Stuff and Things

I hope everybody had a great New Year. I tried some really great (award winning, no lie) moderately-priced Champagne. The words moderately-priced champagne and “award-winning” rarely go together, but it was Gruet Demi-Sec and it was sublime.

I’m also proud of myself for picking out the pear notes in it before I looked it up on the Internet. It has a distinct pear scent and a bit of a pear flavor. Which, I am not normally a pear fan, but this was truly lovely.

Technically, due to trademark issues they aren’t allowed to call it “Champagne” since it is made in America and not Champagne, France. But they can bite me. The family that started the company is from France, and they use the methode champenoise, which basically means it is made EXACTLY the same. It’s a legal thing. So screw them, I’m calling it Champagne. (Though if we really want to get technical: methode champenoise sounds sexier anyway.)

Anyway, it’s some fabulous stuff. If you think you don’t like champagne, I assume you’ve probably tried a too-dry champagne like Brut, which a lot of people don’t like. Try a demi-sec. And especially try Gruet. It’s a light, fruity, just plain delicious champagne. Tom was surprised I liked it so much since so many people hate champagne. They haven’t tried THIS. I’m so glad I went to the wine store I normally go to and got a recommendation. It’s a small shop and they know their wines. Nobody there has steered me wrong yet. I’ve loved everything they’ve recommended (whereas I’ve often hated stuff I stumbled upon on my own.)

The Gruet comes also in the smaller half-bottle size (375ml), which is great for a couple that only wants to have about a glass of it. Champagne is nasty flat, so what you don’t drink in a sitting, you pretty much have to pour out, which sucks because… again… great stuff. This is probably my favorite alcoholic beverage I’ve ever tried, out of everything including pina coladas, gin and tonic, and margaritas. (Wow, I sound like such a lush. I’m really not a big drinker, I swear.)

Wow, that was a lot of rambling about Champagne. Onward. I’m hoping this year to get The Catalyst and Life Cycle into audiobook as well as Hadrian and Angeline’s book. We are looking, hopefully at an end of May release for Hadrian and Angeline’s book which as of this moment remains untitled, even tentatively. In ebook it will remain separate from the novella Dark Mercy that precedes it, but for both print and audio, Dark Mercy will be at the front of the book (since it’s not really practical to do a separate audio/print edition of Dark Mercy, but it’s pretty vital to Hadrian and Angeline’s story.)