Budget Vino

Rotari: So good I don't want to share

This review was contributed by Budget Vino alumni Jen Benz. It's pretty darn funny.
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Loyal Budget Vino readers: I have a confession. I've been holding out on you. I've been holding out on reviewing my favorite budget sparkling wine. You know when something is so good you're afraid that if everyone knew about it, it might not be as appealing? Like your fav indie band that is now over-played and doing a stadium tour? Or, that great "underground" author who's now doing the talk show circuit? It's no excuse, I know. I'm ashamed and I'm sorry. But, once you try Rotari, you won't blame me for wanting to keep things quiet.

Rotari Brut Arte Italiana is across the board one of the tastiest most-drinkable sparkling wines out there. It is on the dry side, but light and refreshing. It's good for brunch or as a mimosa. It's good for a picnic. It's good for a fancy meal. It is good with food. It is good without food. And if, like me, you think there's an excuse to drink sparkling wine pretty much any day of the week, Rotari will leave you relaxed and cheerful and maybe even inspired--and definitely not broke (at about $8 a bottle).

I discovered Rotari after a friend did the leg work to taste nearly every bottle of under-$10 sparkling available in the San Francisco area (if only there was a lasting record of all that budget wine tasting!). At the time he was dating a girl who insisted on drinking Veuve Clicquot every time they got together. At $35-40 a bottle and a somewhat lengthy courtship, that was getting expensive. So, he set out to find a suitable replacement for Veuve. (No comment on the sensibilities of continuing to date a woman high-maintenance enough to require a $40 bottle of champagne on every date, that's another blog all together).

Anyway, after a series of very unscientific taste tests, he determined that Rotari is the closest you can get to Veuve for under ten bucks. It even has a nice yellow label to match. Proud of his new discovery, we all quickly learned of Rotari and have never looked back. 

I actually much prefer Rotari to Veuve and you can find a bottle (or more) in my fridge at almost any time. For New Year's Eve, we purchased about 25 bottles, which seemed completely rational for a party of about 25 people. Most people brought their own bottles and Rotari was the hands-down fav, even with a few over-$50 bottles thrown in the mix.  For further credentials, The Bellagio in Vegas sells Rotari for about $45 a bottle -- even in their VIP rooms, according to my sources.

Definitely buy it. But, please, save me a bottle.

(And, no, that girl is no longer in the picture. Lucky for us, Rotari is still around.)

Recommendation: Definitely buy it

A sparkling wine too sweet for its own good?- Ballatore Gran Spumante

I hope you had a great new years, and that you had a chance to try one of the two great sparkling wines recommended before the holiday. To kick off the new year, I figured we should start where we left off- with a review of another sparkling wine. Like the previous recommendation, this review is contributed by Jen Benz- sparkling wine lover.

Ballatore Gran Spumante

I stocked up on under-$10 sparklings on a recent trip to BevMo. Seeing a whole wall of less-than-$10-sparking wine does make one a little suspicous of the quality, but I was wooed by the Ballatore Gran Spumante because of its claim to a "Double Gold Medal" at the 2005 California State Faire Wine Competition. Double Gold?!? It must be good! (And, only $7!)

I opened this bottle at a friend's fundraiser brunch, after a bottle of Cava (one of my all-time favorite sparkling wines--look for a future review) was used for my first mimosa of the morning. I only mention the Cava because it may have put the Spumante at a slight disadvantage from the start.

I opened the bottle and it looked nicely bubbly and at first had a pleasant aroma. After pouring a couple glasses and giving it a nice sniff, the wine seemed overly sweet and perfumy -- with quite a flowery aroma. And, it tasted the same. Very very sweet. One fellow taster called it "exceptionally sweet" and I don't think she meant in a good way. The wine does have a nice flavor, but is sweet enough to almost pass as a dessert wine.

What's a girl to do with less-than-perfect sparking wine? Turn it into a mimosa, of course. The Spumante was better with the orange juice but I much prefer a mixture of OJ and dry sparkling wine. This one is just too sweet for my tastes.

Recommendation: Unless you like super sweet, skip it.

A Couple Sparkling Wine Recommendations for NYE 2007!

New Years Eve 2007 is fast approaching, and outside of champagne, sparkling wine is a great option to ring in the new year. I personally am not a big fan of sparkling wines (or champagne), but my friend Jen is. To give you some excellent options for your new years celebration, she has written a couple recommendations which I present below. Enjoy, and have a healthy and happy new years!

Freixenet Brut Cordon Negro Cava and Blanc de Blancs Veuve Ambal Brut.

For new years, or whenever you have the urge to drink a sparkling wine, give one (or both) of these a try: Freixenet Brut Cordon Negro Cava and Blanc de Blancs Veuve Ambal Brut.

Both were opened one night during a spontaneous at-home happy hour with a group of friends and both were gone within minutes. Very drinkable, the right combo of clean and dry for a sparking wine and both darn cheap.

The Freixenet comes in an impressive black bottle that its manufacturer says is "dressed for any occasion." I'm not sure I'm a fan of the black bottle, but its what's inside that counts, and the Freixenet is a remarkably delicious. Apparently this is the best-selling imported sparking wine in the US, and I'd say with good reason. (By the way, that's pronounced "fre-sheh-net" and you can pick up a bottle for about $8.)

The Freixenet got a second taste-test about a week later at a dinner party. It was served with Thai food and went nicely with the spicy and sweet coconut dishes. Oh, yes, sparking wine with dinner can be a good thing!

The Blanc de Blancs Veuve Ambal Brut has a more subdued green bottle with snazzy gold print, in case that black Freixenet bottle is too much for you. This is also a very drinkable sparkling wine, dry with a hint of citrus. It sells for about $9.