Actually, that old song must have been praising the effects of a sparkling wine that ..."makes me feel fine." I don't think we are supposed to see bubbles in a regular wine - or any that are being advertised.
Sparkling wines I've tried so far are just okay with me; Champagne is quite nice, especially the dry type. There are laws now preventing the use of the name "Champagne" to denote any product not fermented in the specific area of France where it originated, hence the more recent proliferation of "sparkling wines" produced in the U.S. So if I were to sample a number of these, I might find some that I would enjoy as much as the original "bubbly."
Today, I am simply going to indulge in the tasting of several as-yet-unreleased wine products of the South Coast Winery in Temecula, CA. Well, to be honest, my wife and I will probably sample a few offerings at another tasting room or three, easily visited as part of the amazing array of wineries along the major road through the south side of Temecula. Our southern wine country is rapidly becoming a true competitor to Napa and Sonoma valleys, up north of San Francisco. The likely new wines we will be tasting are not the sparkling types but Cabernets, Merlots, Chardonnays and Zinfandels. No doubt, I will love several of them and almost certainly will bring home a bottle or two of some especially tasty product.
Bear in mind, I am no connoisseur of the fruit of the vine. More likely, I would come across the way Walter Matthau did in the movie, "Grumpy Old Men." There is almost always a box of wine in my refrigerator, and the bottles I "invest" in are used as gifts taken to dinners when invited by friends. My tastes in wine were never cultivated. My earliest experiences with wine tasting were in my pre-teens, but the "vintner" was my dad who produced home-made delights such as watermellon wine, elderberry wine, currant wine and dandelion wine. I'm not at all sure he ever got around to trying grapes!
Come to think of it, I had the perfect foundation to become that connoisseur, but as with many of my early awakenings in this life, the wine connection was left behind and almost forgotten. I wonder what my dad might think if he could visit the opulent settings we will enjoy today. We don't go often, but since the pleasurable adventure is less than an hour's drive from home, we treat ourselves now and then to the taste of some really fine wines. No sour grapes here!
Next Day: So what did we bring home? Three bottles of FLAVORED SPARKLING wine! There's no explanation except to say I try to keep an open mind.
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