Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs Sparkling Wine

Name: Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs
Color: White
Varietal: Sparkling
Vintage: 2003
Country/State: California
Region: Various
Price: $30
Stars: 4 (out of 5)


We took a bottle of the Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs sparkling wine with us on our trip to St. Augustine to celebrate our 13th anniversary!! We drank it in our room without food (well, we did have some chocolates that we bought earlier in the day from Claude's Chocolates!)....

The wine had a fairly strong aroma (Krista could smell it from across the room after I opened it and poured some in our glasses). The nose was softly fruity and nutty. On the palate, I tasted creamy strawberries, peaches, and a doughy/nutty component. It was quite tasty, especially as the night went on. I don't have much experience with sparkling wines, so I don't have a whole lot to compare to. Being a 2003 vintage, I don't know if this wine was considered past its prime or not, but we enjoyed it for what it was -- the perfect accompaniment to our quiet anniversary celebration. I will always remember this wine for the role it played in our trip to St. Augustine.


I noted somewhere online that Wine Spectator rated the 2003 vintage 92 points.

Cristalino Brut Cava

Name: Cristalino Brut Cava
Color: White (Sparkling Cava)
Varietal: Blend (Macabeo/Parellada/Xarello)
Vintage: NV
Country/State: Spain
Region: Cataluna
Price: $8
Stars: 3.5 (out of 5)


This Spanish sparkling wine has been widely hailed as a great budget sparkler and a terrific value for the money. I don't have too much experience with sparkling wines, so I don't have much of a base to compare to. For me, this was a good wine, but nothing to get too excited about. It was nice and dry and tasted primarily of toast, apples, pears, and a little bit of lemon. The finish was probably the most note-worthy aspect of the Cristalino Cava for me. It was very long, as the taste lingered well after each sip.

Amaretto Sour w/ Prosecco

We took a break from the wine tonight and made one of our favorite summer time drinks instead. The Amaretto Sour with Prosecco is a recipe we found last year from Giada de Laurentiis of the Food Network. The recipe can be found here... It's one of our favorites and tonight was the first time we've made it this summer. We adjusted the recipe to make a pitcher, using a full bottle of Prosecco (we used the Lunetta Prosecco from Cavit), about 8 tablespoons of Amaretto, 8 tablespoons of simple syrup, and juice from a couple of lemons. Then we added a sugar rim to the glasses with sugar, lemon zest, and lime zest.

We really need to make this more often. The only problem with this drink is that it's a little too good. Krista and I drank the whole pitcher in less than an hour. Next thing I knew we were having a dance party with the kids in the family room. The boys love the Kidz Bop!!

Banfi Rosa Regale

Name: Banfi Rosa Regale
Color: Red
Varietal: Sparkling (Brachetto d'Acqui)
Vintage: 2007
Country/State: Italy
Region: Piedmont
Price: $18
Stars: 4 (out of 5)

I've been reading a lot about sparkling wines lately and have wanted to try this one for awhile. Finally, we had this wine last night for dessert with some dark chocolate, based on several recommendations I read on the internet. It was a beautiful ruby red color with tiny sparkling bubbles. The nose was all red fruit -- strawberries, raspberries, with a little bit of a flowery component. The taste was very much like the nose, primarily raspberry, strawberry, and cherry. Very fun!!

We polished off the bottle tonight with some brownies. This wine would do well on its own as an apertif, or with dessert like we had it. It's not something I could drink every night, but for what it is (nice, sweet, refreshing), it's a great change of pace. I can't imagine anyone not liking this one.