QOTD: Haven't tried much decent sparkling white wine, but favourite sparkling so far is Majella Sparkling Shiraz 2005. Incidentally I was looking for tasting notes on Google and that's how I found WLTV!

Running through a few old episodes.

QOTD: Bollinger Special Cuveé

Let's see...if you're buying, it's Cristal for me. If I'm buying it's Moet White Star. I love love love champagne & that White Star is so very smooth. However, I am ordering the Riondo. I'll give it a whirl. I trusted you on the Fiorano Montepulciano & it was delicious! So tonight's case will have both. Thanks for saving me the bones!!!!

just ordered 2 bottles of the Braida moscato d'asti for a little get-together So lets hope thats my new fav- also got the Albrecht Gewurztraminer Reserve.

still catching up on old episodes and trying to get out of lurker mode. for the qotd i don't have a lot of experience with sparkling wine but have always liked Roederer Estate.

Sweet. I have had a few proseccos and are becomming fond of them. I forget about these being much better deals than most Champanges. QOTD: Sadly nothing comes to mind.

A few years ago in munich were i live, the fashionable drink was prosseco on ice. everyone was drinking it. if you ordered a prosesseco the waiter would ask whether you want it on ice... about that time i took a trip to rome and ordered prosesseco on ice and the waiter thought i was crazy but he gave it to me anyway, albeit in the wrong glass.

Okay, I just had a glass of Prosecco at an after work function and it was so amazing, I had to go to my local wine store to check it out. Turns out episode 13 & Gary helped. I had Riondo Prosecco and I absolutely recommend everyone go and buy a bottle. Not to mention its inexpensive. I'm thinking of the next party to have just so I can have this amazing beverage ;)

Qotd: Thanks to WLTV - it's now the Riondo Prosecco for the value and flovrs! It's just an easy wine to drink and I love the banana flavor profile it has.

I just had to respond to this post by "kathy" below:

1) It's not "looser," it's loser. The first rule of insulting someone is that you should make sure you're not making yourself seem ridiculously unintelligent in the process.

2) 16-0 means nothing without 19-0. Period.

HEY PROSECCO LOOSER!!! REGARDING YOU STUPID CHALKBOARD PATS=*, DOES 16-0 MEAN ANYTHING TO YOU OR MAYBE YOU NEED TO WASH IT DOWN WITH A BOTTLE OF ITALIAN BUBBLES. YOU CAN HAVE YOUR PRETENTIOUS BOOZE, BUT NOTHING GOES DOWN AS EASILY AS A GLASS OF "PERFECT TEAM HAVING A PERFECT SEASON." DRINK THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

give it up for prosecco!!!! word up.

First enjoyed Prosecco on trip to Italy several years ago. Have been fan ever since, but never quite satisfied with local purchases. Until now. The Riondo was so tasty. Never experienced such mouth feel in a sparkling wine. Had a few glasses last night and woke up this morning to an empty bottle. Seems my wife liked it as well. Her response "My God that was good". She was referring to the Riondo, not me. Thanks.

You really hit the nail on the head with the band-aid nose and taste of the Riondo. Enjoyed it a lot and really appreciate the intro to Prosecco, but may pass on future purchases of the Riondo. Just a little too much band-aid... Looking forward to future Prosecco purchases.

QOTD: Love Schramsberg.

OK, finally moving from the lurker stage... :o)
The best sparkling wine I've ever tasted was Champagne Philipponnat - Clos de Goisses 1992. Pinot Noir based blend, absolutely amazing.

QOTD: N.V. Pierre Peters Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut Cuvée de Réserve - it's what I drank last summer the night I got engaged!!!

I had that Riondo Prosecco at a friend's house a few weeks ago, and I agree, it is totally awesome. That is the best sparkling wine I've ever had, completely delicious. I skipped over your Nino Franco review, I have that wine on the way and want to refresh my memory before seeing your opinion(a friend of mine gave me a bottle of that a wedding present a year ago and I remember it being good).

The Rondel Pura Raza Cava is another great sparkler in recent memory.

Gary, cool quick episode.
QOTD- I can't really say, last time I had a sparkling wine I was really paying that much attention to what wines I was drinking, I have a few in the basement I should just open.

One of my favorite sparklers is Pierre Peters Blanc de Blanc Champagne. I think it's the best value too.

QOTD: NV Pierre Gimonnet Brut Cuis Premier Cru

QOTD: J Schram '98 Rose - so far!! But I generally am not a sparkling fan...

Absolutely LOVED the Ric Flair reference. Good lord, son, you do have a rich and varied background!

my absolute favorite sparkling wine is Billecart Salmon Rose though it is very difficult to find and ridiculously expensive, Schramsburg Rose from Napa is my favorite US sparkler.

Prosecco is a great alternative to almost anything else for Thanksgiving turkey.

L'Shana Tova, Gary.

QOTD: '96 Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame and '95 Pommery Cuvee Louise.

Still haven't had a Prosecco that I've liked. I guess I should keep trying... :-)

I want some prosecco now! I will look for some this weekend.

QOTD: Haven't had many sparkling wines, but the best I have had so far was a Taittinger Brut. Nice and crisp, not sweet, and good mouth feel. Plan on trying some Cliquot and all that other jazz for some special occasions in the future.

Have a great weekend, Gary.

I've enjoyed Conte D'Alba Moscato D'Asti -- very consistent. Light, flavorful and, most importantly, consistently good.

QOTD: A wine you recommended to me: Majella Sparkling Shiraz.

QOTD: I haven't tried a *lot* of sparklers, but so far my favorite is FRV100.

QOTD: 1995 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon Rosé. Sorry to sound snobish but I found it to be the best I have had.......but I will be ordering some prosecco to try....

Gary - Thanks for the great week of wine values! Please do more of these every once in a while. Really so good to have so much to choose from when you're looking for values.

Well... there might very well be good Proseccos, but a lot of them
are dull and made for the mass-market.
It's a little bit tough to find the good stuff, IMHO, because it's
a very fashionable drink (here in europe) and just too much crap
floating around everywhere.
Beware.

QOTD: There's no such thing as a "favorite" wine, you know that! A couple of my favorites would have to be Mumm Napa Blanc de Noir, and Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noir. I think we can all probably guess a big reason why.

Gary,
I an a HUGE champagne and sparlking wine lover...and my house champagne is the one your store carries, the Charles de Fere in both the rose and the standard brut. For 7.99 and 8.99, how the hell can you go wrong. Thanks for these hidden gems! My favortie continues to be the Cliquot Grande Dame 1996, but the Dom 96 was blowaway...also loving the Henriot and the Deutz Rose 2000- which I opened up for my 40th at Rods in Whitehouse Station, awesome place!

J E T S ! PS, got to meet Kenny Obrien back in the day when we picked him up and he was doing promotion work for my Dad's company back then, hell of a nice guy and wish he panned out better for the green.

Best,
Steve

I'm surprised ( :o ) that no one commented on the flying saucer!

:o

GV:

I LOVE the Vonnegut reference on your chalkboard, and if I'm the only semi-lurker who caught it, I think I deserve some kind of shout out. (A working knowledge of 20th century American lit should be worth something.)

QOTD: I like Moscato d'Asti, but I'll have to try proseco.

Ben Daniel
San Jose, CA

:-( Still want to know why WL can no longer ship to Wisconsin????????????????

yeah, i'm going to pout until something happens!!!!! GDit anyway!!!!!

Dear Gary,

Don't get me wrong, but Proseccos are very irregular and tend to be a big disappointment most of the times. I bet to say that more than 90% of zillions of bottles produced every year do not stand a chance against a regular Cava or non-vintage Champagne. You can always say Proseccos are more joyful, an additional teaspoon of sugar to make the ladies happy, etc. But, for the serious connaisseur, Proseccos are usually something to avoid.

BTW, Nino Franco Rustico is one of the few exceptions (I have not tried the other two; will do soon).

Best sparkling ever? Tough one... I can name a couple: Tarlant Brut Prestige 1997, Veuve Clicquot Reserve 1996, Henriot 1989.

Best everyday sparking? Codorniu NV Brut.

Finally, were you tasting the Proseccos at room temperature? Don't you think the 'hot' CO2 kill your palate? It's like having a hot coke... ugh.

Cheers
==
Eduardo Amaral

YOOOOOO GARY!! :)
What a deal!! You're almost giving dat stuff
(Prosecco) away! Thanx for taping all those
episodes in advance for da troops (Vayniaks).

QOTD: Drink lots of Bubblies. Da favorite???
Seems like you can never go wrong with da QPR
Mumm Napa Blanc da Noir.

Love Riondo proseco light, fruity, crisp and clean