Metro Weekly

Time and a Bottle

Champagne for New Years

What’s that saying about playing the champagne flute and swallowing the bubbles- Regardless, with New Year’s Eve upon us, it’s time for some bubbly. Whether it’s the genuine article from Champagne, France, or variations from around the world, Spree, for one, resolves to make 2009 a year of sparkling wine for all occasions. Bottoms up!

Southwestern Sipper

Thanks to the Gruet family, there’s more to New Mexico than alien autopsies. Taking their tried-and-true methods from France to the ”Land of Enchantment,” the Gruets found a fiscally friendly way — dirt-cheap acreage — to offer sparkling wines crafted in the strict methods of their homeland, at a price that allows everyone to toast the recession. Spree recommends the brut, non-vintage, available locally at Whole Foods Markets for $13.99. Visit www.wholefoodsmarket.com for locations.

Everyday Extravagance

It’s not expensive. It’s not cheap. Instead, NV Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label is a luxury that most of us may enjoy on occasion. To mark special junctures such as birthdays or odd-number anniversaries — or, heck, even a new year — Veuve is the dependable champagne to impress and ingest. Pick it up by the case at Costco, or nearly anywhere else that sells fine wines for about $40 a bottle.

Ring in the Pink

There couldn’t possibly be a gayer-looking champagne than Moet et Chandon’s Nectar Imperial Rose. From the bonbon packaging to the rich hue, this bottle screams ”queen!” inside and out. And the actual product comes from a company that’s been delivering the goods since 1743. Who better to till the Champagne soil than a company practically older than dirt- Available locally for $64.99 at Calvert Woodley, 4339 Connecticut Ave. NW, 202-966-4400.

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