PRODUCT REVIEW & GIVEAWAY - Barefoot & Bubbly!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED - THANK YOU FOR YOUR ENTRIES!

I am not going to lie to you all...this product review has been - BY FAR - the most favorite one I've done thus far. Why? Because it involved wine...or, as I like to refer to it...Mommy juice. If I had to pick a poison, wine would be it {followed very closely by Seagrams 7, but that's a different post}.

I'm sure there are many of you out there who - like me - enjoy having a glass {or three} of wine. I mean, it's a serving of fruit, people! I was very excited when Barefoot Wine contacted me. I've had a couple of their wines before - Pinot Grigio & Chardonnay. I've even tried their Moscato wine. Can you tell where I'm going with this? Yes, I'm normally a white wine drinker only. However, Lauren at Barefoot Wine has forever changed me because she graciously sent me not one, but TWO, bottles of Barefoot Wine to sample...one of which was some bubbly! Yes, not only does Barefoot Wine produce some great & very affordable wines, but they also produce bubbly wines!

Imagine my surprise when I came home from a weekend away to find a big box on my front porch from Barefoot Wine. Forget about dirty laundry & unpacking...I HAD to get that box open! Inside - for me to sample - was a bottle of Zinfandel & a bottle of bubbly, Brut Cuvee. Like I said earlier, I'm more of a white wine girl. And, surprising to many of my friends, I do not like champagne or sparkling wines at all. Seriously.

Now, before I begin my review I would just like to say that I am in no way a sommelier by any stretch of the imagination. I am merely an over-worked, under-paid, heavily occasional drinking wife & mother of two. Got it?

I opened the Zinfandel first.

I'm not going to lie...I was very skeptical as to whether or not I would even enjoy it. I've had merlot here and there and, to me, red wines are bitter, dry & hard for me to enjoy. Well, all of you red wine lovers who are screeching in horror should be quite happy because I loved the Zinfandel! There's no more left. I mean, drinking two glasses upon opening the bottle?! Yeah, that says something right there. Barefoot's Zinfandel is not dry, not bitter and it's heavily laden with hints of cherry. It is a smooth drinking wine and, being the classy girl that I am, brought out some peppery notes when I paired the wine with some heavily salted & peppered popcorn!

I finally opened the bubbly last night. I stashed it in the fridge weeks ago with every intention on breaking it out last weekend during our cookout & I blame my forgetfulness on the sangria that a friend brought {we'll discuss that in yet another post}. I stated earlier that I don't like champagne or sparkling wines. I never have. Never, ever. I suppose that most of my experience has revolved around extra dry wanna be sparkling wines...but, in my defense, I've also had fancy champagne - Dom Perignon - and I didn't like that either {I guess that really does classify me as simple & cheap, then?}.

When the hubs popped the top off of this baby, I honestly didn't know what to expect. I had already drilled into my head that I would not like it. It's sparkling. It's going to be dry and too fizzy and too disappointing. I was wrong, wrong and WRONG! Barefoot's Brut Cuvee surprised me and my taste buds. It was perfectly chilled & the bubbles tickled my nose as I drank it {I'm ashamed to admit that I don't actually own a proper champagne flute or fluted type of glass}. The Brut Cuvee was tart - it reminded me of granny smith apples - and was not dry at all. It had a smooth finish and I'm seriously considering having a mimosa for breakfast {although that wouldn't be a good idea since I do have to go to work}.

I am forever grateful to Lauren & everyone at Barefoot Wine, not just for allowing me this opportunity, but for expanding my wine horizons and turning me onto TWO types of wine I would have never, ever thought I would enjoy.

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Here's where the fun comes in for you all...

Barefoot Wine has graciously offered my LUCKY readers the chance to win a Barefoot Wine "Summer Essentials" pack:

Included is a Barefoot Wine tote, beach towel, stemless wine glass and bottle opener...all that's missing is a bottle of your favorite Barefoot wine!

Get yourself familiar with Barefoot Wine. The motto behind their wine is to "get barefoot & have a great time!" Barefoot Wine recently launched a new website & they also have a great online community called Barefoot Republic. Barefoot Wine is a strong community supporter & is actively involved with other organizations like the Surfrider Foundation. So, not only does Barefoot Wine produce some amazing varieties of "the good stuff," but they also share my love of the beach. Could the relationship be any more perfect??

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY, this is what you need to do:

• MANDATORY - Join Barefoot Republic and leave me your user name in a comment below {when you join, you can use me - maliasma - in the 'referrer username' space...at the end of the form} - and don't worry, Barefoot will not fill your email with spam!
• Tell me, in a comment below, how you plan on spending the rest of your summer.
• MANDATORY - Go to Barefoot Wine's website and tell me, in a comment, which wine is your favorite or which you would like to try
• Tell me, in a comment, what you like to pair your wine with...cheese, fruit, seafood, etc.
• You can also get additional entries by blogging about this & following my blog
• I'll give you THREE bonus entries for referring people to this giveaway...just make sure they mention in their comment who referred them!

This giveaway will be open until 11:59 est on Thursday, July 30th and a winner will be chosen on Friday, July 31st. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents ONLY and, PLEASE, you MUST be 21 or older {I can't be contributing to the delinquency of minors!!}.

Good luck!