What's the best Champagne under $15? - Pinkies Up Ep. 5

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome everybody to Pinkies Up! I'm so excited about this episode. We're coming at you a little early this time around because we want to make sure you're fully prepared for your New Year's Eve celebration, whatever that looks like this year, however you're deciding to celebrate. On Pinkies Up, we aim to answer questions that real people like me have about wine. So today we're answering what is the best champagne for under $15?

SPEAKER_01 0:29

Welcome to Pinkies Up, a series where we answer questions normal wine drinkers like Bridget have about wine. I'm Nick, and I'm here to answer these questions in a way that makes sense, whether you drink your wine with your pinky up or you drink it in a solo cup. Let's see what's going on this month. Alright, based on that introduction, I already have some problems. I'm Nick, I'm the wine quote unquote expert here. And I gotta tell you, none of the wines we're tasting today are champagne. Champagne is a very specific type of sparkling wine. Sparkling wine is just that bubbly, sparkling wine, champagne, kava, brosco, American brute. But champagne only comes from Champagne, France, which is a region in the northeast part of it. It's very special. Their soil, they grow Chardonnay, Pinot Mounier, uh, I think they can grow Ali Goat and Pinot Noir. But many people refer to sparkling wine as champagne. And since this is a series for normal people, we chose to use that word. But as a purist, it always drives me nuts.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

So Nick is gonna be griping this whole episode about this, so watch out.

SPEAKER_01 1:37

So, to answer this question, we pulled seven different sparkling wines that are generally pretty available. You can find all over the place from a variety of regions, and we're really excited to try them all. I'm gonna open them all in the air because what more fun noise than sparkling bubble pops.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yeah, I'm super excited. I'm sure if you know us at all or if you've been listening to a variety of things that we talk about, you know we both love bubbles, and especially around the holidays. So we know that it's a widely celebrated thing at New Year's. So here we are to try all the bubbles. I'm I'm like a little concerned about this because I don't quite know how to put my finger on like how I describe bad champagne.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Woo! So, what do you like though? Do you like more bubbly, less bubbly?

SPEAKER_00 2:22

I prefer more bubbly. Um, I think that we've discussed in the past if proper glassware makes a difference, and it really does for sparkling wine, right? Because it helps the bubbles, something like that. Um, so yeah, the bubbles are important to me. Um, lots of bubbles. And then the differences between like what is what is this that we're trying to do?

SPEAKER_01 2:41

Frazionet, kava.

SPEAKER_00 2:42

Frazionet, kava. Okay, so like the difference between uh brute or extra dry or I don't know, whatever kind of pink.

SPEAKER_01 2:50

Do you like a little fruitier? Do you like like fruitier? Do you like breadier? Do you like drier, crisper?

SPEAKER_00 2:56

So crisper for sure. I do not like fruity, sparkling, like the just peachy.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

So in sparkling wine, uh champagne traditionally uses the three grapes, I said Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Mounier, and those can give off a ride range of stone fruit flavors. Yep. They can give off green apple flavors. Um, based on the yeast that they use to do the fermentation, you can get a lot of brioche or bready type of notes. Is it weird that I didn't realize yeast was a part of this? Yeah, yeast is what takes the grape juice and turns it into alcohol.

SPEAKER_00 3:29

I did not realize that.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

So um yeast is very important in making sparkling wine. There's two ways you can make sparkling wine. And um the first is what's called the champagne method or the traditional method. And some of these wines use that. And what that is, is you make a still wine where yeast, as it turns the sugars of a grape juice into alcohol uh into wine, it creates two byproducts, alcohol and carbon dioxide. Okay. So the carbon dioxide is what causes the wine to be bubbly, just like it does for soda. So the first thing you do to do that is in the traditional method, you make a dry, not sparkling wine, then you add a little bit more sugar, which is or um grape juice sugar, something like that that hasn't been fermented. That's called the dosage, and that's what brute or extra dry or sec refers to. Um, you add a little bit, how much sugar is in there is what makes it a brute or an extra dry or whatever. And then you add a little bit more yeast, cap it up, and you let that ferment into the bottle and leave the carbon dioxide in there, and that's what makes it bubbly. Wow. The other method that's a lot more industrial, and this is what's traditionally done in Italy with prosecco, is it's called the Charmotte method, where you make a still wine and then you just force carbonate it basically, just like you would with a keg of beer.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

Is there um is one more widely preferred?

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Most people think the traditional method is a better way of doing it. You get a little bit bigger bubble, you get um more bubbles, and a little bit more complexity of flavor. Okay. So that's why first of all, prosecco is generally a lot less expensive than things like prosecco is Italian sparkling wine, cava is Spanish sparkling wine. Um prosecco is generally less expensive than a lot of the other ones because it's a lot less expensive method of doing. Okay. So you can get flavors like that. Um, and the ones that are forced carbonated um Charmot method generally are more that just very crisp, clean type of flavor, not quite as fruity, not quite as which is what I prefer.

SPEAKER_00 5:34

I feel like fruity and bubbles gets to be too much. But for those people who love sweeter things, that might be your way to go.

SPEAKER_01 5:42

Okay, so the first wine we're gonna try. Cheers. Cheers. Is Frajonet Cordon Negro Brute. Ooh. And this is a staple of weddings that don't like to pay for the upgraded package.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Yeah, I I do have to admit on air that I used to plan weddings, so I know that this is. Oh, this is terrible. It's really bad. The also this brings me to one of my favorite points about bubbles. This was not chilled. Um and warm bubbles to me are like poison.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

So um, this is a blend of three grapes, macabello, zero, and parellada. Parallada. Parallellada. Um it according to their website, there are tasty notes of it's a crisp, clean, and well-balanced sparkling one with apple, ripe pear, bright citrus with a long finish and a touch of ginger. Which sounds delicious. All I get is a little bit of that like apple ginger thing, and not very well carbonated, probably because they rushed the whole process. Kava has to be the traditional method, which takes a longer time, so they probably rushed it to keep it so cheap.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Yep. It tastes flat. I mean, it just tastes flat and like one note.

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Honestly, that's not the temperature. The warmer temperature would bring out more flavor.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

This was um one of my questions is like, how important is it that it's chilled or not?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

The chill gives it a little bit more refreshingness, it brings out the bubble, it brings out the acidity a little bit. That's why I like it. Which is a lot of what you need for sparkling white. You need that acidity. It's why it's such a great food pairing, all the acidity. But if you're looking for the flavors of it, serve it a little bit warmer temperature, maybe like 60 degrees, 55, 60 degrees instead of 45, 50 degrees.

SPEAKER_00 7:22

I'm here for the bubbles. All right. I don't need the flavor. I I feel like while Nick is popping this next one, I should acknowledge that I didn't just wear this sequin dress to work today. I wore this. I do have a uh wide array of sequins in my wardrobe and nowhere to wear them in 2020, so I'm wearing it here.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

I was planning on looking a little bit more festive today. With your earrings or I got a little behind stocking. People are buying a lot of wine right now.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

That's so great. Crazy. I mean, hopefully they're buying sparkling wine because okay, it is almost second nature for me to go woo every time, which I feel like is so annoying. So I apologize. No, go ahead, do it. It's so annoying, but you have to, because I we talk about this a lot that sparkling wine is often meant for a celebration, but like, why not just drink it on a Tuesday night?

SPEAKER_01 8:07

So Frasini is well under $10. This one is called Segura Vudus. It's another kava. These are both brutes. So brute means there's a little bit of sugar added in that dosage, like we talked about. Um, that gives it a little bit of sweetness and just the complexity of the bubbles. So both not super sweet in terms of sugar in there.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

Wait, where's this one from? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

Also Spain, also a kava. This is a big grower co-op that makes this. Okay. And um, yeah, this one gets a ton of awards for like most consistent best value.

SPEAKER_00 8:35

I mean, it looks better already than the fresh and egg.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

It's under $10. And this is a wine, you said, you know, you can have it every day. Every day.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

There's no reason not to. Oh, so much more bubbly. I feel like you can hear the fizz in my microphone. I'm sorry. Um, there's gonna be a lot of that, I feel like, on this episode. Oh, that's so much nicer, it's so refreshing. Um, I don't know, just like it's refreshing.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

I don't know what else. Fruitiness, freshness, and complexity are the three defining characteristics of this wine. They do a tolysis on their yeast, which I didn't know. That's very interesting that they did that. What does that mean? Uh they spin them and concentrate them, basically.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 9:17

Um, they have persistent mousse flavors, white fruits, citrus tropical fruits, and light floral, which is another thing you can get off of really good sparkling wine, especially very good champagne. My favorite champagne, Paul Roger, which I think we may have had on the podcast before, is my favorite combination of a touch of green apple, beautiful floral aromatics, and then a nice yeasty brioche note. But this, so I I'm gonna come clean. I hate kava, I think it's gross uh because it's got like an earthy note too, in addition to some of the stuff. And I like that in red wines, but in sparkling wine, I hate it. Okay. But this is honestly a great wine. We sell a ton of this, and it's great for mimosas because it got some sweetness in it. This was one of my questions. This is a great mimosa wine.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

Is this the best? Like, is there a the best mimosa mixer?

SPEAKER_01 10:08

I think kava is because I think the sweetness, there's a little bit of sweetness in this. I think it goes really well with the orange juice. I think the fruit flavors go well. But a more popular consensus is kind of prosecco because it's cleaner, so you get more of the orange juice flavor. But once we get to the two prosecos that we have, then we can get there.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

And also the my feeling about this, and maybe because it just came right after the frigginet, is um so this is gonna sound really I don't know how else to say this. It sounds it tastes like fizier, not necessarily more bubbly. Like it's fizzy. So is that just because there's so many more bubbles? Like as we go down the as we go down the line, I'll tell you if the others taste fizzy or bubbly, which there is a difference in my head.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

So our next one is zonin 1821 per second.

SPEAKER_00 10:56

Okay, it's bad that I recognize all these names, meaning I've had all of them.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

And this is Italian sparkling wine now, and this is one of the force carbonated ones. Okay. And this was made entirely from a grape called Glera. Okay. So um the cavas were both those blends of those grapes that we talked about with the unpronounceable Spanish name that are really only used for kava and not anything else. Okay. Glera is also really only used for prosecco. When you're making sparkling wine, you want grapes that are honestly a little under-ripe if you were making still wine because you want more acidity in them.

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Okay. Across the board.

SPEAKER_01 11:33

Yep. So they're gonna be grapes that have a little bit more acidity in them, leads to great sparkling wine production, and the flavors aren't quite so complex. Okay. Because you think about a great cabernet, you want all these secondary and tertiary notes, and that comes from the grapes. In sparkling wine, you don't need that, you don't necessarily want that. Sure. And your secondary tertiary notes are gonna come from the yeast that you use.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

So what um I'm just noticing, because this looks beautiful to me. What is, isn't it? Is it true that sometimes it looks like a little more yellow? And what makes that?

SPEAKER_01 12:04

Yeah, that's gonna be the grapes. Oh, okay. So it looks kind of grapes. Yep, Chardonnay is gonna look a little bit more yellow than Glara, for instance. So, like this one's pretty translucent. Um, the also like how much sugar's in the dosage can make it look.

unknown 12:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 12:17

This is the color I like. This one has a very distinctly different taste than the previous one to me.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Um they suggest it's dry and pleasantly fruity with a fresh aromatic note on the finish. It's not really very I would say. I don't actually love I can't pinpoint the flavor of it, but it's not like a grapefruit type of thing to me.

SPEAKER_00 12:37

Yeah, maybe that's I can't pinpoint it, but I don't love the that flavor as much as I'm gonna be.

SPEAKER_01 12:41

I also don't like Prosecco. Because it uses this kind of flavor. Yeah, I mean, and look, you can see there's just there are a lot smaller bubbles, and there's not as many of them.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Yeah, it it went, I don't want to say it went flat. By no means did it go flat, but it went flatter faster than the previous.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

So a lot of people like this for mixed drinks because it's not super overcarbonated.

SPEAKER_00 12:59

Like my fave French 75? Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

So it works great for that because if that drink's super carbonated, it's not good.

SPEAKER_00 13:06

No, not at all. Oh, that's so interesting. Okay, that's a really good point. Is it Prosecco that's usually used in a French 75?

SPEAKER_01 13:11

Yeah. So people um Prosecco has just killed it in popularity because it's a good price point, and a lot of people don't like super carbonated. Yeah. So if you're not someone that loves That's so interesting.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 13:22

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. Well, Prosecco is a great choice for you. This zone in's right under $15. Um, and it's just a great wine. I don't like it. Um, but I am a super snob when it comes to sparkling wine. I've seen by the fact I'm calling it sparkling wine, not champagne.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

I am not a snob when it comes to it. So I have had all of these bottles that are.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

I mean, I'll drink whatever bubbles you give me.

SPEAKER_00 13:46

This is how much I usually spend. So if you are just wondering right now, this Segura is so far the favorite.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Well, and I think the other thing we'll get out of this is, you know, when we did the can you taste the difference between 15, 2550? Yeah, you realize that like maybe I should spend just a touch more because the value there. Um, I think some of these wines, more towards the end that are right up against the $15 price point, yeah, are really quite great quality.

SPEAKER_00 14:14

Well, you know, I have upgraded from my $4 bottle of Andre. So I'm gonna call that.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

We should have got some andre.

SPEAKER_00 14:19

I'm gonna say I'm grown up. Yeah, shoot. We should have added Andre.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

Oh man. All right. So this one is grand passione per second. We've had it before, um, but we wanted to pull this one out because we do have some familiarity with it. So this one's an extra dry, yeah, which oddly means it has more sugar than a brut. Okay. So that's why we did it before that. But you can see still, you know, not as many bubbles as the kava's. Yep. Smaller. Uh they suggest this has crisp and delicate effervescence, a light pale yellow color with a complex bouquet of fruity notes, peach green apple, and lilac. Lilac. Which you should get off of Prosecco. You should get some of that. You get some weird, like very acidic tropical fruit things, and you get some really weird um This is better than the zone-in.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

And I'm sorry, you said price-wise? This is only $10 about. Oh, really?

SPEAKER_01 15:18

Yeah, so this is a little less expensive.

SPEAKER_00 15:20

Oh, I think that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_01 15:21

I think in Prosecco, the little extra sugar does work well.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Americans like seeing brute though, because like we're very familiar with it. So the zone in sells a little bit better. It's a very well-made wine, it's a nice family. Um, they do a great job with it. I like this one a little bit more too, just because I think the little bit extra sugar really helps. Really does. Yeah, really helps. So if you're looking for Prosecco, honestly, if you can find an extra dry, I think it makes a good difference. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

I this was so fascinating to me. I never really knew so much about bubbles. So again, I express my excitement for this episode because I love bubbles, but I'm like, I don't know, this is good. This isn't too sugary. Like, that's kind of my knowledge with bubbles. So this is unfascinating.

SPEAKER_01 16:01

That's why we're here for you guys to give you a little bit of I know all of these facts, but when do I get to share them with people other than in kind of this format?

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Well, and putting them like two proseccos right next to each other, that was fascinating to me.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

So very different wines. Great. We like them a lot. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:19

This is a staple at uh the Gallagher family. So my dad is a big fan of this with mimosas. This one's gonna kill me.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

Yeah, Nick is gonna hate this, but we like this at our house. All right, so Corbell Brute. Um, we have two American sparkling wines now. Um, America is doing a better job of sparkling wine. There's some good sparkling wine producers, but we still haven't quite hit the heights of other countries, like Spain and France in particular.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:48

Um I'm loving that you have to drink this. The other thing I should say about Prosecco real fast is there is Prosecco that's called Frisante. Um, this is called Spumante Prosecco that we have. Okay. Spumante means uh it's very bubbly. You're gonna see the cork and cage enclosure. If you see frizzante, it's just fizzy. It'll have just a screw top. So if you want something just with just a scosh, uh look for a frizzante.

SPEAKER_00 17:13

Is that the difference between cork and cage and screw top?

SPEAKER_01 17:15

Yes, generally. What? Okay. Also, hipsters like screw tops.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

On that, though, all of these had a foil except this. Is there a reason?

SPEAKER_01 17:23

I think they're cheap.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

Oh, great. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

So no then. Sorry, Moby. Uh, we're actually hoping Mobby's been great to work with, um, and we're actually hoping we could do a uh virtual wine tasting then coming up. Yeah, they're awesome. Um, I just think it's a great way to save some money. Okay, so Corbel from California. Um, California champagne. Let me tell you, they got their asses sued. They got all of America into a trade dispute with the European Union because they wouldn't give up saying California champagne.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

Uh because it's not actually champagne.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Yes. Well, they actually used to just call it champagne. Is this why you hate Corbell? And they got us into a trade dispute and things and stuff. Oh, this is great. So they don't say what grapes this is. I'm assuming it's Chardonnay and Yeah, it's like a little more yellow looking. Probably like some other crap. I mean, it's fine. Corbel Brutes is America's favorite Methodois champagne champagne. It's not a champagne. It is used to celebrate more weddings, anniversaries, and new years than any other quality champagne. Well, first of all, it's not a quality champagne, so Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

Uh maybe after comparing this to the rest of the ones we've had today. Okay, so look also warm. No bubbles. Which is my fine. Tiny bubbles. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Yellow. It's flat. Yeah, wow. It's got a weird kind of like viscous fruit sweet note. Like it's smells worse than the others. It's a little musty. It smells like apple juice, to be honest. It's just not. Okay. I Oh, wait, here we go, here we go, here we go. I told you some other crap. Chardonnay, Chen and Blanc. I was gonna guess Chen and Blanc, French Columbard, which is a garbage grape. A garbage grape, and Pinot Noir.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Man, you've ruined me. I've like always been fine with this. Like, we get to my parents, my dad busts it out, and I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_01 19:09

This is ten dollars. This is ten dollars.

SPEAKER_00 19:11

Are they all there and they're all widely available? Yeah, they're all widely available. If only I could just get them in like shiva country means.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Um, also like producers we support. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 19:25

Um, okay, well, I will perhaps by New Year's I will do this very same sampling. I'll bring it over to my dad. I think, man, I feel so defeated right now. I don't even know what to say. Not that I should say, like, oh, I knew Corobal was the best thing. I just like was always fine.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

No, it's fine, it's fine.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Oh, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

Okay, so this next one is really cool. This is Mobby. It's me. I don't know if it's US Brute or Us. I think it's us. I think it's us brut. Um, so this comes from Michigan. Michigan. Yes. Um, if you have stayed with us for a while, last year we did a custom wine with them based on this wine that was called Bubbles for Your Troubles.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

It was awesome. And you had to read the label that was like, hey, drink that's you'll probably remember exactly what it said. I don't even know.

SPEAKER_01 20:14

When your kids are total shitheads, do this.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Like when, and it lists all the stressful things we all deal with during the holidays. This year's label couldn't have been big enough.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

They couldn't have done it this year. Maybe next year we'll do it again. So this is um a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, traditional grapes, but then shamboursin, uh question, which is kind of a uh Michigan varietal. You can see this has a little bit more pink hue to it. Not quite as bubbly as um the kava. I hope this doesn't ruin me because I don't know. Still very fine ones. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Yeah, I still like this one.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

And it's very good.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

Yeah, it's very bubbly, actually.

SPEAKER_01 20:52

They suggest uh soft red fruit scents, ripe flavors, and a clean, rounded finish. So I do agree this has got more of that red fruit. It's got kind of like red delicious apple stuff. For sure. And that's from that weird champerson wine grape. Michigan apple. Really refreshing. Yeah. Um, you're supporting a local business. You are being good for the environment because you're reducing transport costs if you live in the Midwest.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

Sutton's Bay, Michigan.

SPEAKER_01 21:17

Um, and they're just a really cool company. They're doing really cool stuff.

SPEAKER_00 21:20

Yeah, this is refreshing. We got to taste a variety of them when we were picking out the bubbles for your troubles bottle last year. And this was the one that I think we decided was like most universal out of the sparkling wines that they had. This was the one everybody would like, you know, as opposed to anything more unique.

SPEAKER_01 21:33

And they do some um they do some higher level ones um that are more money that you can look for. Um, this is uh uh kind of a hybrid method of producing sparkling wine, which is why it's kind of a hybrid between the other two.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Um Can I just talk about how perfect this 2020 bottle is, though? It says classically sparkling, aged youthfulness, we are better together. We are all in this together, people.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Okay, that was a good one. All right, and then one last one. We're gonna go to the motherland of sparkling wine, which is France. Oh, we're not doing champagne. If you can find champagne for under $15, let me know. Would love to find that. Um, so sparkling wine. So this is called Cremant, um, which is the wine for the name for sparkling wine used in a lot of places. You can see like crement de Bourgogne.

SPEAKER_00 22:29

I don't know if I've had this one.

SPEAKER_01 22:30

Burgundy sparkling wine. You can find Cremante de Lemieux, uh, you can find Cremante Bordeaux, Cremant de Alsace, Cremant de Southwest France, lots of Cremants. Um, this is the Charles Armand Blanc de Blanc, which means it's a white wine made from white grapes. So all Chardonnay on this one, I believe. Let me double check that.

SPEAKER_00 22:52

Um I have a very important question once you've checked that. I'll wait till you let us know about the Chardonnay. I don't want to mess anyone up here. Well, um Okay, I'm gonna give you some time.

SPEAKER_01 23:04

Only white grapes, so it's multiple. So they probably throw in some other stuff. Like probably some Shannon.

SPEAKER_00 23:10

I'm so excited to I don't know how your feelings about this. Like I knew your feelings about some of these other ones, and I don't know. Maybe I've had this, but I don't remember it. Um, okay, so you see that we have seven bottles open, and Nick has taught me one of the greatest things ever. Without like, so there are stoppers. How do you store champagne? Is what I'm trying to get here. So, like you can buy a certain type of stopper.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

They're very dangerous. You need to be careful with them. Really? Yeah, because they really can I mean I believe that actually. So shoot your eye on it. What is the what is the option if you don't have that? So my trick is I take some aluminum foil and I make a mushroom shape out of it and shove it on top of the buff of the the bucket. Bucket, the bottle. Um, if you just take, shove it down, uh, and then really clamp it close, it does a really good job of keeping the carbonation in.

SPEAKER_00 24:02

This was the best thing you've taught me in 2020, I think.

SPEAKER_01 24:04

Thanks, Bridget.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

So I just wanted to make sure if you guys are listening that you get that tip. It's a little trick that I figured out.

SPEAKER_01 24:10

It's like what? I was probably drunk one day at the end of a tasting and like, I want to take this home. Yes, but I didn't have anything. So, like a little kind of tipsy nick figured out. Light bulb. Let's put some because I would not have figured this out if I was completely sober. Let's be honest. Best ideas. Let's put this in here, mushroom it up, seals it tight.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

It's great. I don't know how long it can hold, but it holds over nine. It's made it, because like, I mean, Tyler will like maybe have a glass of champagne with me, but like I we're not drinking a whole bottle necessarily. Um twice. Twice. Twice we did it. Anyway, I thought that was a great tip, so use that one.

SPEAKER_01 24:49

So yes, this is uh says, um, let's see. Delicate bubbles highlight the finness of its effervescent, fruity nose with yellow fruit, peach, apricot, apricot and soft palate.

SPEAKER_00 25:02

That's what I'm getting, which made me kind of go.

unknown 25:04

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 25:05

That pleasant stone fruit. I mean, pleasant.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

It made me go, but I mean it's good. I think it, I think apricot, like pronounced apricot.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Try saying apricot and see if you like it.

SPEAKER_00 25:15

Apricot was way more delicious. Um, I think I didn't expect so much flavor. It is very flavorful. Yeah, maybe that's all. Is I just didn't expect like it's very good.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

Love this. This is my favorite of the bottom. I like the complexity in it. I like the aroma.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

I think I needed to like go. I could tell that this would be your favorite. It does feel far more complex than any of the others. And it's only $15. Right. I mean, for that reason. Honestly, I support you guys sampling some of these on your New Year's Eve celebration and telling us what you think. I am surprised by the um Segura. That's your favorite? I don't I have to go back to it. I I love the Mobi actually.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

Let's go back to it.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yeah. Um here's what I'm gonna say: the Segura, the Mobi, and this Prosecco. The Gran Passione. The Gran Passione, yes, are the my top three. Um, the Mobi I'm clear on liking because I've drank it multiple times. So I may just have to do the Segura and the Gran Passione again.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

Bridget, I know you sometimes have trouble making up your mind. So, but the people want to know.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

The people want to know which is my favorite.

SPEAKER_01 26:18

Is Bridget's favorite because we have to decide what is the best champagne under $15.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

Well, Nick gave you his opinion. I feel embarrassed if it's this.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

No, I I was actually, you know, I hate to I like to go to these things open-minded, uh-huh. But I have my opinions, and I thought this would be the winner. I did think this would be the winner. I feel good putting my name behind.

SPEAKER_00 26:39

Yeah, this the thing with the Segura, especially after tasting whatever the one, what is this called that you're Charles Amand. Okay, Charles Amond. Is this I don't know how to explain this. Uh it is taste, it is less flavorful, which is kind of like I don't expect flavor from my champagne or sparkling wine. I just like kind of want the bubbles.

SPEAKER_01 27:01

I think what that hits is a good combination of so just the bubbles is a stone in, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Yeah. Well, I don't know. That one, maybe that one wasn't um, I prefer the other prosecco. Um, but it does have a little more. Yeah, yep. Um this one, what do you think this um Segura has flavor to it?

SPEAKER_01 27:19

Yeah, it's got a little bit of that kind of apple stone fruit type of thing. Uh a little bit of sugar. It's got kind of that earthiness on the end.

SPEAKER_00 27:26

I think the earthiness is what I'm used to, actually. Um, so this feels like comforting and normal to me. Um which we all need in 2020. Which is what I'm looking for right now, guys.

SPEAKER_01 27:37

This is gonna be on YouTube forever, and people are gonna listen to this in like 2040 and be like, what is what happened in 2020? Why does this girl want champagne she's familiar with? Grandpa, why were you guys so scared of 2020?

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Why did you hate everything? Hmm. Yeah, I prefer, I think Segura Segura is my winner.

SPEAKER_01 27:57

So we really aren't going out on a limb by saying this because I think they've won a wine enthusiast Best Buy 15 years in a row. Wow, it's always been under $10. Um, our friend Jeff Siegel, the wine curmudgeon, we did a podcast with him this time last year. Uh, he's got a $10 wine hall of fame. That's really awesome. I wine curmudgeon.com, seriously, really check it out if you like value-priced wines. Curmudgeon, I don't even know how to spell that. C-U-R-M-U-D-G-E-O-N. Sure. But um, he always has this in his top 10 of the year. The Segura. Every year. So yeah, I think we can say Segura Vudis Brute Kava, best champagne under $15. Awesome. Sparkling wine. They also have a rose version. If you like it. Yeah, we didn't even touch that. If you like a little bit more of that red fruit, a little bit more kind of perceived sweetness, the rose is great. Same price point.

SPEAKER_00 28:50

I'm just resampling my top favorites.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

Yeah, still Seguro. All right. So, Bridget, give us the rundown one more time of what your favorites are.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

All right. My favorites, my top three, are the Mobby, right from Michigan, nearby. That's a great refreshing one. Loved that one. I've liked it for a long time. Nick introduced me to it. I like the Gran Paziano Prosecco. Um, that's a Gran Passione. Gran Passione. I'm on board. I'm really just in the back of my mind, what can I drink this as a mimosa with?

unknown 29:26

Fair.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Um, and then my favorite for mimosa or otherwise is Segura. So that's the one that you can just have a glass of on any holiday on a Tuesday night if you want, or a Wednesday, or a Thursday. So that's my all-time favorite.

SPEAKER_01 29:40

My favorite of this bunch is the Charles Armand Blanc de Blanc. I think you can find some really great stuff from France around that $15 price point. If you like something a little bit more complex, if you are a sparkling wine snob like myself, um, I will say that bubbles are great all the time. Uh, I love the Winston Churchill quote of I need champagne and victory, and I deserve it in victory, and I need it in defeat. I thought it was the one that was behind you. Uh Don Perin. So Don Perignon. Don Perignan is actually the guy that invented the method uh traditional. Oh, yeah? That's why it's named Don Perignon. Oh. Because he was he was a monk and he figured out. What a guy.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

We all owe him something. Have you ever had Dom? Uh I don't think so. No, I don't think so. I don't know. Like during my wedding days, there was when I was working weddings.

SPEAKER_01 30:29

Did you spend $350 with it?

SPEAKER_00 30:31

It was never something I would have done. It was given to me, but it wasn't like a bottle wasn't given to me.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

It's a life-changing experience.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

How much is a bottle of VOV?

SPEAKER_01 30:41

Not very much.

SPEAKER_00 30:42

Just curious. People like the rappers. Are you serious?

SPEAKER_01 30:46

They are drinking Crystal.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

Oh, Crystal. I don't know, you guys. That'll be a different episode.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

Next episode on Pinky's Up, the Unpretentious Wine Series. What is the most unpret unpretentious of the $500 champagne? We're gonna budget $4,000 for that episode. Uh Crystal's good. Uh Crystal is a definitely a sweeter one. Um, which without getting to sound weird, like I think a certain uh if you have a little bit of a sweet tooth, if you like very indulgent things, Crystal is is perfect for you.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

Like hypnotic.

SPEAKER_01 31:21

I like Paul Roger, the Sir Winston Churchill couvet. First of all, because it's named after Winston Churchill, who is one B A M F Oh, do I have a bottle here?

SPEAKER_00 31:31

Yeah, it's been on my shelf, man. Oh, we should open that. Um we should open that. I'm decorating my shelf. Um You can't focus anymore. We're on $15 bottles, Nick.

SPEAKER_01 31:43

Is that really the oh no, that's just a vintage one. That's not the that's not the I really threw them off, you guys. I was like, did I have an extra bottle I filled up? So that's just the vintage one. It's not back to the $15 bottles. We're gonna wrap this up. Thank you everybody for watching. Subscribe. We put one of these episodes out every month. In between, we have our weekly episodes where we talk kids, life, food.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

Anything you'd chat about over dinner and drinks.

SPEAKER_01 32:12

Because we still have those drinks. Thanks for watching. Remember, Segura Viudis, best $15 kava that you can get. Have a happy new year.