got bubbles?

What do these bottles have in common?

If you guessed BUBBLES you guessed correctly! And yes, festive and fun, but not necessarily expensive or only for special occasions, and yes these all make good partners for parties and dinner.

And NO they aren’t all Champagne because Champagne only comes from the Champagne region of France.

These bubbles, for example ARE Champagne…

Other regions of France also produce tasty bubbly beverages, among them Bordeaux, which is famous for red wines made from Cabernet and Merlot and white wines made from Sauvignon Bland and Semillon.

I wanted to include in the group photo a bottle of sparkling Vouvray from that region in France which is generally made from the Chenin Blanc grape. Last year I tasted through 10 Vouvray chenin blancs from Loire Valley and from the sec (dry) to semi-sec to the sparkling to the sweet.  Low alcohol content allows drinking these for a duration without feeling heady.  Body, complexity, acidity and flavor is great for the palate.  The ones we tasted were mostly under $20.

I found a still (well, effervescent) bottle of Vouvray at Bevmo but what I really want is the seriously sparkling version of Vouvray–

or, as I explained to the Bevmo employee, one that is so exciting it comes in a cage.

These bubbles in the next photo ARE NOT Champagne, but fine sparklers from Italy: Franciacorta offers incredible sparkling wines for the price (this one I got at BevMo on sale for $20–watch for more about this sparkling wine! or subscribe and you won’t miss out!) as well as the better known Prosecco (this one was provided as a sample). I threw in two bottles of Italian moscato because they have a delightful, festive effervescence that you should keep in mind for parties or Asian cuisine.

More and more wineries in the US are producing sparkling wine (but don’t call it CHAMPAGNE because it is not from there!) And of course I included some beer in the line-up above because beer has bubbles too!

beer has bubbles too!

Learn about bubbles of all kinds of the vino kind at tonight’s twitter tasting. AND be eligible to win a gift certificate! Details below:

THE PARTY DETAILS:

When: Thursday, December 19, at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST

Where: #BevMoBubbly on Twitter. Click here to join the party: http://twubs.com/BevMoBubbly

How to participate and be eligible for prizes:

1. RSVP at the bottom of this post by adding your Twitter handle and Twitter handle URL
2. Follow @BevMo and @EviteGatherings
3. Use the party hashtag #BevMoBubbly during the hour

PRIZES:

• One (1) winner will receive a $150 American Express gift card
• One (1) winner will receive a $100 American Express gift card
• Two (2) winners will receive a $50 American Express gift card

This giveaway is open to US residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected at random from eligible participants. VIEW OFFICIAL RULES.

Thanks to Wine Harlots for letting me know about this tasting!