New Year's is the time to sample champagne

New Year's Eve is a great excuse to try a few new champagnes and sparkling wines - there certainly are plenty out there! A few of my favorites include Veuve Clicquot, a full flavored, crisp, delicious option that is easy to find and at about $40 a bottle, won't bankrupt you!

For a fruiter option, I enjoy Moet & Chandon Brut Rose, a champagne blend from France. It's beautiful coppery color and fruit and spicy aromas make it a special treat. It's a little bit more expensive - about $45-$50, but definately worth it!

Looking for something sweeter? Bitch Bubbly, created by Chris Ringland and Dan Phillips, makers of Bitch Grenache, is a blend of chardonnay, shiraz and grenache grapes. Fresh berries give it a sweet/tart flavor. Good price too, about $10 to $12 a bottle.

Fun New Year's Eve Wine Event

The Haight-Brown Vineyard at 29 Chestnut Hill Road in Litchfield will host a New Years Eve Chocolate Decadence on Dec. 31 from 6 to 7 p.m. featuring Haight-Brown wines paired with decadent chocolate selections.
Cost is $30, reservations required. Go to http://www.haightvineyards.com/ for more info or call

860-567-4045.

Fun wine event at Mohegan Sun

This event isn't until January, but it sounds like a whole lot of fun. The Sun WineFest Grand Tasting at Mohegan Sun Casino in Montville is going to be happening Jan. 28, 29 and 30.

Sample over 1,000 wines and beer and specialty spirits and celebrity chef demonstrations featuring Bobbly Flay, Todd English and Marcela Valladolid. Wine and beer experts will host seminars in the casino's restaurants. In addition, the Mohegan Sun WineFest Grae Stomp will include 16 teams who will try to get the most juice out of a measured amount of grapes. That part is going to be held on Jan. 29 at 4:15 p.m. in the Uncas Ballroom Main Stage.

Also on the 29th, the Elite Cru Tasting gives guests an exclusive opportunity to discover the "best-of-the-best" vintages from around the world, and meet the winemakers and principals behind them. This will be held in the Cabaret Theatre from 3:00pm - 5:00pm Admission is $200 and includes a Grand Tasting ticket and Bottega del Vino stem.

On Jan. 30, Bubbles and Bon Bons, featuring samplings of high-end champagnes, chocolates and cheeses inside The Cabaret Theatre. Jacques Torres, a highly regarded pastry chef and chocolatier, Executive Pastry Chef Lynn Mansel and Chef Robert Irvine from the Food Network will be on hand for this unique event.
Location: The Cabaret Theatre ad Mohegan Sun, 6:00pm - 9:00pm. Cost is $95.00
There are other events wrapped into this weekend. If you go, please share here and tell us about what you tried and what you liked!

Can't Get Enough of Viognier

Just finished a bottle of Bonterra Organic Viognier from California and boy was it good. I tasted viognier for the first time this year and really enjoyed it's flowery, crisp flavor. At $16 a bottle, it's delicate flavor is even more enjoyable!

In France, viognier is the only permitted grape variety in the appellations of Condrieu and Chateau Grillet, which are located on the west bank of the Rhone River. Since the 1990s, both California and Australia have devoted significant amounts of land to the viognier grape, which can be tricky to grow because it is prone to powdery mildew. Both Argentina and Chile have significant plantings of the grape and some producers in Brazil and Uruguay are also experimenting with the varietal.

If you are a fan of chardonnays, sauvignon blancs and pinot grigios, I highly recommend this delicious white wine for a nice change of pace.

Art of Blending wine event in Guilford

On Nov. 17, Bishop's Orchards Farm Market and Winery in Guilford will host The Art of Blending with winery consultant Wayne Stizer.
Take a tour of the wine making facilies and then taste some of the winery's products made from the fruit they produce. Fresh fruits, vegetables and local, domestic and imported European cheeses will be served.

Since 1871, six generations of Bishops have been serving the shoreline with fresh farm products. The farm market has grown from a roadside stand of the 1910's to a simple, yet bustling market, handling fresh fruits and vegetables, and related farm products. The farm market in Guilford is open year-round with one or more of our crops available each month of the year. Their "big red apple" is a landmark known to many from near and far. They grow many crops our 320 acres farm, 300 acres of which is owned by our family farm corporation.

Since the wines are made with fruit, such as the Stone House White apple wine, Apple Raspberry Blush, Pearadise pear wine and Crimson Wine, strawberry-raspberry wine, they are sweeter in taste than varietals made with grapes.

Registration for The Art of Blending event, which is required, can be done in person at the winery or by calling 203.453.2338.

Don't forget Cupcake Shiraz

Some of you may be familiar with Cupcake Vineyards' cabernet and merlot and red velvet, but have you tried the shiraz? I sampled some of the 2008 vintage this week and for the price, about $12 a bottle, it's terrific. Smooth, easy to drink with a nice fruit aroma.

The Cupcake line was launched in 2008 by native Australian Adam Richardson, the international wine director for Underdog Wine Mercants and head winemaker for Cupcake Vineyards. He also created his own A.T. Richardson wines brand. He started making wine, Adam was an aviator in the Royal Austrailian Army.

Cool wine and beer event coming up in Windsor Locks

Here's a nice event worth attending. The Bradley Family Day's Not-So-Snooty Beer, Wine and Cheese Tasting Adventure on Nov. 19, from 6 to 8:30 p.m., at the New England Air Museum, 36 Perimeter Road, Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks.

It features locally produced beverages and and food from the region's artisan brewers, vintners and cheese makers. So you get good coffee, dessets, brews and wines, while supporting the seriously ill campers of The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp - which was of course founded by our beloved Westport, CT resident, the late Paul Newman.
Pratt & Whitney's Screamin' Eagles jazz band combo will be the entertainment and there will be raffles including JetBlue round-trip airline tickets (JetBlue is the sponsor).

If you have never been to the New England Air Museum, it's pretty cool, full of airplanes of yesteryear. on display at the New England Air Museum. Ticket are $50 a person ($60 at the door) available by calling 860-466-9382 (kmaznick@travelers.com) or 860-565-8750 (carmela.alberti@pw.utc.com).

Hello and welcome to our new wine blog! This is a casual place to talk about wine, your likes, dislikes, what you have tried lately and local wine-related events and activities you'd like to share.
As the new owners of Chatham Wine Thieve in East Hampton, CT, we plan to post information about the delicious wine inventory we offer in our shop, and those we have sampled or read good things about lately.

Have you tried LaPlaya Block Selection Claret 2007? It's a Chilean Boredaux from the Cholchagua Valley, that combines Carmenere, Cabernet Sauvingnon, Petit Verdot and Syrah grapes.

Aged 12 months in French and American oak, LaPlaya Claret is a light bodied red wine with an aroma of blackberries. Try serving it with cream based pasta dishes, beef and pork.

On Nov. 17, Mill on The River in South Windsor , CT will host a French wine tasting and dinner featuring wines from the Loire and Rhone Valleys. Guest speaker Bob Tibbetts, a wine manager and account specialist with Alan S. Goodman Inc. distributors in Manchester, CT, shares his incredible knowledge of wine with humor and interesting anecdotes. This is a great chance to sample and learn more about French varietals. Here's the flier - for a reservation, call 860-289-7929.