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Surroundedbyritual and celebration, the de- lightful bubbles of Cham- pagne are so alluring it's been de- scribed as "drinking the stars." Origi- nating in the Cham- pagne re- gion of France using char- donnay and pinot noir grapes, wine with bubbles is too good to stay in one country — its production and enjoyment travel the world. As you raise a toast this holiday season, here are a few things to share about this legendary drink. • Though it's become the generic term for car- bonated wine, if it's not from Champagne, France, call it sparkling wine. Or cava in Spain, spumante in Italy (also asti and pro- scecco, depending on grape variety), cap clas- sique in South Africa, sekt in Germany and creamant if it's from other regions in France. In the U.S. we call it sparkling wine, or meth- ode champenoise. Wine companies such as Korbel, which still use the term, have either been doing it since before laws banning it were passed or have per- mission. All must use a designation of origin, such as California, in combina- tion with the name. • Champagne is created by allowing a secondary fermentation to take place in the bottle, induced by adding yeast and sugar. To mature flavors, the wine must remain in bottle a minimum of 18 months. For exceptional harvests, a single vintage is created and labeled with the year; otherwise it's designated as NV or non-vintage and may use juice from multi- ple years to retain consis- tency of flavor. During fermentation, the bottles wear a special crown cap, like a beer bot- tle, and are tilted and rid- dled, or rotated, so that the lees, or byproducts of fermentation, collect in the neck. After the wine ages, the neck is chilled, lees forced out by carbonated pressure and bottles are topped off and recapped with a cork bigger than the opening of the bot- tle to resist pressure. Of- ten sugar, or le dosage, is added to achieve desired levels of sweetness. Barry Jackson of Equi- nox on Santa Cruz's West- side runs a bottling line that makes sparkling wines and ciders. He has a machine that can "riddle," or consolidate sediment to facilitate removing it, 2,000-pound wooden crates filled with carbon- ated bottles. In addition to his non-vintage sparkling wines, he sells vintage sparklers dating from 1998 and 2001. • Most Champagne is made from pinot noir, pi- not meunier, chardon- nay grapes or a blend of all three, but seven variet- ies are allowed, set by the exacting standards of the appellation d'origine con- trolee in France. Though some, such as arbane and petit meslier, are not readily available, you can sample pinot gris ($24) and pinot blanc ($28) without the bubbles at Rexford Winery in Santa Cruz. If you like to break the rules, seek out sparkling wines made from sauvi- gnon blanc, Cuvee Ag- incourt ($23) from Bod- kin or from Bonny Doon Vineyard, which makes sparkling moscato, al- barino and syrah ($36 each). • Sparkling wines la- bels come with all sorts of helpful information to tell you what inside. Blanc de blanc (white from white) means it's white wine, made from 100 percent chardon- nay grapes. Blanc de noir (white from black) means it's white, made from removing the skins of the pinot noir or pinot meunier before pressing. Cuvee is a special blend of grapes, usually of higher quality, sometimes from multiple varietals, but in the case of Cham- pagne, means the best juice from pressing. Prestige cuvee means you'll be spending big bucks. These are top-of- the-line wines: Think Cris- tal and Dom Perignon. Rose or pink Cham- pagne means skin contact with red grapes or a bit of pinot noir added. Bying- ton Winery offers a spar- kling pinot noir rose ($39) that is smooth and drinks like a red wine. • In earlier times, Champagne was consid- ered a dessert wine and was very sweet. Ratings — extra brut, brut, extra dry, sec, demi-sec and doux — describe wines from dry to sweet. Today's sparkling wine drinkers like it less sweet, with most wines rated brut. But don't be fooled by the label extra dry. It's sweeter than brut or extra brut. • Images abound of fly- ing corks, spraying cham- pagne and bottles opened with a slice of a sword. If you don't have a saber handy to lop off the top, open by rotating the bottle and easing the cork out. Unless you just want to see it fly. • Serve sparkling wine in a long-stemmed, nar- row, glass flute as op- posed to the shallow "Victorian coupe" said to be modeled after Marie Antoinette's left breast, but really designed for sparkling wine in Eng- land in 1663. No insult to Ms. Antoinette's anatomy intended, but the wide glass disperses aromas and exposes the wine to too much oxygen. Avoid it if you can. When pouring, tilt the fluted glass and ease the sparkler down the side to avoid losing bubbles or creating a head. And most importantly don't forget to raise a toast as you raise a glass of stars. StaceyVreeken'sWine Press column runs monthly. Contact her at staceyvreeken@gmail. com. WINEPRESS Not all that sparkles is really Champagne Stacey Vreeken A few things to know about sparkling wine SHMUELTHALER—SENTINELFILE Equinox's Barry Jackson pours a sample his sparkling wine. PLEASE RECYCLE THIS NEWSPAPER. By Heather Shelton hshelton@times-standard.com Baking and the holiday season go hand in hand. But, if you're tired of those traditional sugar cookies and gingerbread houses, you might try making ae- bleskivers, tasty Danish doughnut balls you can whip up right on the stovetop. A FAMILY'S RECIPE ANNE'S AEBLESKIVERS HEATHER SHELTON — THE TIMES-STANDARD Aebleskivers are delicious Danish doughnut balls traditionally served during the holiday season. Danish treats are delicious and quick to make I first learned about these subtly sweet Christ- mas treats from my friend, Debbie Damiano, who grew up enjoying them with her family every year. "We absolutely had ae- bleskiver every Christmas and usually on New Year's Day, too," she said. "I was more of an eater of them than involved in the cook- ing." I recently tried Damia- no's recipe — which came from her grandfather's older sister, Anne Bansen, who was born in Denmark and later resided in Fern- dale. "I was always told that the secret to her recipe was the cardamom, which gave them a special and distinct flavor," Damiano said. Another trick to mak- ing these bite-size delights is the special pan that's needed. Aebleskiver pans are typically made of heavy iron and have wells in the shape of half a sphere for baking the dessert in its distinctive shape. (Ae- bleskiver pans are available locally at several shops, in- cluding The Kitchen Store in McKinleyville and Golden Gait Mercantile in Ferndale.) "It takes quite the knack to maneuver them in the pan, so they're round and gorgeous," Damiano said. Aebleskiver INGREDIENTS 2cups flour 2tablespoons sugar 1teaspoon baking powder 1teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cardamom 3large eggs, separated 2cups buttermilk 3tablespoons butter, melted 1/2 cup raisins DIRECTIONS Mix dry ingredients. Beat egg yolks and add to but- termilk. Add dry ingredi- ents and mix; add melted butter. Add raisins that have been soaked in hot water for a few minutes. Fold in thoroughly beaten egg whites. Bake in an aebleskiver pan generously greased with a mixture of melted but- ter and melted vegetable shortening, over medium heat. Turn the baked por- tion (traditional tool is a knitting needle) in order to bake the other half. Serve hot with butter, pow- dered sugar, applesauce, syrup or jam. A few notes I did make Bansen's tra- ditional aebleskivers, but also took a few liberties with the recipe. I'm not a fan of raisins, so I sub- stituted them with dried cranberries and blueber- ries. I also made a batch us- ing chocolate chips (which were my favorite, by far). I used about 2 table- spoons of batter in each of the aebleskiver pan cups. As soon as the batter got bubbly around the edges, I turned it to cook the other side. I didn't have a knit- ting needle, so I used a bar- becue skewer, gently nudg- ing the cooking aebleskiver in a circular motion to en- sure both sides were thor- oughly cooked. (There are numerous YouTube videos available that show the del- icate process of turning aebleskivers in the pan.) I also used only butter (skip- ping the shortening) to grease the pan. Once cooked, I topped my aebleskivers with a sprinkling of powdered sugar. The end result? A deli- cious holiday dessert to en- joy with a cup of hot tea. I hope you enjoy these ae- bleskivers as much as I did. Many thanks to Deb- bie and Anne for sharing the recipe! Heather Shelton can be reached at 441-0516. "We absolutely had aebleskiver every Christmas and usually on New Year's Day, too. I was more of an eater of them than involved in the cooking." — Debbie Damiano You're there f or Mom. We're here f or you. Caring for a loved one can be more than you expected. But you're not alone. Connect with experts and other caregivers aarp.org/caregiving 1.877.333.5885 redbluffdailynews.com • Choice of ad sizes • Free ad design • Free link to your webpage Now Look Here... Get All This ➞ 6,000 guaranteed online ad impressions For $ 99 CallyourDailyNewsadvertisingreptoday! 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