* Chapillon "Secret Cava" Brut Nature - Aragon, Spain by Shane McGoey Chapillon's artisanal Cava is a sparkling wine to behold, whose Chardonnay and Macabeo grow from the dry, mountainous region of Aragon. Made in the traditional method, this wine spends 16 months on its lees, endowing its complexity and longevity, as well as lending to a smooth almond palate accompanied by a lemon-citrus profile. The result is a soft, tingling array of golden apple and Mexican wedding cake. The Secret Cava has a bedside manner about it, the kind of wine that tucks you in and switches the light off. Dine this wine with fish or white meat, and if it's a good time you're after, fried chicken.
** Borell-Diehl Gio Secco Rosé - Pfalz, Germany by Shane McGoey For a little fun in the sun, try this pink bubbly from Pfalz, one of the hottest German regions, and it shows in the Gio Secco's vivacious Pinot Noir and Dornfelder. Drinking this rosé is like biting into a ripe gold dust peach with strawberry icing. The vineyard's limestone soil expresses a chalky minerality and the CO2 upon bottling a slight frizzante rendering this a light, crisp, and casual summer quaffer or aperitif; and for the quality of the fruit at its current price, it's a steal.
*** La Jara Prosecco - Veneto, Italy by Shane McGoey Named after the gravel soil from which it grows, La Jara's organic sparkling Glera is a cut above your average Prosecco in its minerality and complexity. But make no mistake, it is foxy, fizzy and fun in its aromas of lemon, yellow pear, and toffee apples. The mouth is coated and soothed with toast and buttered brioche; lest I forget this bubbly's floral component of orange blossom and white rose. This wine is off dry, casual, and looking to party. This is no fling, it's a one-night stand.
**** Muros Antigos Sparkling Alvarelhao - Minho, Portugal by Shane McGoey Experience a "Portuguese Champagne" in Anselmo Mendes's finest sparkling Vinho Verde. Named after the old walls of Monção and Melgaço that circumscribe the old vines of Alvarelhao, a high acid red grape spared its skins and color for this golden-brown nectar. The wine is incredibly aromatic yielding an array of tangerine, orange blossom, and acacia. On the palate, it is at once effervescent and soft due to extensive lees aging. The result is a round, toasty finish with a citrus punch perfect for a summer's day. Try with seafood or shellfish, as an apéritif preceding a fruit salad, pâté with cheese and charcuterie, or a special occasion with a special someone. For this is a wine with which to celebrate life.
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