What are you ringing in the new year with?

[Jenise]

The title says it all: when midnight comes (or came, as some of you are already there), what will be/was in your glass?

[David M. Bueker]

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I might still be drinking 1996 Duval-Leroy Blanc de Chardonnay when midnight is somewhere over the Mid-Atlantic Ocean.

Prosecco before midnight. I hope to be sawing logs when the new year hits.

Just now I was poking around the cellar to see what I had to suit me for this evening. I have a few very special bottles down there, but given I wont be ringing in the new year with anyone special, I think that I'll be saving them for another time.

What I did find, however, was a bottle that I have no memory of ever purchasing. In fact, I've never even heard of the producer in question, "Jacquesson". The bottle I have is Cuvee No 731. Tanzer gave it a 91, I see. The Spectator gave it an 88. There is no review from Parker. I'm curious to know if anyone here has any familiarity with this wine.

Odd that I have no recollection of buy this stuff. Usually I have a very keen idea of what's downstairs and if I'm ever surprised it's because I've drank something without making a better mental note of it. This is a much cooler surprise!

[David M. Bueker]

I had the Jacquesson 732 last week. Good stuff. Haven't had the 731 recently, but their wines are very good and quite reliable.

Been on a Portuguese kick lately so we might try the Luis Pato Bruto Vinho Espumante made from Maria Gomes. A few weeks back we had the Baga Rose Espumante from the same producer and it was a delightful wine.

I am bringing a good but not prized bottle, the 1999 Charles Ellner Cuvee Prestige to a party. Not the time to bring the truly great bottle, as it'll be a big party and I might get a small pour.

Also carrying a NV Pinon rose that I'm really looking forward to, plus whatever's left of the Cotat we're drinking now, a bottle of Fleurie, etc. But the Ellner is the midnight wine.

Jacquesson is a very good producer. A friend who knows more about Champagne than I told me they use more older wine than most NVs. I really loved the 728 & I think 729

Been on a Portuguese kick lately so we might try the Luis Pato Bruto Vinho Espumante made from Maria Gomes. A few weeks back we had the Baga Rose Espumante from the same producer and it was a delightful wine.

Pato rocks, have a sparkler here ready to go too! Happy New Year.

Been on a Portuguese kick lately so we might try the Luis Pato Bruto Vinho Espumante made from Maria Gomes. A few weeks back we had the Baga Rose Espumante from the same producer and it was a delightful wine.

Pato rocks, have a sparkler here ready to go too! Happy New Year.

Just spent a frigid afternoon poking around wineshops in Newark's Ironbound (Portuguese area)and gorging on a warming casserole of suckling pig, beans and cabbage (accompanied by an $8 half bottle of Dao). Was hoping to find the Pato Touriga Nacional espumante, but no luck. Have you ever tried that one?

Feliz Ano Novo!

I've been working on a 2001 Cosentino Cabernet Sauvignon this evening. I'm wishing I had more bottles of this.

I've been working on a 2001 Cosentino Cabernet Sauvignon this evening. I'm wishing I had more bottles of this.

So, do you have a TN? Happy New Year.

[Jenise]

What I did find, however, was a bottle that I have no memory of ever purchasing. In fact, I've never even heard of the producer in question, "Jacquesson". The bottle I have is Cuvee No 731. Tanzer gave it a 91, I see. The Spectator gave it an 88. There is no review from Parker. I'm curious to know if anyone here has any familiarity with this wine.

... This is a much cooler surprise!

Even more so because by now you know how splendid Jacquesson bubblies are! It's a brand I buy without question whenever I see it, however I'm rarely lucky enough to run across it.

[Jenise]

I've caught some crappy cold. Day before, I'd planned to pop a Krug. By the next morning, I downgraded my sights to a 98 Henriot Brut Milliseme. By afternoon, a NV Loire bubble seemed more in line with my tasting faculties, and by the time it was time to open a bottle I had already gone to bed with nothing more than a glass of water. I don't know who gave me this cold, but somebody owes me!

I drank mostly beer as we played cards, shot pool and chatted before midnight. Then we opened a bottle of 1995 Dom Perignon and a 2000 (I think) Ch. Fortia Ch-du-Pape, both of which were OK, not great. Today I'll drink beer while watching the Wings-Hawks outdoor game (from Wrigley Field) on TV.

[David M. Bueker]

I've caught some crappy cold. Day before, I'd planned to pop a Krug. By the next morning, I downgraded my sights to a 98 Henriot Brut Milliseme. By afternoon, a NV Loire bubble seemed more in line with my tasting faculties, and by the time it was time to open a bottle I had already gone to bed with nothing more than a glass of water. I don't know who gave me this cold, but somebody owes me!

Stay up watching not just indifferent but really bad TV until midnight local time when the idiot box shows you a flashy geegaw that is supposed to mean something and try to have you ignore the fact that it was taped in New York hours before?

I think not. Better to get some sleep and awake to thoughts of wines to come in the brand new year.

I broke one of my rules... I bought and drank too good a bottle of wine. There are lots of reasons why I shouldn't drink bottles that are just too good, including but not limited to cost, spoiling myself, increasing dissatisfaction with "regular" wines, and fueling my ever growing addictions. Oh woe is me... I gladly shared a bottle of Taittinger Comtes De Champagne 1995 Blanc de Blancs with my love and co-conspirator. It was wonderful. It was everything champage should be. The fruit offset the yeasty body perfectly. It was complex and simple all at once ... the only word is delicious. It went down way too easy. It disappeared way too fast. It's going to be a long time before I forget that one. Ohh... the non-vintages we usually drink will seem so pale and simple....

Happy New Year to all!

Glenn

We went over to some friends nearby and had a 1999 Andrew Will Merlot "Ciel du Cheval" from the Horse Heaven Yineyard that was excellent and a Virginia Riesling named Rockbridge, same name as the town I live near and it was quite enjoyable too. Played euchre and enjoyed a very dry Prosecco (too dry for my tastes) to ring in the New Year. I had brought a NV Lucien Albrecht Brut Rose as our sparkler but did not open it.

[Jenise]

We went over to some friends nearby and had a 1999 Andrew Will Merlot "Ciel du Cheval" from the Horse Heaven Yineyard that was excellent and a Virginia Riesling named Rockbridge, same name as the town I live near and it was quite enjoyable too. Played euchre and enjoyed a very dry Prosecco (too dry for my tastes) to ring in the New Year. I had brought a NV Lucien Albrecht Brut Rose as our sparkler but did not open it.

Jim, never heard of a Prosecco that was "too dry". Which one was it, do you remember?

It was just me, myself and I, so we opened a NV Vega Barcelona Cava. Refreshingly dry, apples and a hint of lemon. I managed about 2 glasses before it went to my head and I went off to bed.

Hope you are feeling better, Jenise...!!!!

And I agree on the Jacquesson.. It rarely disappoints, is reasonably priced (for a Champagne....) but I also don't see it as often as I'd like. So, I drink Duval-Leroy.

[Robin Garr]

The title says it all: when midnight comes (or came, as some of you are already there), what will be/was in your glass?

We rang it in with about 100 good friends at a reception, where Mary and I were in charge of the buffet and went middle-of-the-road with no Champers but a mixed case of two very nice Proseccos in the $12 range: Mionetto Valdobbiadene Prosecco Brut (featured in the Dec. 31^H^H 30 Wine Advisor), and a similar cousin, Il Follo Prosecco Colli Trevigiani IGT "Cuvée Rustot". Good friends, a table of really decent potluck finger foods (including ample cold shrimp) and an early evening, home at 7:30 with a little leftover Il Follo for a quiet New Year at home, and so to bed, nice and early for a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed wakeup this morning. Makes sense to me!

[Jenise]

It was just me, myself and I, so we opened a NV Vega Barcelona Cava. Refreshingly dry, apples and a hint of lemon. I managed about 2 glasses before it went to my head and I went off to bed.

Good, you've got more for today then. Doug, I just remembered on seeing your post that I owe you some curry powder. Will get it off this week, I promise.

[Jenise]

Hope you are feeling better, Jenise...!!!!

And I agree on the Jacquesson.. It rarely disappoints, is reasonably priced (for a Champagne....) but I also don't see it as often as I'd like. So, I drink Duval-Leroy.

Maybe now that they're not drinking so much bubbly in New York, London and Hong Kong, there will be more for the left coast. We can only hope! The last bottle I purchased was in Vancouver, and before that, some from Garagiste. Used to buy it at Hi Times, I guess--not sure, only know that like most good bubbly it's a problem to locate up here.

So what did you and the lovely Lorena drink last night? (Help me out here, Dr. Jim, for I must live vicariously.)