Sparkling Rose

Since guzzling a couple of glasses of pink champagne is my single girl's cure to getting through Valentine's Day, I've been on the lookout for a great sparkling Rosé. While I'd love to try one of the nine bottles recommended by the San Francisco Chronicle, there's no super affordable option on the list.

However, I was recently sent a bottle of Mumm Napa's Brut Rosé, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. At $22, it's more than I spend on an everyday sparkling, but it's for a holiday, so it's worth the splurge!

This Brut Rosé has a dark blushing color, delicate bubbles, and a super fruity nose. It's 85 percent Pinot Noir and 15 percent Chardonnay and a wonderfully drinkable wine. It has a fresh, clean taste and light body. If you're in need of a good pink bubbly, I highly recommend the Mumm Napa Brut Rosé.

What's your favorite sparkling Rosé?

Sparkling wine's rarely inappropriate for an occasion, but there's also hardly a time more fitting to drink it than during the holidays. For a particularly memorable gift, I'll occasionally indulge friends in an over-the-top bottle of bubbly, but with all the festivities that go down between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I typically turn to wines with value.

Overall, American bubbly offers more bank for your buck than French champagnes, and among West Coast sparkling wines, one can hardly get a better value than with Schramsberg. Vintage bubbly is less common and more expensive, but this wine house offers a reasonably-priced selection. Sommelier Eugenio Jardim recently turned me on to the 2006 Rosé ($30).

The blush-tinted bubbly is one of the few left to be hand-riddled in production, and it has a bright, yeasty nose that conjures images of the season's best harvest — apples, pears, cranberries. Like Jardim said, it'd be ideal with Winter squash soup — but it's great alone, too. What are your picks for sparkling wines with value?

If you need a cocktail idea for a holiday party, birthday celebration, or other fun gathering, here's a delicious drink that is great for large groups: sparkling Rosé punch! Besides a sparkling Rosé, you'll need St. Germain elderflower liqueur, club soda, lemon juice, and sugar. Watch our video that we shot at Hip Cooks to learn how to make this crowd-pleasing punch!

According to Nielsen, the volume of sparkling rosé produced has grown by nearly 22 percent in the last year — if you're looking for a solid jumping-off point for pink sparklers, a good place to start is Martini & Rossi. The Italian house is known for its Prosecco, Asti, and Vermouth, but this year also launched a reasonably priced Sparkling Rosé ($14).

The bottle's deep coral color is inviting, but it's the flirtatious blend of Malvasia, Brachetto, and Moscato Bianco that's unique. The Malvasia lent a hint of apricot, the Moscato Bianco: lingering sweetness, and red Brachetto: a bright salmon color. The end result was a bouquet of pomaceous fruit that ended with a very off-dry finish.

Martini Sparkling Rosé is also raising attention to breast cancer this month: Make a donation online to The Pink Agenda through the rest of October, and the wine house will match it. What's your favorite blush bubbly?