Ben's Bubbly: La Marca Prosecco

Well, we survived our first family bout of the stomach flu. We found out that playing pass the puking baby and then change your clothes is not fun. At least he was feeling better by the time we caught the bug. Three of the four babies at Ben's daycare were out last week and no less than eight other family members of the babes were stricken, too. I'm still not feeling 100% four days later.

In better news, Ben has started pretending to talk on our cell phones. He has always been fascinated by them and wanted to chew on them, but now he will pick up the phone and hold it to his ear and babble. It took me almost twenty one years to get my first cell phone, but I have a feeling I won't be able to keep Ben from getting one of his own for that long. Actually, he already has one as we gave him an old one (sans battery), but he still would rather play with one of ours.

La Marca Prosecco

My run of disappointment with Prosecco continues with this pretty little bottle. The robin's egg blue label is eye catching and as I saw in a liquor store yesterday, the La Marca received 90 points from a major wine publication. I don't do points, but if I did I can tell you that this does not strike me as an outstanding wine. Nice, sure. But definitely not outstanding, or whatever 90 points is supposed to mean these days. It is almost clear in color with only the slightest suggestion of a yellow tint. The nose is equally underwhelming. There is a bit of apple and lemon, but not much else. On the palate, faint flavors of baked apple, banana and a twist of lemon are noticeable for a few brief seconds before your taste buds reset. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this wine, but it is not at all that interesting. 11% abv. Gift $15. Good

Meet the Winemaker: Keith and Diana Read (Cottonwood Cellars and The Olathe Winery)

Cottonwood Cellars is located on California Mesa. It just happens that California Mesa is located in sweet corn country near the town of Olathe, CO and not in its namesake state. However, the proprietors have a California connection. Diana Read is the face of Cottonwood Cellars and her husband Keith is the winemaker. They produce old-world style wines and are one of two local producers, that I know of, making Lemberger. Despite not displaying the bold fruit flavors of other Colorado wineries, Cottonwood Cellars took home the top award for the red wine at the state winemaking competition in 2011 (this will be renamed the Governor's Cup this year!).

Cottonwood Cellars is also taking full advantage of a Colorado statute that allows local wineries to operate five off-site tasting rooms. You can taste and buy the wine at the winery, of course, but also at Colorado Winery Row and at Coffee at the Point in Denver and at Cowbells in Woodland Park. Very few other wineries take advantage of this law and Cottonwood will soon fill its allotment this year with plans for two new tasting rooms. Wherever you are in the state, I'm sure you'll be able to find a bottle of Cottonwood Cellars that you can sip on while read our interview with Diana Read.

Ben's Bubbly: Chateau Vincent Brut

We officially have a toddler. Ben is now walking more than he crawls and he even stands up on his own without pulling himself up on something. He has also taken up the sport of hockey! He got two hockey sticks from his grandparents for Christmas and he really is quite adept at using them to play with a tennis ball (or any other toy within reach). I need to get him kicking a soccer ball before he decides that hockey is the sport for him. In addition to the new mobility independence, Ben is feeding himself for most of his meals. We usually give him bite-sized pieces of his food, which he scoops up with his fingers and places in his mouth. We have to pace ourselves or else he'll fill up his entire mouth like a hamster. Even when we try to use a spoon, Ben usually wants to grab the spoon and do it himself. This has led to rather messy meal times and multiple clothing changes throughout the day. Good thing he has more clothes than we know what to do with!

Chateau Vincent, Brut, Hungary

I've had this wine a few years ago and thought it would be an interesting addition to the is little experiment. Plus, it is not too often that one finds 10-yr old Hungarian sparkling wine sitting on a retailers shelf, though surprisingly this isn't the first Hungarian bubbly we've had this past year. This wine is showing its maturity with its dark golden color. The nose is relatively muted, but there was a pleasant toastiness followed by a background of citrus and apple. The flavors mirrored the aromas by showing orange and yeast. Overall, I don't have much else to say about this wine. It was not unpleasant, but nothing exciting or worth revisiting one more time in the future. 12% abv Purchased $12. Average/Good

Meet the Winemaker: Parker Carlson (Carlson Vineyards)

Parker Carlson

Parker Carlson is an icon of the Colorado wine industry. Carlson Vineyards is one of the oldest continuously operating winery in the state. Started in 1988, Carlson Vineyards is known for its locally themed wine names. As the proprietors are "cat people," they offer a three lines of wines with the monikers Fat Cat, Laughing Cat and Cougar Run. Parker also has fun (he has quite a sense of humor as you may gather from the interview...) with western Colorado's geologic history by branding his Lemberger, Tyranosaurus Red. Despite the negative associations with the unfortunately named Lemberger, T-Red is one of the more popular local wines in the state. But what Carlson Vineyards is best known for is its Riesling. In 2004, their 2003 Riesling was declared the World Riesling Champion at the International Eastern Wine Competition. If you like Austrian and German grape varieties (riesling, Gewürztraminer or Lemberger (Blaufränkisch)), Carlson Vineyards should be on your list of wines to buy!

Ben's Bubbly: Kirkland Champange

It is amazing how much can change in a week. Last week, Ben was beginning to take a few "independent" steps here and there. Now, the child is walking across the house. In fact, he is now walking as often as he crawls. If he can pull himself up on something, he will then use his feet to stumble like a drunk cowboy around the house. However, if he really wants to get somewhere fast he'll plop down and crawl with a vengeance. Despite having a low-grade fever, a leaky nose and a cough for the past few days, he is being a trooper during the day. The nights are a different story, unfortunately. One of these days, I am confident we will sleep through the night again.

Kirkland Signature Champagne, Brut

For those of you that don't know, Kirkland Signature is Costco's store brand. Now, of course Costco does not make Champagne, but has the wine privately labeled by an actual Champagne house; Janisson et Fils. With the current hype surrounding Grower Champagne, most consumers only know that the label codes RM and NM differentiate between Récoltant manipulant (farmer fizz) and Négociant manipulant (larger houses). Little do most Champagne consumers know that there are five other producer designations found on bottles. In the case of the Kirkland bubbly, it is designated as Marque auxiliaire (MA), which is a brand that is unrelated to the actual producer, such as Kirkland Signature. I doubt that you will see this designation much in the U.S., though you might find it more often if you were shopping at a supermarket in France.

It is darker than most other bubblies that we have poured over the past 46 weeks. It is a pretty amber color with medium-sized bubbles. The nose is a bit muted, but with a little citrus fruit. I was quite surprised that this wine showed so much tart grapefruit flavors along with a slight nuttiness. It was so tart that it wasn't all that pleasant on its own, but a bit of food made it a bit better. You can't beat this price for true Champagne, but unfortunately it doesn't come with the quality you would expect from Champagne. I you just can't stand non-Champagne bubbly, but can't stand the prices of good Champagne this might be a wine for you. 12% abv Purchased $20 Average/Good

Meet the Winemaker: Jennifer Christianson (Anemoi Wines)

Jennifer Christianson

Only a few year's ago, Jennifer Christianson knew almost nothing about wine. Now, she is the leading force behind one of Colorado rising wine brands. Together with her husband, Jay, Jennifer is helping the Colorado wine industry become more attractive to consumers. There are more than a handful wineries in the state producing excellent juice, but Anemoi Wines is the bold new kid on the block that everyone is going to want a date with soon. The Anemoi wines are big, oak and fruit driven blends with sexy packaging. Unfortunately, the Anemoi wines (only the Boreas has been released) will only be available at the winery and at select restaurants. So, with that, here's the woman behind the brand, Jennifer Christianson.

Ben's Bubbly: Valentine's Day edition

This sweet child of mine is growing up so fast. Just a few months ago he was completely dependent on us for everything. Now, he actually is mobile and can communicate. And when I say mobile, I mean that he finally has started walking. He's still mostly crawling, but he now can walk about 10 feet across the floor before he either reaches a piece of furniture or decides to sit. While this is exciting (and at the same time terrifying) the cooler thing is that he is also starting to use sign language to communicate. We've been trying to teach him (and ourselves) sign language. We haven't used a whole lot of signs, but just this week he has signed "more" and "all done," in addition to "milk" (which has been doing for a few weeks, though he prefers the dive and grab approach for that one...). We are so excited that he is now able to express his own feelings to us (and the cats). He has been waving hello and goodbye for a few weeks now and he especially likes to greet the cats whenever they enter a room with a quick wave, but they usually decide to vanish when they realize they've been made!

This week for the bubbly we didn't just have a bottle after Ben went to bed as we usually do. We invited a group of friends over for a Valentine's Day party, sans babies. We asked each couple to bring a bottle of bubbly to share. All told, we had six bottles of sparkling wine and a sparkling wine-based punch that also included rum and pomegranate. The punch was a hit and we only opened three of the bottles. It was a fun way to celebrate the holiday and try a few different bubblies in one sitting. I was more concerned with cooking (though I still managed to over-grill the oysters) and didn't take notes on the wines, but I'll at least give my general impressions.