Woman on Wine

by Amy Reiley

If you’re a regular reader of my column, you already knew how I’d start the year: brimming over with bubbly. This time, it’s great Champagne - the sort of stuff to ring in the New Year and to toast your lover with every accomplishment in the year ahead.

Bruno Paillard
Blanc de Blancs Reserve Privee
Aromas are yeasty and delicate, although the flavors are all fruit. This is a lovely, elegant wine, perfect for a brunch or ladies who lunch. $60

Nicolas Feuillatte
Blanc de Blanc 1998
This might be one of Champagne’s biggest bargains. A finely crafted wine that could easily stand up to wines twice the price, the Feuillatte offers floral and licorice aromas, great weight and a fresh, clean, lemony finish. $40

Lanson
Noble Cuvee Brut 1998
Super sexy, creamy in the mouth, yet very sleek, this brut offers lovely aromas of baking dough and citrus flavors with a slick, clean lime finish. $125

Dom Ruinart
Vintage 1996
A gorgeous, classic Champagne, this is the sort of wine you imagine being served at a society wedding or at the captain’s table on the QE 2. Fine, almost microscopic bubbles offer a delicacy missing in many sparkling wines. $175

Taittinger
Comtes de Rose 2002
A big-bodied beauty with hints of ripe raspberries but with an underlying earthiness, this is a serious wine worthy of a lavish meal. $200

Krug
Rose
A gorgeous, lusty, full-bodied wine, this textbook perfect rose offers hints of wild strawberries, an earthy gamey-something, and just a hint of baking spice. $300