The Wine Knows

On Saturday, I'm heading to wine writer Bob Woehler's home for an afternoon with Domaine Ste. Michelle winemaker Rick Casqueiro. We're going to taste through a bunch of sparklers, including one made from the Sangiovese grapes in my backyard.

We're just about 10 days away from New Year's Eve, so it is time to think about bubbly for the big evening that welcomes in 2008.

Last year, I wrote a blog item that serves as a guide to Northwest sparkling wine. I just reviewed it, and it's still quite relevant and worth reading if you want to load up on some Northwest bubbly.

I opened a bottle of that estate Sangiovese sparkling wine the other night for my neighbors, who are celebrating a work promotion. It's a red sparkler and is bone dry - a little too much for Melissa and the neighbors. Once I got used to the idea that there would be zero sweetness in it, I was pretty excited about the loads of fruit in the aromas and flavors. The wine was made by fellow wine scribe Ken Robertson, who pens a column each issue for Wine Press Northwest.

Ken also will be at Saturday's get-together with Casqueiro, and we're both interested in his thoughts on this red bubbly.

Speaking of red sparklers, Sumac Ridge Estate Winery in Summerland, B.C., is making a sparkling Shiraz. I've yet to taste it, but I look forward to that the next time I'm in the Okanagan Valley.

Harry McWatters, president of Sumac Ridge, demonstrated sabrage, the art of sabering a bottle of bubbly, in our Northwest Winecast last week.