Country: Italy

Type: Prosecco

Average Retail Price: $9.99 USD

Taste (1 = yucky 10=yummy): 8

Snobby Wine Words: Less fruity than your average prosecco, this should satisfy your basic bubbly needs this Holiday season.

Drink When: You want to celebrate, on a budget, without feeling like you are celebrating on a budget.

Notes:

And so, the year draws to a close and a harried mother’s mind turns to one thing: bubbly. But in these trying economic times, how can a lady on a budget justify filling her champagne flute when her kids are wearing clothes two sizes too small, her husband is forced to walk seven miles to work, and even the dog is working night shifts as a bartender to help make ends meet? What are you, Mark Zuckerberg? Oprah? Kate Middleton? Hardly. When your “yacht” is an inner tube at the local water park, your “limo” is public transportation, and your “mansion” is a third floor walkup above the 7-11, actual French champagne can be seem as elusive as a stateroom on the Queen Mary II.

Thankfully, we “real folk” have alternatives to the fancy-pants stuff from the land of cheese and Poodles, among them California sparkling wine, Spanish cava, and Italian prosecco.

Prosecco is notoriously fruity, as opposed to dry like champagne, so if you’re having the Queen over for your New Year’s festivities, as you do, she won’t be fooled. But if you just want to impress your friends with something fizzy and Continental, prosecco is your pal. And for ten smackers, you could do a whole lot worse than the Cupcake brand. I’m not a fan of overly fruity wines that make me feel like they should be served in a coconut shell with a paper umbrella sticking out, so I like Cupcake prosecco. I feel like I’m drinking something special, rather than something the Italians tossed over here with a grunt and a smirk. Your less wine knowledgeable friends probably won’t even know this isn’t French champagne.

And, since this wine runs drier than most other proseccos, it’ll go well mixed with orange juice for those mimosas you act like you drink because it’s a classy thing to do and not because you need hair-of-the-dog in the morning.

So, fill up your $4 plastic Ikea flutes with some $10 Cupcake Prosecco, and here’s to a wine-full and whine-free 2012 for all of us!

P.S. Here is some free advice, too: chilling wine can kill the flavor, so instead of putting bubbly in the fridge I suggest putting your glasses in the freezer – and keeping the wine at room temperature or just below – for about 10 minutes before serving this or any white wine. You’re welcome.

1. Was she married in the fifties? Then your mother in law used LARD. Lard is universally known to make all foods cooked with it or in it absolutely delicious. Yes, it will eventually kill you, but we know that NOW. He is still alive, and fondly remembers his mom’s crullers. You will never measure up with Crisco.
2. He had nothing to compare her to. All children think their mothers are good cooks. She made the best weenies and macaroni. All children love weenies and macaroni. The fact that YOUR mother made home made pasta with freshly grated parmesan has absolutely no bearing on the weenie discussion.
3. There is a common genre of food for children called “nursery food” in Britain, and “comfort food” over here. It consists of mashed things mixed with milk or sugar. Mashed potatoes. Mashed cooked apples with sugar and cinnamon. Mashed bananas with cream. These foods appeal to children, and are committed to memory, and then worshipped for the rest of said child’s life. Only mothers can make really fine comfort food. But his mother’s, although inferior to your mother’s, is what counts.
4. His mother and he have a really tight bond. There is something about mothers and sons. So you simply will never measure up in his mind to that paragon who fixed his lunch every day. We women usually have very ambivalent feelings about our mothers. So it is hard for us to understand that mother/son thing. Personally, I think his mother’s baloney sandwiches were on the dry side. Granted, by the time she offered to make me a sandwich, I had stolen her son. No wonder she stinted with the mayo…
5. At Thanksgiving, his mother made stuffing out of Pepperidge Farm Croutons and just mixed it with a little water. So he grew up thinking crunchy stuffing was the norm. His mother also didn’t like the idea of sticking her hand inside a bird cavity, so her stuffing never received the benefit of the turkey juices. Actually, think of this as a boon, because who wants to bother making delicious stuffing, when he’s happy with a few croutons with gravy?
6. His mother made fifteen kinds of Christmas/holiday goodies. (ditto the lard) They were made with crushed nuts that she shelled by hand, things like citrons, jam, and confectioner’s sugar. She stored them in assorted tins and served them throughout the holiday season. They were delicious. Forget this! You have a job and soccer practice! Concede, and get those cookies in the roll from the freezer case!
7. His mother made just about everything from scratch. She did this because Marie Callender and Bob Evans are in her age group (well, they may have died, actually), and so they hadn’t grown up to invent frozen entrees yet. We all know that Bob Evans mashed potatoes and breakfast sandwiches are heavenly, but for some reason, those words from scratch really appeal to husbands. Apparently, making things from scratch implies a fortitude and work ethic that we soccer moms just don’t seem to possess.
8. His mother wore aprons. She made them herself. They were pretty, had crocheted or lace edges, and they tied at her waist. Your mother in law never schlepped tomato sauce on her bosom. Nor did any of that lard plop onto her bodice, either. So she was not only a wonderful cook, but she was clean. You, on the other hand, need one of those Mario Batali sized aprons, to save your good yoga shirts from staining. I know. We modern women are slobby in the kitchen.
9. His mother and dad had a cocktail hour. I don’t know how they accomplished this one! Apparently, he and his siblings were locked up somewhere, or sent outside (where children could play without supervision and not be abducted), while your mother in law and her man sipped martinis and discussed his day at the office. You have to quickly slug down some of the Marsala before you pour it into the sauce for the chicken, and then get going! There are three soccer games tonight!
10. His mother grew her own vegetables and then made stuff like tomato juice, which she “put up” for the winter. She also made her own pickles. He has fond memories of her fig preserve. This is pure #$&**t. I have had her tomato juice. And the fig preserve? I will just say this: Fig Newtons are awful. Fig anything is awful. All those little seeds. It’s seedy! Look the word “seedy” up in the dictionary!
11. She cooked/cooks dinner every single night. Even though she and your father in law had/have lots of time on their hands, discretionary income, and a car with only ten thousand miles on it. So when you want to go out for a lovely candlelight dinner at “Chez Gourmet,” he sees her in his mind’s eye, happily making pot roast and glazing carrots. Saving money. And then he turns to you and says, “I don’t understand why we can’t just eat here. Why don’t you change out of your work clothes and just whip up something while I have a beer?”
12. She died too soon. Or she is still living an exemplary life. Either way, you lose.

My car (it’s a Honda Element) is awesome. Really, I love it. First of all, it’s orange. And the ceiling is high so I can stand up in the back to buckle my kids in. The interior is made entirely of rubber and plastic which means if I wanted to, I could unleash a hose into it. Just think about that for a second. Unleashing the power of a hose inside of a car.

Hawt, right?

I haven’t mustered up the balls to do it yet. But I should. Because my car is disgusting.

And…I blame my kids.

Especially for all the empty Starbucks cups and sleeves. My 3 and 5 year olds are totally addicted to coffee. And chai. And…er…green tea lattes. And vanilla rooibus lattes. And cafe mochas…

(Ok, ok. That’s all mine. It’s a medical condition. You know. The one where I NEEEEEEED caffeine. You have it to, right?)

But the empty organic chocolate milk boxes? The crappy, useless, little paper bags that once held tiny chocolate donuts or vanilla bean scones? The snotty, balled up 100% recycled brown paper napkins? Yeah. That’s all them.

The seventy stuffed animals that have found their way into my car but not out? Also them.

The five years worth of crumbs, raisins, beach sand, and unidentifiable, sticky sludge that’s hidden (and not hidden) in the crevices between where the baby car seats and the actual car seats meet? Not me. Them.

If I wasn’t hauling 16 bags in and out of the car every time we get in and out of the car, it’d probably be much cleaner. It’d be cleaner as well if I just invested in one of those shitty little “car trash cans.” Or, a dustbuster. But I won’t. ‘Cause I like to live in the shit.

The grit makes my life feel more urban. And also, I’m certifiably insane. I mean busy.

Please stop laughing at me.

Now.

Whining Down:
Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred wine sips….how do YOU measure a year?

Alright, that’s a lot of sips. But December is a month of measure; of reflection, togetherness, celebration, and Advil (various reasons). What measures are we taking in order to achieve balance, peace, and satisfaction within our families and in our relationships with others? What IS your measure of happiness?

What’s my measure? That’s simple. Holiday Cards! I am freakishly excited to check the mailbox throughout the month of December; sometimes I even remember to put on a bra. The small enveloped treasures that tell me so much about the friendships I’ve gained and/or maintained in a year’s time, are truly gifts. I feel like I am opening little pieces of heaven when I see growing families through these photo cards, notes of goodwill, and familiar faces. With each opened card, I am reminded of the things that are most important. Now that’s worth celebrating.

Speaking of celebrating, what says ‘Yay Happiness!’ better than a glass of champagne…or in this case, sparkling wine? I chose to review the Mionetto Prosecco Brut D.o.c. because I wanted to sample a brut (an appropriate base for Bellinis and Mimosas) and I liked the price!

Vineyard: Mionetto, Italy
Year: NV
Alc: 11%

Price: Regularly $14.99…I measure it was on sale for $12.99 USD!

Prescription: “I’ve got 36 paper cuts, but looking at the Holiday card collage I’ve created; it’s immeasurably worth it…and the bubbly helps with the stinging.”

Review:
Initially I was aiming to check out a French Champagne, but I decided to go with a less expensive option as I intended to buy more than one bottle for all of the awesome celebrating I am fixing to do.

See Jane See: The color is a light yellow.
See Jane Swirl: Pleasantly bubbly and light. Think Goldie Hawn…in the 80’s.
See Jane Smell: Strong aromas of apple, honey, and citrus.
See Jane Sip: Definitely apples and citrus with a very satisfying fizz.
See Jane Swallow: Well-balanced and medium bodied with an off-dry finish.

Rating: Either as the main event or mixed with some OJ (breakfast of champions), I would rate this 4 out of 5 kids driving me to drink this worthy.

Pairing: with paper cuts, scotch tape, an old (or new) friend, and LOTS of Holiday Cheer.

OK, so this may be a sponsored post (yes, we’re getting paid to say nice things)… but, I promise you, they are not paying us to say that this is one of the coolest. gift. ideas. ever.

Windsor Vineyards has been among the top three most award-winning wineries in the U.S for over 50 years. It was actually founded by wine legend Rodney Strong in 1959 (yes, the Rodney Strong!). At that time, so many customers asked Strong to reserve their favorite wines that he started putting their names on the labels. And therein started the tradition of custom, personalized labels.

That’s right, you get to pick the wine and then customize the label. For free (the label, not the wine). Add a photo. Add a personalized message. Or design the whole darn thing yourself, from scratch.

Somehow managed to get a great family photo this year? Bam! Add it to a Windsor Vineyards Merlot and you’ve got the perfect gift for friends and family. Got a funny photo of cousin Thelma from the last Girls’ Night (the one that went a little, well, shall we say, overboard)? Wouldn’t she love to see herself on a bottle of Private Reserve Pinot Grigio!?! OK, maybe not, but it would be funny anyway. Prefer not to see familiar faces on a wine bottle? Then just add a custom message: “Holiday Cheer from Vinny and Stella” or “Sprightly and Gay with Fruity Character” (ok, we stole that last one from a wine bag we saw once).

The best part? They ship their wine to 42 STATES. The list includes many of those states where you usually can’t get wine at your doorstep (that means you, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Massachusetts!) If you are unlucky enough to be from AL, AR, DE, KY, MS, MT, OK, SD, or UT (the only eight states where they aren’t able to ship) you’ll just have to have your wine sent to your relatives across the border.

The wines, starting at $10/bottle are very affordable, especially when you consider the quality. (Remember ladies, these are hand-crafted, award-winning California wines. The kinds you savor—not chug.)

Gift sets range from 2-12 bottles with boxes and more. They even have mini-bottles which would make great favors for your holiday party (way better than the Elvis snow-globe you gave last year). Wine varietals include classics from Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon (a personal fav) and Merlot, to special wines such as Sparklers, Riesling and Gewürztraminer.

Cool, right? Even cooler is the fact that they’re offering a special discount just for us! Use promo code “momneedswine” when you shop and save 20% on all regular priced wines OR use promo code “shipfreemom” and get free shipping on orders over $60.  For more information, and to place your order visit www.windsorvineyards.com

Unless you’re in my book club, in which case, don’t even THINK about stealing my gift idea…

Wine:  Mount Palomar 2008 Bella Cuvee; Mount Palomar Castelletto 2008 Trovato
Vintage: 2008 Bella Cuvee; 2008 Trovato
Alcohol percentage: 14.6% Bella Cuvee; 13.9% Trovato
Found at: The California Wine Club

Did everyone survive the beginning of the holiday season? Our holiday season started a week early, as we planned to cook our Turkey dinner on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. We had the opportunity to spend the holiday in a warmer climate, so we rearranged the date with our family, pulled out the Pilgrim costumes a little early and basted the bird.

I made the decision to share this month’s selection from the California Wine Club with my family because a.) I like to share; b.) My mom doesn’t drink (more for me!) and c.) Wine makes every holiday family gathering better. I uncorked the first bottle, the 2008 Bella Cuvee and poured out some samples. I have had Cuvee in the past, but I have come to learn that they are all very different. This one was a blend of Cinsaut, Charbono and Tannat. Quite honestly, these are 3 varieties that I know very little about. The good news is that we all agreed that this wine was a winner. It was full and round in the mouth, with juicy red fruit flavors. The best thing about this wine was the finish. There was just a hint of mint. Something I have never experienced without a piece of gum in my mouth while drinking… The hint of mint was enough to make us all ponder why things suddenly seemed minty fresh. I slow sipped this wine while nibbling cheese and crackers, and wished I had a second bottle to get me through dessert.

I popped open the second selection to serve with dinner. The Mount Palomar 2008 Trovato is billed as a premium table wine. Hmm…red wine, turkey, and over-eating! My eyes were already starting to close as I neared a tryptophan overdose. This wine was much different than the Bella Cuvee. It was a blend primarily of Sangiovese, a wine I don’t usually choose, however, I was surprised how different it tasted alone, than with food. Alone, I found the wine to be pleasant, not too dry, with a long finish, and maybe a little earthy? But, pair this wine with an olive from the olive tray and bam! It tasted completely different! The earthy tones were more accentuated, and I almost wondered if I was drinking some sort of dirty martini with red wine instead of gin. Everyone agreed that this wine was a great pick for dinner, and it was fun to discuss olives over turkey over mashed potatoes and the different ways the wine presented. Two great picks for the holiday season, and I can say for sure, these wines made our family gathering great!