Wine: Sparkling Ca’Momi And A New Way To Chill

It’s still the last gasp of In­di­an sum­mer here, which means we’ve been en­joy­ing some warm tem­per­a­tures. And noth­ing is more sat­is­fy­ing for a week­end brunch, dur­ing a Sat­ur­day or Sun­day af­ter­noon, than some bub­bly. But you don’t have to look for a French la­bel! Cal­i­for­nia pro­vides some of the best in the world, and we’ve got one of them to tell you about. And while we’re talk­ing about chill­ing out, we’ve got an ear­ly gift sug­ges­tion for you, a new way to make your drinks a lit­tle cool­er.

Not all great sparkling wines are white- some of our fa­vorites are rosés. Take, for ex­am­ple, the Ca’Mo­mi Ca’Rosa Friz­zante Cal­i­for­nia Sparkling Wine. Pop the cork on this one and you’ll find bright, tangy straw­ber­ry and trop­i­cal fruit, with a lit­tle bit of or­ange blos­som. Se­mi-dry, it’s just a step from brut, so pret­ty dry in­deed- it’s a pret­ty bal­anced wine suit­able for spe­cial oc­ca­sion toasts, or drink­ing while en­joy­ing some oys­ters. The win­ery al­so makes pros­ec­co-style wines for those look­ing for some­thing sweet­er. A love­ly pink, this one has a last­ing fin­ish- a bit much acid­i­ty for dessert, but good for sip­ping. A blend of Chardon­nay, Sauvi­gnon Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Mus­cat, it re­tails for around $18 a bot­tle.

And to keep it cool, check out the Cork­ci­cle. Per­fect for chill­ing a red to bet­ter serv­ing tem­per­a­tures, or for help­ing to keep a white wine cool for a pic­nic or out­door pa­tio feast, this is a pret­ty sim­ple tool that’s nonethe­less ef­fec­tive. Think of a whiskey rock, and you have the gen­er­al idea- sim­ply pop the Cork­ci­cle in the freez­er and take it out when you need it. You just pour a glass of wine (or a taste) from the bot­tle to make a bit of space, then can stick the icy stick in­to the bot­tle. Reds should be ready to go in about 15 min­utes, which is enough time for some aer­a­tion as well. And whites al­ready chilled can en­joy an ex­tra hour or so of cool­er tem­per­a­tures. The Cork­ci­cle is not dish­wash­er safe, and is made from BPA-free plas­tic that serves as a shell for ther­mal gel. The seal­er tops can come in a va­ri­ety of col­ors, or a classy cork. Avail­able now for about $25 each, and a per­fect stock­ing stuffer or gift!