think I've found a winner. But let's start at the beginning.


In Italy, we love our bubbles. The aperitif of choice throughout Italy is Prosecco. This is a sparkling wine made from Prosecco grapes and the best come from an area in Northern Italy, near Venice, called Valdobbiadene. Because I am very familiar with this wine, I went in search of something different.

One bubbly I was introduced you by my friend's dad, was a BC sparkler by Sumac Ridge. It's called Stellar's Jay.


This is a really nice bubbly. It's very brut. And by that I mean dry. This one benefits from having snacks handy. Sparkling wines pair very well with fatty foods. The bubbles cut through the fat. That is why in Italy's Emilia Romagna region they drink Lambrusco. The bubbles from that wine cut through the fat of their local foods. So, if you're serving anything deep fried, bubbly is the way to go. There are two reason this did not become my house sparkler. The first, price. It's $26.99 a bottle. The second, it really does need food to accompany it. And sometimes, I don't serve food. For those of you that know me well, I realize you find this hard to believe, but it is true.

My next attempt at a house sparkler was Antech's Cremant De Limoux.

I really enjoyed this wine as well. This comes from the Languedoc Region of France. A wine may only be called Champagne if it comes from the Champagne region of France. Any sparkling wine from anywhere else has to be called differently. In Italy, we call it Spumante. In Spain, Cava. In Germany, Sekt. Most places just use Sparkling Wine. In the USA, they like American Champagne. So what is a sparkling French wine called if it isn't made in Champagne? Cremant. I was using this as a house sparkler for a while but once again, two things got in the way. The first, price. It's $24.99 a bottle. The second, it had a bit of a sweetness to it that initially wasn't bad but after a while became bothersome. This isn't a sweet wine but it just had a bit of a sweet aftertaste which for some might be very enjoyable but just not what I was looking for.

So, my quest continued. Like Arthur in search of the Grail, I moved bravely forward. Working my way through the forest of aisles in my local liquor store, side-stepping the free tastings of Malibu Rum and occasional free pizza offerings. And then there it was. Glowing from above, calling out over the din of Mike's Hard Lemonade buyers........

Bimbadgen Ridge Sparkling Semillon.

OK. Perhaps that was a tad too dramatic.

This bubbly has a really nice balance. I can serve it as an aperitif even if I don't have food, it's enjoyable to drink and.... the best part.... it won't kill your pocketbook. It lists for $16.99.

Price is always a factor. In fact, wines are often in rated in quality to price ratios. This one rates highly there. The thing is, we all know (if you don't you do now), that one glass of bubbly leads to another. So, if you have to supply multiple bottles, $28 a bottle is going to hurt. $17 won't sting so much.

So there you have it. I suggest you try them all as they are all very good wines. I'd love to hear from you with your thoughts when you try them.

Until then.........

Salute!