Looking for affordable Bordeaux wines to share with friends and family for the holidays? How about an affordable sparkling wine from Bordeaux? Sparkling wine is made all over France in the Traditional Method, not just in the northern region of Champagne. Made anywhere else but Champagne, sparkling wine from France is called Crémant (French for creamy referencing the creamy bubbles), and while the Southeast has several well known examples, Bordeaux wineries make Crémant also– and it’s surprisingly affordable!
For your next gathering, consider clinking different by pairing bubbles from Bordeaux with a she crab bisque, a green salad, and a selection of gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. These two Crémant would also be wonderful wines for brunch.
Are you ready to explore the wine and cuisine of The Jura? An area near the French Alps east of Burgundy, adjacent to Italy and Germany, and where The Jura Mountains line the border between Switzerland and France, the word “Jura” derives from juria, a Latinized form of the Celtic jor meaning”forest”, and refers to the French department of Jura, the Swiss Canton of Jura, AND the geologic time period, the Jurassic— because this limestone strata was first identified in the Jura Mountains. With its waterfalls and walking trails, the mountainous scenic area is popular with hikers and skiers too. The distinctive wine and food of The Jura may be popular also but it may not be for everyone. Is it for you?
Bordeaux: white, red, rose– and it comes in sweet and sparkling too!
What’s new, different, or surprising about the venerable, distinguished and well known wine region Bordeaux?
As of July 2019, to combat climate change, Bordeaux wineries can use four new red grapes: Marselan, Touriga Nacional, Castets, and Arinarnoa.
New white grapes allowed in Bordeaux are Alvarinho, Petit Manseng, and Liliorila.
Bordeaux wines come in in a wide range of styles and colors: still, sparkling, sweet, white, rose, and red.
Bordeaux wines can be affordable! They don’t have to be red tannic monsters that break the bank.
Bordeaux’s diversity of wines means there’s one for every occasion and menu!
In fact for a special evening at home, you can enjoy a range of sweet, savory, and sparkling wines paired with a romantic menu and barely break a $20 bill.
What can make French wine confusing to newcomers is that often the name of the grape inside the bottle is nowhere to be found on the outside of the bottle.
That means to know what grapes are inside the bottle you have to know what is grown in the region named on the bottle.
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 