Jeff and I had such fun chatting about wines for Mother’s Day gifts on Canada AM, especially champagne for brunch. There’s even a “live action” shot with uncorking a sparkler. (Okay, not so much.)
Here are my Top 20 Wines for Mother’s Day, either made by women or named for them. Often the latter were originally made by women.
You’ll also find more suggestions in my Mother’s Day wines for Epicurious as well as for More Magazine.
Jeff: It’s Mother’s Day, of course, on Sunday, and if you are planning on taking her out for brunch, you might want to bring along a bottle of bubbly. Today we are raising a glass to all the mums out there with the help of Natalie MacLean, a certified Sommelier, and author of Unquenchable. Good morning, how are, nice to see you again.
Natalie: Good morning Jeff, great, great to be here.
Jeff: So you are suggesting here for mother, some bubbly entries, we are going to start with Henry of Pelham first.
Natalie: Yes, and this is a wonderful bubbly from Niagara, you’ll see that we have both the rosé and the regular. And they are about half the price of champagne. So they are about 25 or 30 dollars, wonderful for Mother’s Day brunch. I thought I’d just open one.
Jeff: Sure, and again, I think people have to realize too, it has to come from the Champagne region to be called champagne.
Natalie: To be called champagne, that’s right. These are sparkling wines. Even though they use the same methods and the same grapes, we call them sparkling wines.
Okay, I’m just going to check where your lights are, this is as live action as wines get.
Jeff: I’ll stand back here, I forgot my sword.
Natalie: Okay, whoa, here we go. Alright. Good.
Jeff: So then we’ll pour here, I’ll just move that out of the way. So again the rosé, and what would the main difference taste-wise be between these two.
Natalie: Well I find a rosé, because it has a larger percentage of Pinot Noir in it, it’s one of my favorites, because you can see not only the beautiful pink color, but it’s got these field raspberries and strawberries, it’s just lovely.
Jeff: And the aroma of a rosé just immediately leaps into your nostrils.
Natalie: Yes, it does. If you are a Pinot Noir lover, you will love a rosé.
Jeff: Now, so these are about 30 bucks for each of these. Now, this is a Veuve Clicquot.
Natalie: Veuve Clicquot. And what’s really interesting about both Veuve Clicquot and Bollinger is that these wineries were run by women at the turn of the century. So Veuve means widow, they lost their husbands either to war or sickness, took over the wineries, and built some of France’s biggest luxury brands, so I think that is really appropriate for Mother’s Day.
Jeff: No kidding, that’s a great story actually, I didn’t know that. So you’ve got the Veuve Clicquot and the Bollinger here, and so this is about 30 dollars and this is about 70, this is a real treat. So you are a Sommelier, taste comparison between the two, can you do that, or is that a no-no in the world of wine?
Natalie: Oh I’m always comparing, I’m always looking for great value. But I would say that both of these wines represent great value. They taste like the place where they come from.
So this is pure Niagara goodness; this is classic champagne toastiness, as is the Bollinger. So it just depends on your budget. But I wouldn’t say you know that this is twice as good as this, but you know, great value.
Jeff: So if you were going to sit down and have a brunch, for example, with some bubbly, sparking wines, champagnes, what should you be having? What compliments a sparkling wine the most?
Natalie: More sparkling wine? Who needs mimosa?
Jeff: That’s a very good answer!
Natalie: Sparkling wine is one of those most food friendly wines on the planet because you get this swarm of bubbles, the effervescence, the acidity. So when we’ve got some really tough matches, like omelets, or quiche, or croissants, whatever we’re having with Mother’s Day brunch, bubbly is your wine.
Jeff: Let me tell you this, a lot of people keep bubbly for special occasions like Mother’s Day, like New Years, like birthdays. Should they be? A lot of people stay with traditional red and white. But you can drink this anytime.
Natalie: Absolutely, it makes it just a special occasion just opening it. Really.
Jeff: I’ve never seen anyone with all the answers, that is fantastic.
Natalie: I love my job.
Jeff: No kidding. Cheers to you, and I appreciate it.
Natalie: Nataliemaclean.com, I’ve posted these favorite bubblies for Mother’s Day.
Posted with permission of CTV.
