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Wine & Spirits magazine throws one heck of a party.  The annual “Top 100 Wines” soiree was on Wednesday night in San Francisco.  You do not want to miss it.  Quite simply, where else are you going to taste a 1988 Veuve Cliquot Champagne, Shafer’s Hillside Select or see a bottle of bubbly opened and disgorged under water.

That’s right.  Not just opening the bottle.  Disgorging it too (expelling the yeast sediment), all under water, right before you drink it.

Movia is a winery in Slovenia, — gaining more and more media attention, and not just from Wine & Spirits. [profile in Food & Wine] Movia brought their 2002 “Puro” rose sparkling wine to show along with the top rated Ribolla, a varietal common to Slovenia. Puro stole the show.

The bottle is turned upside down, and the neck submerged in water.  The cage is removed.  After a few minutes, the pressure builds up, and all of a sudden, the cork pops out, along with the yeast plug.  It’s really quite amazing.  The wine is ready to pour and enjoy.

Notice the cork pops out on its own.  I’ve seen other videos of Puro where someone twists the cork out of the bottle, still under water.

Why do they do this?  I was told the wine tastes fresher, a little more creamy due to the extra time spent on the yeast lees (sur lie).  Movia also feels that disgorging at time of corking versus right before opening the bottle to drink robs the wine of rich flavor.

Sure enough, the wine is clear and yeast sediment free.  No complaints on the taste, it’s a mighty fine sparkler.

Give it a try?  You can find Movia sparkling rose online, prices I’ve seen are in the $39-$49 range.

Disgorging is the step, in making Champagne, or sparkling wine the traditional way, where yeast sediment is removed just before corking, putting the cage on and wrapping the neck in foil.  The yeast is captured in a small plastic cup that’s right under the crown cap on the bottle.  The bottles are dipped in a solution to freeze the yeast plug, then it is removed, or disgorged, under high pressure.  The frozen yeast plug flies out, then the wine is topped off, corked and the wire cage and foil is put on.

Spring is now here! The pink wine was flowing at the Pink Out! event in San Francisco. It’s an annual happening celebrating Rose´wines, put on by the Rose´Advocates & Producers (RAP).  It’s a great reason to break out your pink clothes and accessories. Real men do drink and wear pink! And yes, that’s my pink shoe.

Rose´ wines are fantastic — dry and crisp and light, perfect for warm weather drinking. Rose´ is made from a variety of grapes, from Pinot Noir to Syrah to Tempranillo.

I tasted old and new favorites, so here’s my shout out list.

My “go to” Rose´ bottlings:
Lucia – a Rose´ of Pinot Noir from the Pisoni family. Zippy with lots of strawberry

Blackbird “Arriviste” -A beautiful Rose´ of Merlot

Azur Rose´ – I first discovered Julien Fayard’s delicious Rose´ at last year’s Pink Out. It’s as good as ever, a classic southern France-style wine, dry and crisp.

Discoveries:
Dunstan Wines Durell Vineyard – a rose of Pinot Noir, floral and strawberry notes. That’s Chris Towt holding the bottle. A man not afraid to wear pink — with a cowboy hat!

Amorosa Bella NV brut Rose´ – a sparkling Rose´that’s a blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, made by Ziggy Eschliman, radio superstar “The Wine Gal.” It’s bright and lively and just a big yum!

Hendry Winery – a rose that’s a mouthwatering blend of Cabernet and Zinfandel.

Dacalier Wine Co – a Southern Rhone-style blend of Grenache and Mourvedre

Lasseter Family Winery – a classic GSM Rose´- Greanache-Syrah-Mourvedre blend. A lot of buzz about this wine from John Lasseter (Pixar) and family.

Best Values:
Wines from France’s Loire Valley, home to those amazing chateaux (or castles), were the steal of the event. These wines, called Rose´ d’Anjou, are about $10 per bottle! An easy wine to sip for the money. Seek these out in your local wine shop! Producers pouring at Pink Out! included Sauvion, Remy Pannier, Barton & Guestier and Marquis de Goulaine.

Best wine story
We were told that the Ros´ from French producer Chateau Minuty will be served at the Canned Film Festival, and we’re drinking this newly released Rose´ Cru Classe before the stars get to try it.

And finally, TasteLive.com made a splashy debut at Pink Out! I was interviewed about the event by Alan Kropf, editor of Mutineer magazine. It’s about 5 minutes, check it out here. It was shot/recorded by a computer camera, and as you can see, the field of view not big enough for both interviewer and interviewee. Ah well, I was in head-to-toe pink, even had on bright fushia lipstick and gloss.
http://www.tastelive.com/pinkout/events/rap-pink-out-san-francisco-2010

Hanukkah has begun. It’s time for lighting the menora, 8 nights of gifts and best of all latkes and jelly donuts.  But the wine? Manishevitz doesn’t do it. My pick is bubbly. Sparkling wine pairs terrifically with crisp latkes (fried potato cakes) or sufganiyot(fried donuts filled with jelly) which are traditional Hanukkah foods.  Actually bubbles go with ANY fried food and this is a holiday that celebrates oil.  Go ahead, try a glass with French fries or potato chips.  Why sparkling?  The bubbles help cut through the oil and refresh the palate.  Plus sparkling wine is versatile and goes with both sweet and savory dishes, so you only need one wine.

Yes, French Champagne is expensive, but the American sparkling wines are more affordable and equally fantastic, if not better in some cases. For every day value you can’t go wrong with Domaine Ste. Michelle, a producer in Washington state. You’ll find bottles of their blanc de blancs for $10 – $12. Another good one is Mumm Napa’s brut prestige that goes for about $15 – $18.

For a little splurge – it is the holidays – two of my favorites. Iron Horse makes a wonderful classic vintage brut ($33) and Schramsberg’s blanc de blancs ($36) is a nice choice too.

What about kosher sparkling wine? I haven’t had it, but Baron Herzog offers a brut. I’d love to know if you’ve had a kosher bubbly and what you think of it.

Wine is made in all 50 states of the USA, in Mexico, in Canada, South America, Europe, China, Africa. And now you can add Georgia to that list, although we’re 7000 years behind in recognizing this country as a wine producer. One winery wants to change that and held a debut party of sorts in San Francisco.

Bagrationi is a sparkling wine producer, making bubbly since 1882 when they became the first winery to do so in the Georgia region. The winery’s representatives in the US were pouring 4 wines.

Two of them, the classic brut and classic extra dry are made in the methode Charmat, from three grape varieties I’m pretty sure you’ve not heard of: Chiuri, Mstsvane and Tsitska. Methode Charmat means the wine goes through the 2nd fermentation — which is responsible for the bubbles — in big tanks. If you drink Prosecco then you’ve had a sparkling wine made the same way. I prefered the classic brut, which was crisp and light.

Bubblies made in the methode Champenoise have a second fermantation that happens in the bottle. Bagrationi was also pouring two wines made in the methode Champenoise, a reserve and royal cuvee. Both are 2007 vintage wines, while the brut and extra dry are both non-vintage. I really liked the reserve, also made with the same three grapes. The royal cuvee grew on me, especially after tasting it paired to a hamachi appetizer. Both were fruity and crisp with a nice complexity in the nose and on the palate.

Where can you get a taste?  Right now these wines are available at a handful of restaurants and retailers in the San Francisco Bay area and the Los Angeles area.  Online you can go t0 www.barclayswine.com