In the June heat, even the crispest Riesling can feel a little flat. So we're seeking relief in sparkling wines—they come in every color and flavor, and the best ones can cost less than a movie ticket. Behold the most unexpected, thirst-quenching booze of the season.
Picture a summer afternoon. It was hot. I was poor. The bearded sage at my local wine shop handed me a surprising remedy—a Vinho Verde, gently fizzing with tiny bubbles, that clocked in at (wait for it!) nine bucks. Nine also happened to be the percentage of alcohol. Which meant that an hour later, on my roof with a friend, I was in the Happy Place: pleasantly buzzed (bubbly, you might say), but not blitzed.
Who started the lie that sparkling wine is for special occasions only? Yes, of course, it should be consumed during wedding receptions and the annual New Year's hunt for a one-night friend—but why stop there? After all, there's a huge middle ground between Dom Pérignon and housewife spritzers. Sommeliers call these alternative sparklers frizzante, which is geekspeak for light and effervescent without shooting carbonation up your nose. They're unexpected, quintessentially summery, and a hell of a lot more interesting than another chilled Chardonnay.
Buy them young, buy them cheap (no need to spend more than $25), and please refrain from toggling into sommelier mode when you break one out at your next barbecue, beach picnic, or random Monday night. Don't bother trotting out your fanciest crystal. You can serve them in wineglasses, highball glasses, Mason jars—whatever's in your cabinet. The money you save on stemware can go toward another couple of bottles.
Ameztoi Rubentis Txakolina 2012
price: $21
Think you're not a rosé guy? This bone-dry pink from Basque Country—made so close to the beach you can taste sea breeze— will convert you.
Vigneto Saetti Lambrusco 2011
price: $16
Italians guzzle this frothy stuff because it's got the zing of cherries with the funk of truffles.
Broadbent Vinho Verde 2012
price: $9
This ultralight Portuguese white delivers all the zip and quench of a margarita, no mixing required.
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Who started the lie that sparkling wine is for special occasions only? Yes, of course, it should be consumed during wedding receptions and the annual New Year's hunt for a one-night friend—but why stop there? After all, there's a huge middle ground between Dom Pérignon and housewife spritzers. Sommeliers call these alternative sparklers frizzante, which is geekspeak for light and effervescent without shooting carbonation up your nose. They're unexpected, quintessentially summery, and a hell of a lot more interesting than another chilled Chardonnay.
Buy them young, buy them cheap (no need to spend more than $25), and please refrain from toggling into sommelier mode when you break one out at your next barbecue, beach picnic, or random Monday night. Don't bother trotting out your fanciest crystal. You can serve them in wineglasses, highball glasses, Mason jars—whatever's in your cabinet. The money you save on stemware can go toward another couple of bottles.
Ameztoi Rubentis Txakolina 2012
price: $21
Think you're not a rosé guy? This bone-dry pink from Basque Country—made so close to the beach you can taste sea breeze— will convert you.
Vigneto Saetti Lambrusco 2011
price: $16
Italians guzzle this frothy stuff because it's got the zing of cherries with the funk of truffles.
Broadbent Vinho Verde 2012
price: $9
This ultralight Portuguese white delivers all the zip and quench of a margarita, no mixing required.
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