I love this time of the year. Nothing says the holidays quite like sitting down with family and friends sharing good food and of course great wine. I also love it because this is the time of year where Sparkling wine really gets a spotlight.
There are many great sparkling wines available from the wineries in Ontario. My first two picks are done in a style to parallel Champagne (which comes ONLY from France). They are a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. I recommend that you hold either one of these up to a comparably priced French Sparkling wine to see how good they really are.
Trius Brut – LCBO 215913 – $24.95 – You don’t need to take my word for it that this is a great wine. The Trius Brut has and continues to win award after award. The great news about this wine is that it is easily found in most LCBO’s.
Chateau des Charmes Brut – LCBO 224766 – $22.95 – This is my favorite Ontario Sparkling. It is a little harder to find, but definitely worth seeking out.
Both of these wines are great on their own, but one thing I love to do is to mix some of these wines with a bit of Ice Wine or Late Harvest. All you need to do is put a bit of ice wine in the bottom of a Champagne flute and pour the Sparkling Wine over it. I really like serving Ice Wine this way, especially for people who say that Ice Wine is too sweet for them. Both of these wines are very dry so they are a perfect accompaniment to your Christmas Turkey or Ham.
And now for something completely different. I have a couple of great Rosé Sparkling wines that would make an excellent addition to your Christmas party at home. To steal a line from Michael Fagan of the LCBO, these are not “candied fruit bombs”, this has been a great year from Rosé in Ontario these wines are no exception.
Konzelmann Sparkling Rosé – LCBO 184176 – $16.20 – This is a full bodied Rosé with a bit of a spicy finish (the bubbles help accent this). This wine has a little bit of sweetness on the finish but has just enough acidity so it doesn’t leave you with a syrupy feeling in the mouth. With flavours of Cranberry and Cherry this will pair nicely with Turkey, Chicken or even Ham. Because it does linger on the finish I would recommend against pairing this with a heavy red meat dish.
Chateau des Charmes Brut Rosé – VINTAGES 78055 – $28.95 – Still very reasonably priced below the $30.00 mark you get a very dry seeming Sparkling wine (it’s rated at a 2 on the sugar scale, but has a nice acidity to balance this out). With strong flavours of Strawberry this will pair easily with your Christmas meal as well … but why would you want to? Drink this one on its own to celebrate the New Year.
