Mumm Cuvee Napa Brut Prestige Sparkling Wine, N.V.
Price $18
Rating 91

"If I were to pick one wine above all others to represent the Napa Valley," says Mumm Napa winemaker Rob McNeill, "it would be the Mumm Napa Brut Prestige. The climate and soil combine to produce incomprable fruit, full of flavors and subtleties so enchanting in a sparkling wine."

Fruit from 50 selected and separate vineyards begat this creamy flavored and rose petal laced sparkling wine. At a price of $18 dollars, it can be your "house" bubbly.

The Mumm Cuvee Napa Brut Prestige is very food friendly and will match most anything. It is an especially good match with an entree salad, or at least a salad course. Often the vinegar in salad dressings will beat up on a wine. Not so with this affordable Mumm.

Champagne Mumm "Cordon Rouge", N.V.
Price $35
Rating 93

Mumm's "Cordon Rouge", launched in 1876 with the distinctive red sash of the French Legion of Honor, is one of the world's most recognizable and most popular Champagnes.

"The 'Cordon Rouge' is a lovely golden color," says Chef de Cave Dominique Demarville, "the bouquet is fruity, subtle, creamy and refined. The hallmark of 'Cordon Rouge' on the palate is a delicate hormony of softness, complexity and elegance."

As with any well-made bubbly, the Mumm "Cordon Rouge" works with a full range of recipes. Champagne, or if not from the Champagne region of France then called sparkling wine, if expertly constructed will go with most any food. "This wine is especially excellent as an apertif," says Demarville, "where any ocasion becomes a celebration."

Champagne Mumm "Carte Classique", N.V.
Price $35
Rating 94

This effervescent wine is a "sec", meaning sweeter. Sweeter in a Champagne, especially one with fine pedigree of vineyard sourcing can be marvelous.

"The Mumm 'Carte Classique' boasts an attractive golden color," says Chef de Cave Dominique Demarville, "the bubbles are tiny, very tiny. The fruity and concentrated bouquet combines with a medley of fresh red fruit. The finish of the sip of this wine is how you say, luscious, sweet."

One can enjoy the Champagne Mumm "Carte Classique" with many foods, especially if one has a sweet tooth, or maybe it is Valentine's dinner. Fine tune this wine, this Champagne, with fruit inspired desserts or maybe spicier Asian cuisine. Better yet, take the remainder of this wine from the dinner table into the bedroom. Enough said.

Mumm Napa "DVX" Sparkling Wine, 1996
Price $50
Rating 94

"DVX is an unabashed celebration of sparkling wine," proclaims senior head of winemaking Greg Fowler, who works closely with Mumm Napa winemaker Rob McNeill, "it is fresh and the fruit is assertive, but amazingly complex and ageable. The 1996 is our best!"

Only seven of the 91 lots of wine in the Mumm Napa collective program made it to DVX status. "This pays homage to the late Guy Devaux, Cuvee Napa's founding winemaker," explains McNeill, "for which DVX was named."

"The appearance is pale yellow with hints of gold," admires Fowler, "and very fine bubbles rise to a persistent mousse (the lovely foam that laces the top of a freshly poured glass of bubbly) and the aroma s are of apple pear, nectarine, and raspberry. There is a subtle lemon blossom. It is doughy, nutty, and perhaps stunning."

Serve the Mumm Napa "DVX" Sparkling Wine, 1996 with simple, but elegant food.
This bubbly should be front and center. Think roasted chicken with delicate herbs and no sauce. Focus on the wine.