Champagne Tip from Cindi
by Cindi Sutter, Founder & Editor Spirited Table®
About 12 or so years ago we were attending a wedding in Napa Valley and we had some time to kill. We were running very low on champagne at home in Minnesota, and I’m a die-hard champagne drinker. My husband says… let’s go to the liquor store and check out the bottles of locally owned vineyards that produce higher-quality champagne. A half-hour later we were ringing the bell at the gate to Schramsberg Vineyards. It was initially hard to get in, as we didn’t have an appointment, and the tasting room was closing soon and the tour was full yada, yada, yada. Then Bob said the magic words…we don’t need to go on a tour, and we don’t have to do much tasting, based on what the liquor store told us; our main goal is to buy some cases to send home. Not sure why it took so long to figure out we were interested in their champagne, but finally we found the pink-ish Blanc de Noir, which is now become one of my personal favorites. You can spend enormous amounts of money on French Champagne, and if that’s your gig, go for it. But for a very reasonable price, you can buy a bottle of Schramsberg, Blanc de Blanc or better yet my fav, Blanc de Noir and be very happy!