The Pink Shoe Diaries

I believe that the achievement of life's milestones are worth celebrating.

Events like weddings, retirement parties, engagement parties, the-first-time-you- get-designer-shoes-on-clearance celebrations, etc.

And I believe there is one way to celebrate such milestones: with champagne

Yesterday I recieved my first ever bonus at my job, something I was not expecting and very excited about. So, to celebrate, I stopped at our local liquor store on the way home to pick up some bubbly to celebrate with Adam.

I have to confess that I am a bit of a champagne neophyte. Besides knowing that real champagne only comes from France, and knowing that I love Veuve Cliquot, I know really nothing else. Normally at restaurants they only offer 1 or 2 sparklings by the glass (that cost under $20) so I never really have a tough choice to make.

And I have another confession to make: I am a bottle whore. Note that I did not say "label whore" because I could not care a whit about what vineyard or region it is from. But a pretty bottle? This is something that turns my head. An interesting cork decoration? Have To Have It!

So last night, I come across this spumante (Italian sparkling wine):



Note the pretty gold top? The nice shape? Counter in the facts that I was already laden down with a bottle of Jameson and two bottles of pinot gris, and that it was reasonably priced and you know now why it had to come home with me.

So after dining on a celebratory dinner of artichoke and goat cheese stuffed chicken breasts, we cracked open the bubbly.

Now, I am bit of a wus when it comes to popping champagne bottles. Simply put? It freaks me out. I like both of my eyes and would like them to stay intact. So I moved over to the sink, put a dish towel over the cap and twisted, with my eyes tightly clenched.

Pop

I made the font small because that's what the sound was. Tiny. And little wonder since it was a SCREW CAP!

Now, I am no slouch. I don't mind screw cap wine. In fact I sometimes prefer it. It travels better than regular corked wine (I never have a corkscrew around when I need one). The Ca' Del Solo line of wines is screw cap and I adore them. And although the idea of a screw top sparkling was slightlty off putting, whatevs. Let me at those bubbles.

So Adam and I clinked glasses, toasted to each other (he also got a bonus and a promotion earlier in the month) and sipped. It was sweet, it was slightly fizzy.

It was Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler*: The sparkling version



Not literally..but basically.

So I went to the label (which I ought to have done first) and examined the text under the word "Spumante"

"Italian malt beverage"

Say what??

I guess this is what happens when you look more at the bottle than at the label. But you know, it was not half bad.

So I guess what I learned is: why drink champagne when you can drink champagne coolers?

*They recently reissued the Original B&J which I never got to sample the first time around, being underaged and whatnot, but I find it now to be 1) actually quite tasty and 2) silly and conversation provoking. Not a bad combo