wine o' the month: bully hill

bully hill

yesterday, craig and i went to 4 wine stores and called several more in search of a delicious wine we enjoyed over the weekend. we finally found it at the final store. (rewind to saturday) in walk michael & melissa (our wedding photographers) with a bottle of red wine called bully hill: love my goat. the bottle had a huge sketch of a semi-angry looking goat on it and was simply called red wine. hmmm. as a red wine drinking newbie, i am often wary of unfamiliar reds, but am always willing to try : ) upon first sip, it was love. with a hint of sweetness, this fruity red is so smooth - not dry on the palate at all. i often feel i can only truly enjoy reds with food, but (beware) this one drinks just fine on its own.

from my intro, you can tell it’s not the easiest to find. (it’s from a small vineyard in upstate new york.) but it’s definitely worth hunting around for…it’s only $8 bottle! we enjoyed it with homemade pizza on saturday and my dad’s meatloaf and potatoes on sunday. it went great with both : )

love my goat

small world moment: craig and i were telling my parents about the wine, and my mom let out a little gasp. she said that for their 2nd anniversary, she and my dad traveled to upstate ny and visited bully hill vineyards and met the owner. she then went into the depths of the pantry and pulled out an old (undrinkable) 1976 vintage from, yes, you guessed it, bully hill.

www.bullyhill.com

so, go forth and (find) love my goat!

don't forget to enter the giveaway!

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bubbly goodness : )



martini rossi asti spumante

 champagne is february's wine of the month.  any of you who have spent any time with me (in person or on my blog) know that i love a good (that's a relative term) champagne.  there's just something about its bubbly goodness that i adore.  it transforms an average evening into a celebration.  and don't even get me started about how much i love it in a vodka cocktail...

so, with the (slightly) new direction my blog is taking with all the new monthly features - like wine of the month.  i figured what better wine to start with than champagne?!  and what better month for champagne than february?  it was kismet.  so, back to champagne.  i don't know about you, but i've never been totally clear on what exactly brut, extra dry, demi sec, etc. indicate.  so, i did a bit of investigating, and here's the deal:

o ultra/extra brut = the most dry*
o brut = very dry
o extra dry/extra sec = less dry than brut or slightly sweeter than brut
o dry/sec = sweet
o demi sec = even sweeter
o doux = sweetest

*dry meaning not sweet or that almost all sugar has turned to alcohol...

picture credit {here}

so, if you like something on the sweet side, opt for sec or demi sec.  if you like dry, try brut.  simple enough.  don't know why it took me so long to figure out... 

some of my personal faves.  don't worry - they're all under $15 a bottle.  yay!

cupcake prosecco - ok, so it's not actually a champagne because only grapes grown in champagne, france can actually make champagne, but it's bubbly none-the-less.  and delicious.  we had it at my sister's birthday dinner at this adorable restaurant last friday, and we all agreed the wine was delish!  i would say it would fall in the extra dry/extra sec category.  you can find it for around $9/bottle : )

martini & rossi asti spumante - so so so good.  perfectly sweet (probably in the demi-sec category) and very smooth.  great with chocolate covered strawberries...hint, hint.  you can find it for around $12/bottle.  not bad, eh?

korbel brut champagne - for those with drier preferences.  korbel is a great stand by for parties.  it's not expensive, but it has a good name and is always reliable when it comes to delivering a good quality bubbly.  you can find it for $14/bottle.

picture credit {here}

so there you have it.  i know i'll definitely put this new knowledge to good use when buying champagne...which we probably won't have to do for a while considering we have about a dozen bottles in the house.  (a lot of lovely engagement gifts.)  good thing i LOVE it!

cheers!  any cheap/good bottle recommendations?

what other fabulousness is coming up this month?  check it out {here}..