The flavors are citrus, bright, slightly tart apple and plenty of mineral notes/ elements/ nuances/ whatever-"mineral"-comes-in. It's a fairly light-bodied wine, but I kept coming back to it. You, however, may not. I'm the first to admit that this is not a wine for everyone. But hey, for $15 you can take a risk and bring it to the party anyway.

Just make sure to pour it in glasses and accidentally leave them in the kitchen for a about 15 minutes. This wine has got bubbles to spare, and they'll easily last long enough to let it sit around a bit (which really helped this sparkler open up).

If you need a solid crowd-pleaser, go with the Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noirs from Carneros, CA. It's an all-around bigger bodied wine with more upfront, sweet strawberry, red apple and vanilla in the nose, and strawberry, cherry, and slightly tart green apple flavors.

The Domaine Chandon may not be as original as the Gruet, but it's something that you can get in just about any liquor store, grocery store, or primary school. That's handy, as most of us realize that we don't have a bottle of anything to bring to the party until we're leaving for the party.

Cheers,
TSW

The holidays are here, and whether you want to or not you're gonna be drinking enough bubbly to keep you gassy through the New Year.

Forget trying to circumvent this foregone conclusion by bringing a still wine to the next party you attend. The host will just thank you and then whisk the offering away, never to emerge from the piles of thick-glassed, fat-corked Champagne bottles.

So embrace the bubbles, and just make sure that what you bring adds a little diversity to the fizzy flutefulls.

Bringing the Gruet "Brut" will be a lock on originality. Those that happen to pick it up at the store will usually put it right back down when they read where it comes from: Albuquerque, New Mexico. Really.

OK, not a known hotbed for world class wine, but if unconventional and unique is what your after, this is one for you.





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