For all of our readers in the United States, Friday is the 4th of July Independence Day. For most, this means a day off of work and an opportunity to relax, get some sun, picnic, bbq, grill up some Brats (NOTE: do NOT poke a hole in them while you’re grilling), and drinking beer, Red Zinfandel and Champagne while we get ready for the evenings fireworks.  When the fireworks finally arrive, we’ll most likely be with family and friends contributing to the choir of fireworks with our ooh’s and ahhh’s.

If you are in the mood for traveling, or nearby, you should probably set your sites on one of these cities, as they we’re recently ranked The Top 10 Places to Celebrate July 4th:

1. Boston
2. Cape Cod, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard
3. Chicago
4. Mount Rushmore
5. Philadelphia
6. Queen Mary 2
7. San Diego
8. San Juan Islands
9. US Virgin Islands
10. Washington, DC

Enjoy a safe 4th of July and Happy Birthday America!

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Well my time here in Paris is over and what better may to go than with sparkling wine, a Cremant d’Alsace. Cremant goes through the same process, as Champagne except there is one difference, location. In France and all of Europe for that matter, wine cannot be legally called Champagne unless it is in fact from Champagne. Sparkling wines from outside Champagne in France will usually go by Cremant. Of course there are going to be slight differences in taste due to the terrior. Sparkling wine is popped during times of celebration. This is the end of a great three months and the start of something new as I move to Long Island’s wine country.

I chose this wine because with the unofficial start of summer Alsace is perfect. The white wines here are well known with the Rieslings and Gewurztraminers, and their sparkling wines prosper as well. Another key point is these wines are not expensive at all. Alsace is respected but it doesn’t have the same prestige as Champagne, Burgundy, or Bordeaux. This is great for you. In the US a typical bottle will be between $12 to $20.

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Sour-grapes for Hillary Clinton, whose rotting cynicism is no match for Obama’s sparkle. There’s no doubt that if politicians were wine - Hillary is vinegar and Obama is champagne.

How dare Senator Clinton come out against Senator Obama, after his over rated comments about small-town America being bitter, with a series of photo-opportunities, going through the motions with a camera crew in tow - and in one audacious clip, pausing to have a sip of beer and drink a shot!

Oh sure Hillary, you drink beer so that makes you working-class.

The idea that a certain product can dictate one’s class is especially infuriating to a real wine-drinker, who recognizes wine’s essentially humble and agricultural roots - much the same as beer. That Clinton thinks that she can relate to the working class man with a photo-op drinking beer demonstrates that she is in fact far more derisory of the working class than she would dare let on. Although Obama may be on record saying that people cling to guns and religion because of economic uncertainty (which may not be entirely untrue), for Clinton to respond by taking a sip of beer and drinking a shot means that she thinks the best way to get the attention of the working class is to show an affinity for the bottle (which is slanderous.) Unwittingly, and thus tellingly, she implies that middle-class America are a bunch of drunks.

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It was announced today that the Champagne region of France is expanding to meet world demand and we’re pretty excited about it. Once thought of as a celebratory drink for only special occasions, Champagne and sparkling wine are quickly becoming the wine of choice for many around the world. Among new wine drinkers and millennials, it seems that we actually prefer champagne even as a complement to our food. It’s the natural effervescence that adds to flavor depth and antioxidant health benefits, that combine to make Champagne and sparkling wine the all around global drink. It’ll be great to see different types and flavors appear on the shelves at decent price points, while still maintaining the natural quality and mystique. We’ve always believed that wine is the one taste substance that everyone around the world shares, and maybe this news is a small sign that we’re starting to celebrate more together.

For more reading see: Champagne - A New Year Tradition

When buying a bottle of Champagne, if the label says from “Champagne, France“,“methode traditionelle”, or “Méthode Champenoise”, the wine is in fact truly a “Champagne“. All other wines are “Sparkling Wine”. While this does sound somewhat snobbish and aristocratic, it does serve a good purpose in protecting the brand of the area. Another example of this type of “rule” that you may be more familiar with is the Vidalia Onion, which you can easily cook with champagne, or sparkling wine, to create some great hors d’oeuvres for this New Year.

You have to check out these Champagne Onion recipes we found over at The Gilded Fork. I’m going to make them tomorrow, and have a good idea at the different flavors I can create by using different combinations of sparkling wine and onions.

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