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Beyond the great houses: Grower Champagne in the fields
Agrapart Les 7 Crus 1er Cru Blanc de Blanc ($34.99)
Forget for a moment, the Doms, the great ladies and the chandelier bottles of the tetes de cuvee. The true marque of the Champagne connoisseur is the label of a small artisanal grower not a big house with a steady style and heady marketing. Independent growers tend smaller, precise plots of Chardonnay and Pinot, blended and bottled according to their own taste and terroir, not house wishes.
Mind you these are pure Champagne, from the right grapes and the delimited area of the cold chalky north, yet they have personal style, purity and freshness that delivers more excitement for the money than label status. The flavors range from brisk and mineral to creamy and opulent, just like the big boys. Grower prices are great value too: Even vintage bubbly and old-vine Mesnil can be half the show-off bottles. Production is limited but B-21 has wise buys from favorite growers like Agrapart, Egly-Ouriet and Saint-Chamant.
Ranger Rhett’s warning: “Chill out.”
“Keep it cold, very cold”, B-21’s Rhett Beiletti warns this holiday season. He’s insistent on this, “The bottle should be burn cold to the touch.”
How to get that cold?
1. After 3 hours on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator place in the freezer for another 20 minutes before opening.
2. Take time to make a bucket with 2/3 ice and 1/3 water to keep completely chilled.
“It is an action that will be completely rewarded. Sante,” Rhett says.
Brrr, and don’t forget to put out the fire before going to bed.
Keg o’my heart, forgive me
Foolish fogey that I am, my holiday party advice discouraged caroling with kegs. I presumed that most of us and our guests no longer had the… um…spirit to kill a keg . But what’s 160 to 170 glasses among friends and B-21’s got a cooler full of kegs ready to fill that thirst.
Indeed these are not your fraternity brother’s kegs or the hosers who lived under your first apartment. Kegs have joined the beer revolution with boutique beers and imports on draft in your own home or backyard. Look at the some of what’s on today’s keg list: Heineken, Amber Bock, Killian’s Sam Adams, Blue Moon, Pilsner Urquell, and Yuengling (now our hometown brew). Even Labatt’s Blue for Bob and Doug MacKenzie. For me, it’s a choice between Newcastle Brown Ale and Shiner Bock, but since this is Shiner’s centennial year, I’ll go with some boot-scootin’ Texas smooth.
Just ring the keg line at 727-722-9100 to find out keg prices. There’s still a deposit for the keg and the whole set-up of you need one, but one thing’s changed, you don’t have to get the keg back the morning after.
Btw, if you’ve got the stout-hearted friends, B-21 can special order Guinness by the keg too.
Party on, dudes.
Spain loves bubbly too!
Cristalino Brut Cava
Great bubbly doesn’t always have to come from France! Its Spanish neighbor offers many great sparkling wines that are affordable bubblies for entertaining during the holidays. It’s always good to have a bubbly on hand. If your holidays are anything like mine, you will find your doorbell ringing and a group of unexpected relatives trampling in wiping their shoes on your brand new rug. (Unless of course you hide your car down the street, making it appear as though you are not home. Though, I wouldn’t know anything about that of course!) These types of situations call for a good inexpensive bubbly to pop and ensure that your in-laws have a great time, and you don’t pull your hair out (or theirs)!
- Summer, B-21′s Spain Advocate
Here are three of my favorites Spanish Sparklers:
Cristalino Brut Cava 91W&S – $7.99 (on for $6.99 this month)
This is a no brainer. It’s on sale this month for $6.99. You can’t beat the price and it’s an awesome bubbly. You can’t find this kind of quality in a California sparkler for less than $10. (90SM)
Me toasting with Maite Esteve of Marques de Gelida.
Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Cava 90W&S – $7.99 ($7.19 btc)
This is a great bargain from Spain with scents of honey and apple, crisp, floral and creamy. (89SM)
This fall I had the chance to taste through the Marques de Gelida wines with Maite Esteve, one of the owners of Marques de Gelida. This was my favorite of her bubblies, very crisp and light. (90+SM)
All in the mix: Juice up your party
A millennial party-goer likes to drink, but not always alcohol. We’re surrounded by a new coffee generation, tea devotees, fruit fanatics, and all manner of alternative drinkers. Plus many cocktails can depend more on the quality of the mixer than the liquor. So stock up your cooler and load your garnish tray accordingly.
Brew iced tea beforehand. Stock up on good orange, pomegranate and grapefruit juice, a basket or lemons and limes, set out a vase of fresh mint, a plate of celery, cucumbers and hot peppers. Fill your coolers with still, sparking and tonic waters, as well as soft drinks. Have coffee or espresso ready to go.
And ice. A good party always needs more. When guests call saying, “What can I bring?” my answer is easy: Ice.
Basta! When too much is too much.
NO KEGS. Unless your guests are under 30 and number more than 60, you and your pals will sadly realize you can no longer finish a keg (remember running out to get a second or a third?). Without your own kegerator at home you won’t finish it the next day no matter how badly the Bucs do. If you’ve got to have draft fun, get the cool new mini kegs from Heineken. (which B-21 carries in their store)
NO OPEN BARS. Hire a bartender or designate a non-drinker to mix cocktails. Leaving a wide range of open bottles of 80 proof booze to pour into a Coke-machine selection of soft drinks is asking for trouble.
Besides, to provide a range of cocktails for even a small party requires at least a half dozen bottles, one rum, one bourbon, one scotch, one tequila, one vodka and one gin. Better to pick a limited a number of cocktails, say dirty martinis, Manhattans or mango daiquiris. Buy 1.75 liter bottles of quality liquor, and have someone make them with a steady – and measured hand. BTW, real cocktail drinkers do use jiggers.
No room for Scrooge: Holiday spirits are generous and prudent
Having 20 or 50 people over is no reason to cut corners or imagination. Buy wine you like to drink. You may have to drink more of it. Skip the $5 plonck unless you hired the Grinch to decorate.
We all have budgets, and wisely spent, you can set out a pretty respectable selection for $10 or less.
I like to keep it simple. One or two reds, and one or two whites and keep to something of a theme. Consider:
2006 Monte Antico is on Wine Spectator's Top 100 of 2009 ($8.99)
TOP 100 STEALS: Wine Spectator tightened its belt this year too and found some bargain goodies for Santa. The 2006 Monte Antico and D’Arenberg’s Stump Jump are easy stand-up drinking and flavor-bright at ($8.99) Top 100 whites will cost a little more, like the crisp and limey classic New Zealand Sauv Blanc 2008 Brancott Reserve ($14.99). The best bubbly buy from the Top 100 is Gloria Ferrer’s Brut for $12.99. (Top 100 wines)
NOCHE BUENA: Say Feliz Navidad with Spanish and Latin wines for great value and change of flavor that would go great with roast pork or tapas. For me that would be the 2007 Este table wine, a luscious meritage of Rhonish spice and Tempranillo style ($7.99) and a richfull 2007 Albarino from Martin Codax in Rias Baixas, either peachy Burgans or the apples’n’pears cuvee under Codax’s own label. Fruit yourself (both $11.99).
SURPRISE GIFTS: The 2008 Pillar Box Red two thirds Shiraz and all juice and spice, full round and the sweetheart of the party ($9.99). It comes in special delivery wrapping from Padthaway, the coolest address in South Australia. For a white that no one expects and everyone one loves (not just me, but the whole store) set out a lovely Hungarian furmint , the 2006 Chateau Derezla. This is a dry version of Hungary’s great Tokajis, not sweet yet generous with perfume, clean soft flavors and a friendly body to make a nutcracker swoon. ($8.99) Say you discovered these yourself. I won’t tell.
Have you got other ideas for buying quality in party quantities? What are your favorites?
If you really want to celebrate for a more exclusive affair, I’ll be back soon with more celebratory wines.
Holiday Algebra: How much Wine for a Party?
This needn’t be complicated or worrisome. The math is rough but very simple. A standard 750ml bottle holds a little over 25 ounces of wine. That gives you five 5-ounce pours. Suppose you have a party that will last two hours. For a minimum, plan on one bottle of wine for every two wine drinkers (two and a half glasses each).
- (3) bottles for six people
- (6) bottles for twelve
- One case for 24
For a party that runs longer, figure 50 percent more and round up. Don’t worry about buying too much, surplus wine will keep. And many guests will add bottles to the stock. Most parties in recent memory seem to have added up to a net gain in my wine rack.
If you’re using Champagne just for toasts, you should get eight glasses per bottle popped.
How much red? How much white? For a dinner party you may know your guests well enough or have careful wines planned. Otherwise start with a 50/50 split between red and white (which includes pink and bubbles). Buy more red IF the party is in the evening or the weather is cold. Buy more white IF the party is in the day time or the weather is hot. (A great time to think pink and introduce dry roses to your non-believers).
For beer drinkers, calculate three 12-ounce bottles per person.
- 18 bottles/cans for 6 people (three 6-packs)
- 36 bottles for 12 people (six 6-packs)
- 72 bottles for 24 people (twelve 6-packs or three 24-bottle cases)
That’s W/2 + 3B = PB (W=wine drinkers, B= beer drinkers and PB= Party Beverages)
Still have questions? You can always call one of the B-21 Wine Experts to help you plan your party! (1-888-B21-WINE or 221-9463)