Don't Judge a Wine by It's Price

As an instructor at Western Culinary Institute, whenever we were doing wine tastings students would often ask how I knew a good wine when I tasted it? The simple answer is always, "If you like it, it's a good wine." It really doesn't matter if a wine costs $4.00, $40.00 or $400.00, if it's something you enjoy drinking, then it's worth every penny you paid for it. In fact, for all of you who watch your spending (who doesn't in these economic trying times) finding a delicious wine for an affordable price is like finding gold in an abandoned mine in California; it's a treasure to be valued. My most recent find was shared with me by my dear cousin Sammie Jo. For brunch on Mother's Day she was serving what else, but mimosa's, champagne mixed with orange juice, and the champagne she used was called Schloss Biebrich. Strictly speaking it is sparkling wine and not champagne as wine can only be labeled as 'champagne' if it comes from france and made from any combination of three grape varietal; pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay. This particular sparkling wine hails from Germany therefore cannot be dubbed champagne, but I digress. The point is, I tried the wine sans orange juice and absolutely loved it. I have searched long and hard for a sparkling wine/champagne that I enjoyed as much as a 2002 Louis Roederer Cristal that I tried several years ago at a champagne tasting. Seeing as a bottle of that costs around $200.00, I'm been looking for something a little closer to my price point. The Schloss Biebrich is my personal diamond in the rough. This great little bottle of sparkling costs a mere $4.99 at Trader Joe's. Jackpot! I'm so excited by this find. I havent' found a wine treasure like this in forever. If you enjoy sparkling wine half as much as I do, or you have a celebration coming up and can't bear another bottle of Cooks or Andres, then try Schloss Biebrich in the Sekt style. Prost!