When I received this bottle of Ferrari Trento Brut Sparkling Wine, they were kind enough to include a recipe. In Italian culture, sparkling wine is like any other wine — a wine to be paired for food. In our modern American culture, we’ve come to think as bubbles as something to be enjoyed on its own or with a light amuse bouche. I’m not saying some folks don’t pair sparkling wine with food, but it’s not that common — at least not for me. So, while I didn’t use the recipe provided, I did take their suggestion to pair the Brut with food as a personal challenge. I’ve a short series dedicated to sparkling wines this week (there will be some interesting sips for sure, so keep checking in) — all of which will be paired with a meal and some that will even include an actual recipe. What better way to start this week’s theme than with the folks who inspired this idea. Cheer Ferrari!
Tag: Brut
Yao Ming 2016 Napa Brut Sparkling Wine
With so many celebrities creating their own wine labels today, it’s hard to tell who’s making real wine and who’s just slapping their name on a bottle. Well ever since I tasted Yao Ming’s 2014 Cabernet, I’ve been dying to taste more. Lucky me, Yao Ming Family Wines came out with a sparkling wine just in time for the holiday season and — lucky me again — it was just as good as I wanted it to be…
Rotari Brut Rosé Sparkling Wine
Let’s face it, sparkling wine is meant to be fun. We pop the cork when we’re celebrating something — even if it’s the minor celebration of another work-week gone by. The problem I had until recently is that the more affordable bubblies are the ones that would give me headaches — the very evening I’d sip them. So I convinced myself that spending big bucks on sparkling wine, even if just for a minor weekday victory, was what I had to do to enjoy myself. Well this study in sparkling wine has taught me more than just how Champagne and Prosecco is made; it’s taught me that well-crafted sparkles can be affordable, you just have to find the right one. Rotari — thank you for making “the right one(s)”…
Balletto Vineyards 2013 Sparkling Brut Rosé
I like Balletto wines. I like that they are easily accessible in every sense of the word. They’re available at most local shops; they’re affordable; and they’re (most importantly) fun and easy wines to drink. I’ve yet to be disappointed by anything by Balletto — and they have the added perk of still being a family-run business who sources their grapes from their own estate vineyards. So of course after enjoying their classic Pinot Noir and Chardonnay offerings, I was most eager to give their sparkling brut rosé a go in conjunction with my holiday sparkling wine series. 
Nino Franco Brut Prosecco
Still new to Prosecco, especially Prosecco with as high-quality standards as Nino Franco, I was delighted to take part in a #WineStudio chat with an up-close look at various expressions of the Glera grape from a family-run winery from Valdobbiadene — one of the oldest wine-producing families in the area. Though the business is now in the hands of the third generation, there’s still an old-world style and certainly an old-world respect for the traditional Prosecco-making tradition.