I mean, the fact that tomorrow is Valentine’s Day is neither here nor there, right? I mean, if you wanted to get a bottle of a rosé sparkling wine to share with your sweetheart, that’s up to you. I am merely a vehicle, a conduit of information and opinion.
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First is a new product from Freixenet, the giant Spanish firm — “among the ten largest wine companies in the world” — best known for its champagne method sparkling wines, that is, the second fermentation (which produces the essential bubbles) occurs in the bottle in which the wine will be aged and sold. The Freixenet Elyssia Pinot Noir Brut Cava, non-vintage, is all steel and strawberries and dried red currants. Made mostly from pinot noir, with 15 percent trepat grapes, this sparkling wine sports a lovely rosy-pink hue with a hint of bluish magenta and a steady stream of glinting bubbles. A touch of sweetness is nicely balanced by bracing acidity, while flavors of red currants and black cherries (and an undertone of peach) are bolstered by a burgeoning mineral element. Nothing particularly complicated here but lots of charm. Very Good+. About $18.
Imported by Freixenet USA, Sonoma, Cal. A review sample.
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For twice the price, you get at least twice the quality with the J Brut Rosé, Russian River Valley (non-vintage). Composed of 59 percent pinot noir grapes and 41 percent chardonnay, the J Brut Rosé offers a very pale onion skin color, like palest gold with a bare blush of pink, and a continuous upward surge of tiny bubbles. This is very dry, quite elegant and high-toned and beautifully balanced among keen acidity, luscious berry and stone fruit flavors and heaps of limestone and shale. The nose is dried strawberries with touches of apple and orange rind with almond and almond blossom; Rainier cherries, peach and lime peel dominate the palate, woven into a texture poised between slightly creamy lushness and crisp, vibrant, steely minerality. Enticing presence and authority conveyed with delicacy and refinement. Excellent. About $35.
A review sample.
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Schramsberg’s two flagship sparkling wines, the Schramsberg Reserve and the J. Schram, have just been released in their manifestations of vintage 2002. Since they cost the same amount — $105 a bottle — it’s instructive to look at the differences and similarities between them, both in subtleties and broad strokes.

J. Schram 2002 is not quite a blanc de blancs; it’s a blend of 83 percent chardonnay and 17 percent pinot noir. Schramsberg Reserve 2002 is not exactly a blanc de noirs; it’s a blend of 75 percent pinot noir and 25 percent chardonnay. Each wine ages for five years and nine months on the yeast in the bottle in which it will be sold; this is, of course, the “champagne method” of second fermentation in the bottle to produce the essential bubbles and build character and complexity. These sparkling wines receive an additional year’s aging in the bottle after they are disgorged and capped.

Following the winery’s usual policy of drawing on vineyards from Mendocino, Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties, the Schramsberg Reserve 2002 and J. Schram 2002 carry North Coast designations. There’s an interesting contrast, though: With its emphasis on chardonnay, the J. Schram ‘02 derives primarily from Napa (56%) and Sonoma (21%); the Schramberg Reserve ‘02, however, with its 75% pinot noir, draws mainly from Napa (45%) and Mendocino (33%). The Napa and Sonoma components are from the Carneros district.

What about the winemaking process? The grapes for J. Schram ‘02 are 35 percent barrel-fermented, meaning that 65 percent is fermented in stainless steel tanks; for Schramsberg Reserve ‘02, the proportion is 45 percent barrel-fermented, 44 percent in stainless steel. Only small portions of the wines go through the malolactic process in order to ensure the crisp acidity necessary for sparkling wine but also to provide some lushness in texture.

So, blah, blah, blah, this is all technical crap and your eyes are glazing over, but what I find interesting is that the two sparkling wines are made in close to identical manner, the primary differences between the products being not what happens in the winery but in the nature and proportion of the grapes themselves. With the blending of grapes in varying percentages from four counties, dominated by Napa Carneros, it’s obvious that winemaker Hugh Davies is not attempting to create a regional identity, and certainly not a narrower appellation identity, but a consistent and expressive house style, as is generally the case with the large houses in Champagne.

So, how does this philosophy and practice translate into the bottle and your glass?

The J. Schram 2002 — remember, 83% chardonnay, 17% pinot noir — offers wonderful presence, tone and body; this is a sparkling wine with plenty of there there. The color is an almost immoderate gold with pale silver highlights and myriad tiny swirling bubbles. Scents of roasted hazelnuts, fresh biscuits, buttered cinnamon toast and orange zest twine with baking spice and an undeniable damp limestone element, like rain on gravel. It’s large-framed, substantial, dignified and earthy, jazzed by scintillating acidity and minerality in a texture that’s both crisp and supple. Massively dry and adroitly confident, this sparkling wine is no light-hearted aperitif; sip with grilled shrimp, gravlox, lobster salad or a seafood risotto. 973 cases. Excellent. About $105.

The pale gold/platinum blond Schramsberg Reserve 2002 — 75% pinot noir, 25% chardonnay — takes the opposite tack toward the ethereal and the elegant; this is the essence of liquid limestone set to an upward drift of bubbles in stately polonaise. This sparkling wine delivers Schramsberg’s typical yeasty, bready aromas but laced with scents of dried red currants, orange zest and crystallized ginger. It’s quite dry but luscious and slightly creamy, and it displays fine-boned balance among clean, bright acidity, a fruit-forward nature and the plangent keenness of chalk-like minerality. An absolute delight, more spare and high-toned than lavish. Again, this is an appetizer and dinner sparkling wine, appropriate for the best caviar (because of its piercing acidity and minerality), smoked salmon, sushi, duck spring rolls and some curry dishes. 1,473 cases. Excellent. About $105.

Obviously, these are priced as special occasion sparkling wines, but then a special occasion is speeding right toward us, and that’s Valentine’s Day. Nothing, it should go without saying, is too good for your sweetie.

Samples for review.

Twelfth Night, the eve of Epiphany, marks the end of the Yuletide season and the conclusion of this series about champagne and sparkling wine. For the third year, I have tried to bring My Readers a variety of sparkling wines from different countries and regions, made from a variety of grapes, and suited to the myriad purposes implied by style and price. One of my rules, so far, has been that there be no repetitions from year to year, and if you go back and look at “The Twelve Days of Christmas” on BTYH from 2008/09 and 2007/08, you’ll see that I have been true to that principle.

Twelfth Night was traditionally a time of revels, eating, drinking and play-acting, music and dance, with servants dressed as their masters, women dressed like men and so on, all activities reflected in one of Shakespeare’s most satisfying romantic comedies of mistaken identity and star-crossed love, Twelfth Night: or, What You Will. The play was first performed on Feb. 2, 1602, Candlemas Day, in the Middle Temple Hall, one of the Inns of Court in London.

Now I’m not saying that My Readers are out this evening gamboling in merry romps, disguises and amorous adventures, but whatever you do, I’ll finish this series of 12 posts about champagne and sparkling wine with four selections, trying, again, to appeal to many predilections and pocketbooks: One from France, two from Italy, one from California.
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The estate of i Stefanini makes some of the best Soave wines in the Veneto, especially from the Classico and Classico Superiore regions. Now the family turns its attention to a sparkling wine, the i Stefanini Spumante Brut. Produced completely from chardonnay grapes, this charming sparkler, made in the Charmat process, displays a limpid pale gold color and enticing aromas of pear, lime peel, orange blossom and dusty acacia. It’s a caressing fabric of delicate heft and presence, soft yet bright and crisp, and displaying, amid hints of slightly spicy stone fruit, just the right modicum of limestone. A pretty sparkling wine, dry, appealing and great as an aperitif. Very Good+. About $16.

Imported by Domenico Selections, New York.
Limited distribution. Received as a review sample.
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Made from chardonnay grapes and finished with a dose of late-harvest muscat and pinot noir, the Mumm Napa Cuvee M is a slightly sweet, pale blond blanc de blancs that offers good character for the price. Aromas of toast and fresh bread support scents of apples and pears and hints of roasted almonds and orange zest. A host — you could say cohorts — of bubbles surge upward singlemindedly. After the initial sweetness, which is more like stone-fruit and citrus ripeness than just sweetness, this sparkling wine (made in the champagne method) is crisp and dry, well-balanced and harmonious, with a texture nicely poised between lushness and vivid acidity. Very Good+. About $20.
Tasted at a trade event.
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Here’s a sparkling rosé wine that may win your heart. The Bortolomiol Filanda Rosé Brut Riserva 2007 is made from pinot noir grapes grown in the Oltrepò Pavese region of Lombardy. A very pale onion skin color with a shade of ruddy salmon, the elegant Filanda 2007 is all flashing steel and flaring limestone that allow for glimpses of dried red currants and dried raspberries over a hint of peach. A stream of tiny bubbles expresses a sort of star-struck dimensionality; call it hypnotic. Resting on a suave interpretation of damp gravel and liquid limestone, this sparkling wine is very dry, well-integrated, persistent and delicious in a spare, high-toned manner. An impressive aperitif. Very Good+. About $22.
Imported by Dreyfus, Ashby & Sons, New York.
Received as a sample for review.
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The Guy Charlemagne Brut Extra is composed of 70 percent chardonnay grapes and 30 percent pinot noir, a combination that somehow lends this champagne freshness and boldness as well as evanescence, serving as a sort of reality-meets-the-light-fantastic metaphor. What I’m saying — “yeah, F.K., what the hell are you saying?” — is that this champagne is loaded with yeasty, bready elements, buttered biscuits and baking spices, roasted lemons and baked pears and toasted hazelnuts, all the panoply of dimension and detail, character and substance, while, at the same time, it’s lovely, crisp, deft, supple and, toward the finish, bursting with limestone. A final fillip of jasmine completes the poised, confident package. Excellent. About $62.
William-Harrison Imports, Manassas, Va.
A sample bottle for review.
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One of the most gratifying aspects of producing the “Twelves Days of Christmas with Champagne and Sparkling Wine” series lies in the discovery of new or different products that bring knowledge and delight, to readers, I hope, as well as to me and LL (who would not allow me to taste anything sparkling without her participation).

Such a discovery is the Château des Vaults Brut Sauvage, from the renowned Domaine du Closel in the tiny Savennières appellation in the central Loire Valley. Southwest of the medieval city of Angers, this area, part of the Anjou-Saumur region, is the cradle, the homeland of chenin blanc, which supplies 85 percent of the grapes for this wine, designated Crémant de Loire; the other 15 percent is cabernet franc, obviously quickly taken off their dark purple skins, because the Château des Vaults Brut Sauvage reveals not the merest blush of pink. This is pale, pale, palest gold with a shadow of silver unfolded when one turns the glass in the light. “Brut Sauvage” means that after the second fermentation in the bottle — the heart of the champagne method — the wine receives no dosage, the final topping off with sugar that determines the sweetness of a sparkling wine. Rather, sans dosage, this is bone-dry yet not distant or austere. Aromas of yeast and fresh biscuits support hints of macerated peach and baked pear and a wispy scent of a shy white flower. In the mouth, a delicate line of lemon, lime peel and toasted hazelnuts threads through what feels like liquid, effervescent limestone. The whole effect is sleek and elegant, real yet evanescent; it’s quite a beauty. Excellent, and a Bargain at about $18. Limited distribution, so mark it also Worth a Search.

LDM Wines Imports (Louis/Dressner), New York.

This was a sample bottle for review.

Saturday night & I just got paid,
Fool about my money, don’t try to save.
My heart say go, go, have a time,
Cuz it’s Saturday night and I’m feeling fine!

Surely that American philosopher Little Richard spoke the plain truth in Rip It Up — in these lyrics recalled by memory from the dark abysm of the late 1950s — that Saturday night is special. (Hence the name of the .38 revolver, n’est-ce pas?) So to lend celebratory buoyancy to your Saturday night, strictly within the parameters of the Yuletide spirit of “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” of course, here are three sparkling wines (review samples) from as many countries. As Little Richard sayeth, rip it up and, um, ball it up, mes amis.
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Italy.

Prosecco this and prosecco that, and it’s all mainly barely decent gluggable fizz. The Bortolomiol Prior Brut Valdobbiadene Prosecco is something else. Even LL, a notable disdainer of prosecco, said that she would go out of her way to drink this. Prosecco is the name of the grape as well as the beverage; the best area of production lies between the towns of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, straight north of Venice. Prosecco is made in the Charmat method of second fermentation in a pressurized tank. The pale-straw-colored Bortolomiol Prior Brut is as clean as a freshly-wiped steel blade, and it feels, indeed, as if it has something of steel’s tensile rigor, illumined by a flare of bright acidity and aching limestone. This is as elegant as prosecco gets, yet despite the hauteur of arched eyebrows and high cheekbones, there’s a winsome core of peachy creaminess here, a hint of lime zest, a touch of almond blossom. Excellent. About $18.
Imported by Dreyfus, Ashby & Sons, New York.
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Spain.

The Spanish sparkling wine termed cava is designated on labels as metodo tradicional, meaning the champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle, though, naturally, the wines do not rest on the lees in those bottles for years, as in Champagne, but for months. Poema Cava Brut, from the Penedès region of Catalonia, southwest of Barcelona, has no truck with the innovation of the chardonnay grape; this cava is made with the traditional macabeo (40%), xarel-lo — which sounds like the name of one of Superman’s cousins — (40%), and parellada (20%). Actually, Poema spends 18 months in the cellar, lending it a sense of depth not seen in many cava sparklers. The earthiness common to cava is here, but seemingly softened and refined. Poema Cava Brut is fresh and crisp, with appealing elements of citrus and candied lemon peel, a trace of almond, a tide of dusty limestone, all wrapped in a deftly balanced package. Steady bubbles, too. Very Good+ and A Steal at about $13.
Imported by Kobrand Corp., Purchase N.Y.
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Argentina.

Finca La Linda Extra Brut, from Bodegas Luigi Bosca, in Argentina’s Mendoza region, is composed of 50 percent chardonnay grapes and 50 percent semillon grapes, a most unusual blend; in fact, I can’t think of another sparkling wine I’ve encountered that includes semillon, though I’m certain my Alert Readers will let me know of some that should have been obvious. Made in the Charmat process, La Linda Extra Brut is a slightly brassy green-gold color, within which myriad shapely bubbles foam up in gold flecks; aromas of pears, almond blossom, hazelnuts toasted in butter and cinnamon toast draw the nose. In the mouth, this sparkler is very earthy, quite toasty, full-bodied and vibrant with acidity. In fact, with a finish that grows increasingly earthy and spicy, La Linda possesses the swagger to stand up to substantial hors d’oeuvres; smoked trout would be a blessing. Very Good+. About $15.
Various importers in New England, Florida and the West Coast.
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Here’s the Big Night before the Big Relaxing Day that inaugurates the Whole New Ball-Game, Year-Wise! Well, as we learn when we’re about three years old, a new year, however pristine it may seem to shine with potential possibilities, does not mean a tabula rasa upon which to write our lives anew. Forget that, Jack! Still, as a culture we are addicted to the idea that this night must be celebrated with wild abandon, not to mention bacchanalian verve. Not us. LL and I stopped going out on New Year’s Eve a decade ago. No drunken parties. No forced conviviality in restaurants. We stay home, watch a movie, have a glass of champagne at midnight. Wake the dogs. Dance around the Yule log. We do not sing “Auld Lang Syne.”

So, now, with wild abandon, I’ll offer three very different sparkling wine recommendations appropriate for whatever sort of celebration you have planned tonight. “Something for every palate, purse and purpose” is my motto. These are all French because, I dunno, just because.
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First, if you’re having a party for the entire cast and crew of Mad Men — and you know how they drink — lay in a case or two of the Louis Perdrier Brut, a non-vintage quaffer that features some of the most unlikely grapes to go into a sparkling wine: ugni blanc, chenin blanc, folle blanche and menu pineau, the latter an obscure grape dying out in the Loire Valley. I was surprised at how tasty this little number is. You’ll find hints of baked apple, lemon and limestone, a crisp dry nature and an adequate supply of bubbles. Good+ and a Bargain at about $9.
Imported by Cannon Wines, San Francisco
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Moving up several scales, try another and more complex crowd-pleaser, the Jean-Baptiste Adam Cremant d’Alsace Brut. Made from pinot blanc grapes in the champagne method, this compound of ginger and spice and everything nice neatly balances a chalky, limestone-like character with soft, round peach and pear flavors and with heart-racing acidity and effervescence. A touch of orange zest completes a really charming, airy, thirst-quenching package. Very Good+. About $20.
Imported by Winebow Inc., New York.
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On to a serious substantial champagne suitable for small gatherings or a New Year’s Eve dinner party. The Lamiable Brut Grand Cru is made from 80 percent pinot noir grapes and 20 percent chardonnay. The Lamiable family are recoltant-manipulants, “grower-winemakers,” meaning that they make their champagnes from grapes they own and farm. These happen to be from Grand Cru vineyards, the highest level in Champagne. The result here is a pale golden, deeply spicy, vibrant and resonant champagne, citrusy and yeasty, imbued with elements of cinnamon toast and roasted hazelnuts and smoke. The texture is frothy, lusciously creamy but electrified by blade-like acidity and a charge of damp limestone. One feels the confidence and elan of this impressive champagne. Excellent. Prices range from about $50 to $60.
Imported by Robert Kacher Selections, Washington D.C.

And Happy New Year. Really. I mean it.
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Looking back through two years of “Twelve Days of Christmas” series, I find it difficult to believe that I never included the Scharffenberger Brut. It might be easy to overlook this champagne method sparkling wine because it’s so familiar, but don’t make that mistake. The Scharffenberger Brut never fails to be delightful, and at the price, it represents Good Value. The winery was founded in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley in 1981 by John Scharffenberger, but from 1998 to mid 2004 (when it was owned by Veuve Clicquot), its sparkling wine was known by the generic and rather senseless name of Pacific Echo; thank goodness saner heads prevailed after Roederer purchased the company. Composed two-thirds of pinot noir grapes and one-third chardonnay, the Scharffenberger Brut is a pale lemon-straw color invested with a profusion of tiny bubbles. Aromas of apples and pears are bolstered by toasty, biscuity elements with a touch of hazelnuts and a wisp of almond blossom. This sparkling wine is notably crisp and effervescent, yet slightly lush, with tart apple and quince flavors and a hint of roasted lemon buoyed by brisk acidity and limestone-like minerality. A terrific sparkling wine for small parties and receptions. Very Good+. About $18.

Yes, friends, there are bubbles concealed in the Plutonian depths of the blood-red Hill of Content Sparkling Red (non-vintage), made primarily from shiraz grapes grown in the South Australian region of Padthaway. The first time I encountered sparkling shiraz, as it happens on a trip to Australian, my impression was of drinking sparkling roast beef, but I was so much younger and naive 11 years ago. Certainly the Hill of Content Sparkling Red is a little meaty but not that brashly beefy as the example to which I was initially introduced. The bottle is sealed with a crown cap — like on a soda bottle — which indicates that the pressure inside is not as great as the pressure inside most sparkling wines; this is gently effervescent, a breeze of bubbles rather than a torrent. The bouquet offers plums and raspberries and notes of toast and leather. In the mouth, flavors of spiced red currants and cassis, as well as plums, are cushioned in a dense chewy texture; the base wine for this sparkler spends two-and-a-half years in French oak, and you feel the force and the resonance. A few minutes in the glass bring up hints of fruitcake, if fruitcake were not sweet, and more leather. I have seen this rather astonishing product listed on some retail websites as a dessert wine, but it clearly is not; imagine the driest wine you ever tasted and then go beyond that into a region of Platonic dryness. What’s most unusual here is the sense that you are drinking a chilled sparkling wine and partaking of cold tannins. And yet — always an “and yet” — there’s a pretty, winsome quality about it, a thread of something floral and delicately macerated the belies its size and power. Very Good+, and a Great Bargain at about $15.

The Australian Premium Wine Collection.

Sent as a sample for review.

Let’s go rosé today, which seems appropriate for a relaxing Sunday.

The Domaine Carneros Cuvee de la Pompadour Brut Rosé is composed of 58 percent pinot noir grapes and 42 percent chardonnay. The winery, in the Carneros district north of San Francisco, is owned by the Champagne house of Taittinger. The color is pale peach and salmon with a translucent gold sheen; one of the most seductive elements of rosé sparkling wines is that the upward rush of tiny bubbles looks like infinite flecks of gold fire. When the cork come out of the bottle, a winsome scent of strawberry shortcake and fresh biscuits fills the air, to which are added hints of peach, red currants and orange zest. This attractive bouquet is succeeded by flavors of peach and dried currants buoyed by layers of chalk and limestone. The texture is almost creamy, but edged with crisp acidity for liveliness and vitality. A lovely dry brut rosé, delightful to drink. Excellent. About $36 (at the winery, but I paid $30 in Memphis).

December 27 is the Holy Day of John, apostle and evangelist, patron saint of writer, theologians and publishers.

Today — Christmas Day — we launch the Third Annual “12 Days of Christmas with Champagne and Sparkling Wine,” leading to Twelfth Night. These are the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas, that is, from the birth of Jesus to the Epiphany, a time of festivity that encompasses the New Year and includes eating, drinking and merriment designed to combats Winter’s cold and woe. It’s a perfect time, therefore, to feature 12 days that celebrate the varieties of sparkling wines, their methods of production, the different grapes from which they are made, the regions from which they originate.

Primarily, I’ll offer one example each day, though on New Year’s Eve and Twelfth Night I’ll include several on the roster, and perhaps on other days too, just for fun.

A sparkling wine we took particular delight in this week was the Dopff & Irion Cremant d’Alsace Brut, made in the “traditional method,” that is, the champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle, from pinot blanc and pinot auxerrois grapes, half and half. This is a delicate, aperitif-style sparkling wine that weaves scents of apples and pears with flint and hints of almond and almond blossom. A trace of toasty almond lingers in the mouth, along with spiced pear and a touch of lychee, enlivened by crisp acidity and a chilly finger of limestone that creeps in on the finish. Really charming. Very Good+. About $20.

Sent as a sample for review from the importer, Dreyfus, Ashby & Co., in New York. Limited distribution, so Worth a Search.