WITH YOUR WINE

My mom’s 7-layer brownies

Who knows how many versions of this recipe are floating around, but my mom has always done something special with these. And as hard as I have tried over the years, I have never been able to make them as well as she does. And yes, they go very nicely with sparkling wine.

Serves 6-8, takes about 90 minutes

1/4 c butter

1 c graham cracker crumbs

1 c shredded coconut

1 6-oz pkg butterscotch chips

1 6-oz pkg semisweet chocolate chips

1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk

1 c chopped nuts

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and melt the butter in a 9x2-inch pan. Spread the graham cracker crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan. Press down gently.

- Sprinkle the coconut evenly over the graham crackers. Then spread the chocolate chips over the coconut, the butterscotch chips over the chocolate and the nuts over the butterscotch chips. Pour the milk evenly over all.

- Bake 30 minutes or until the graham crackers are browned but not burned. Let cool in pan, and serve.

ask the WINE GUY?

DOESCHAMPAGNE (AND SPARKLING WINE) HAVE A VINTAGE?

Mostly not. It’s so difficult to make bubbly that the wine usually carries the NV (non-vintage) label. That means that grapes from more than one harvest are used to make it. Sometimes, in special years, the producers will make a vintage wine — and charge extra for it, since it’s supposed to be of higher quality.

—JEFF SIEGEL