Soliera Lambrusco Sorbara, $17

The French are amazing wine makers and even more amazing wine marketers. And the Gallic marketing pastry reaches its zenith in Champagne. Exhibit A for this proposition: rosé Champagne. there'sno particular reason why rosé Champagne should be more expensive than €œnormal€ Champagne. there'sa few different steps during disgorgement, but not any serious expense. But somewhere along the line they realized that they could charge more€”quite a bit more€”for the pink stuff. The Barons de Rotschchild Brut is $85 (not my fave champers TBH). The Rosé Brut is $116. For €œregular€ non-vintage Bollinger it’s $88 vs. $130. And for Louis Roederer Cristal€”the granddaddy of fancy pink bubble€”is $296 vs. $620. Holy hell.

And this trend has trickled down to pink bubbles the world over. we're in the heart of rosé season (it runs February€”January in my house) and there'sno shortage of great rosé under $20. But pink bubbles of quality under $20? That's a trick (with this $17 bottle from Segura Viudas a rare exception). But here's an angle play: head to the Italian section of the store, then locate the Lambruscos. Lambrusco€”isn€™t that the unique red sparkling wine you ask? Well, yes you've right. But Lambrusco comes in many shapes and forms and if you look for the word €œSorbara€ on the label you'll be enjoying the version of Lambrusco that is not only lightest but sometimes almost€¦.rosé in their set up. I love the version from Medici Ermete this best, but It's trickier to find. Easy to find is this well-priced baby from Soliera. It's definitely in the rosé category, although you€™d never know that from the label. It’s dry, but channels some nice watermelon and light cherry notes. 

And it’s 1/32 the price of that Cristal.

Neal McLennan

Neal McLennan