Making Mimosas without Champagne?

Fast facts:

• NV Mumm Napa, Brut Rosé , Napa, California ($14.99 @ Costco, California – Item #438577)

 

Well, here we are.  Down to the final seven days of 2021.

What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Regardless, ’tis the season for celebration, hence the need to keep lots of bubbly on hand.  Whether it’s Prosecco, Cava, legit champagne or its California equivalent, sparkling wine (like this one) you can’t go wrong having some bottles of some effervescent wine beverage in your personal wine inventory, well-chilled.

 

Front label of Mumm Napa Brut Rosé ,

just don’t call it champagne

 

You’d be forgiven for confusing this California sparkling wine with champagne.  After all, Mumm Napa was an offshoot of GH Mumm, the leading international champagne brand in France. Established in California in the late 1970’s Mumm Napa follows the traditional winemaking techniques of its French heritaage to create some of the finest, hand-crafted sparkling wines in the world.  But this bottling is not French, therefore not champagne.

Champagne is a specific wine producing region in the northeastern corner of France. California sparkling wine is not champagne. Spanish Cava is not champagne.  Nor is Italian Prosecco.  Even the relatively new and relatively good sparkling wines from across the channel in England (which may or may not share some of the same chalky geology that helps make their French counterparts unique) can not claim to be Champagne.  But we consumers make the mistake frequently.

One other little fun fact: Champagne with a capital C is used when referring to the geographical region in France where these wines are produced; champagne with a lower case C is used when referring to the wine itself.

Since we have drawn the your attention to the proper use of capitalization when referring to this celebratory beverage, here is a mnemonic device that might come in handy for a variety of reasons: “champagne only comes from Champagne.”  Hence, saying “champagne from Champagne” is redundant.

All that said, the wine is a really good value at $14.99.  It sells elsewhere for over $20.

 

Tasting Notes:

Rich pink, almost salmon colored with nice clarity. Strawberry, citrus and raspberry flavors abound with a nice clean finish that has the traditional notes of yeast and biscuit.  One sip, begs for more.

 

 

Thank you all for sharing our 2021 wine journey.  We wish you and yours a peaceful and restful holiday season.

 

Need More Wine Picks from Costco – or Trader Joe’s Even?

If your holiday wine shopping excursions land you in Costco, prepare by grazing our most recent reviews of Costco wines here in our Lucky 13 list.

And if your shopping finds you at Trader Joe’s, you can find our Lucky 13 list of TJ’s wine here.

Happy hunting.

 

Cheers!