Brush Up On Bubbly
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

Wine writers, like other service workers, are in thrall to seasonality. If it’s summer, you can be sure you won’t be reading about vintage port. And if New Year’s Eve is imminent, the inevitable topic is champagne. After all, New Year’s Eve without champagne is as unimaginable as Thanksgiving without turkey, or the New York Knicks without arguments.
But by now, you’ve already been fizzed, frothed, bubbled, and effervesced ad nauseum about sparkling wines. Do you really want to read yet more advice about how you just haven’t lived large enough unless you spring for some champagne house’s trumped-up super luxury cuvée?
This year, you might consider celebrating New Year’s a bit differently. So what should you serve to see in the New Year? Much depends, of course, on the company. Are they wine lovers? Or your lover? Is it going to be a large, roll-up-the-rug-anddance crowd? Or will it be an intimate dinner party of weary New Year’s Eve veterans who long ago had their fill of excess and now wish only to go a little more gently into the New Year’s night?
HERE’S THE (NEW YEAR’S EVE) DEAL
WHAT YOU SERVE TO WINE LOVERS — This will surprise you, I know, but trust me on this: You want to serve magnums (1.5 liters) of Barbera d’Alba 2004, Giacomo Conterno.
The great Piedmontese estate Giacomo Conterno created a stunning, surprisingly drinkable barbera in the 2004 vintage. Pristine in its flavor definition, this smooth red wine is free of any intrusive oakiness and is more memorable than many wine lovers might imagine possible for a barbera. It’s that good. Chambers Street Wines and D. Sokolin have magnums at $79.95, as well as regular-size bottles (750 milliliters) for $33 and $30, respectively.
WHAT YOU SERVE TO YOUR LOVER — In a word, Volnay. No pinot noir from anywhere is more seductive than those from the Burgundy village called Volnay. For an intimate dinner à deux, you want it.
More specifically, you want a bottle from the 2002 vintage, which was an especially good vintage for Volnay and, although still young, is already showing beautifully. Look for any Volnay from Domaine d’Angerville, which is one of Volnay’s greatest growers. Zachys offers several different 2002s, including the single-vineyard bottlings from Caillerets ($85), Fremiets ($65), and Champans ($75). Park Avenue Liquor has d’Angerville’s 2002 Volnay “Taillepied” for $95.
If your pocketbook is plump (or if you’re looking to pop the question), then you won’t regret spending $300 for the otherworldly greatness of Domaine Leroy’s Volnay “Santenots du Milieu” 2002, also at Zachys. Look also for 2002 Volnays from such great producers as Domaine Lafarge and Domaines des Comtes Lafon.
WHAT YOU SERVE TO PARTY ANIMALS — Here, it’s not size that counts, but quantity. The trick is to find the always popular combination of good and cheap.
For sparkling wine, I still haven’t come across a better deal than Gruet Blanc de Noir at $12.95. It’s leagues beyond the Spanish competition at pretty much the same (low) price. Indeed, it’s even better than some French champagnes, believe it or not. So there’s your bubbly problem solved.
For white wine, Chateau Haut Rian 2005 is the winning ticket. In a year’s worth of looking for dry white wine deals, I’ve yet to come across a more succulent, flavorful, crowdpleasing dry white than Bordeaux’s Chateau Haut Rian. Composed of semillon (65%) and sauvignon blanc (35%), it has scents of grapefruit, honey, and tropical fruits with a distinct note of minerals. All that for $8.50 a bottle. Widely distributed.
What You Serve to an Intimate Dinner Party — I’d start with — oh, all right — a champagne such as Roederer Estate l’Ermitage 1999, which is arguably California’s best sparkling wine and a steal for $30 at Acker Merrall & Condot; also at Morrell & Co., for $35, among other shops.
Then I’d present a dry white wine from Vouvray’s greatest grower, Domaine Huet, such as the bracingly rich, yet dry 2005 Vouvray “Le Haut Lieu Sec” ($26 at Chambers Street Wine), which brims with minerality and flavor precision.
For red, a Chambolle Musigny from Domaine Jacques-Frédéric Mugnier will have the palates prancing and their tongues dancing. Mugnier’s 2004 village-level Chambolle is lovely pinot noir (about $70 at Zachys, Le Du’s Wines, and Chambers Street Wines). More thrilling — and much more expensive — are Mugnier’s 2004 vintage single-vineyards such as Les Amoureuses ($250 at Zachys), Bonnes Mares ($250 at Crush Wine and Spirits), and Musigny ($300 at Chambers Street Wines). Look also for these same wines in the 2003 vintage and, especially the 2002 vintage as well.