Bubbles (what else?) to ring in the new year
FOR years sparkling wine producers around the world have argued, with success, that bubbly should not be limited to celebrations and festive occasions. It is a wine like any other, they have asserted, and should be opened just as you might for reds and whites, with meals or while relaxing with friends.
They are correct, of course. Champagne and similar sparklers are versatile with food. Champagne in particular is great with fried chicken and other fried dishes, with sushi and even popcorn and pizza.
Nonetheless, bubbly remains the beverage of choice for celebrations. The pop and pour, the rush of bubbles and foam into the glasses, and the lively tingle as you take a swallow – it all signals joy and togetherness like no other wine.
Having written year-end pieces on sparkling wines annually for years, I thought I might switch it up for 2022 and focus on something else that felt celebratory, like great sweet wines. That thought lasted for a hot second. Everybody wants sparkling wines this time of year. I want sparkling wines, too. (Even though a wonderful Sauternes, Tokaji Aszu or riesling beerenauslese can be sublime.)
Only one obstacle stands in the way of Champagne being everybody’s choice to ring in 2023: the price. Growing worldwide demand for Champagne, which is made only in the Champagne region of France, has sent the prices of certain coveted producers soaring, while good entry-level bottles are hard to find for less than US$50.
Fortunately, lots of great sparkling wines are made outside the region and are often available for significantly lower prices.
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Lower cost, however, is far from the only reason to look for options beyond Champagne.
Almost any place in the world that makes wine makes sparkling wine as well. Sometimes these bottles are facsimiles of Champagne, made by the same methods, often with the same trio of grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. Many sparkling wines from California and Oregon, England and northern Italy fit into these categories, though good examples will bear the mark of the place it was produced rather than come off as imitations.
More typically, sparkling wines from around the world are made with local grapes, sometimes using Champagne production methods, in which finished wine undergoes a second fermentation in bottles that provides the bubbles. These can be highly distinctive. Good sekt from Germany is made this way with riesling, as is cava from Spain, often with some combination of local grapes xarello, parellada and macabeo.
But petillant naturel undergoes a single fermentation, in bottles. This is often referred to as the ancestral method. Many inexpensive sparkling wines like Prosecco and Lambrusco undergo a more industrial process, in which the second, carbonation-inducing fermentation takes place in large tanks.
This is not necessarily bad, but when you can find a Prosecco or Lambrusco in which the second fermentation took place in the bottle, it can be a great thing.
I recently went shopping in New York for sparkling wines, Champagne and otherwise. The stores abound in good choices. I have singled out an armful in each category to recommend, which barely accounts for a tiny fraction of the good bottles I can name.
For Champagnes, I stuck mostly with entry-level bottles to keep costs down. I also looked for an entirely different selection than I offered last year, so do not hesitate to look at past columns for additional recommendations.
I also stuck with grower-producers in Champagne rather than the big producers, but plenty of bigger houses make great Champagnes, too. Look at them for more options. I have got a perennial guide to Champagnes as well.
Here are my 13 recommendations, from least to most expensive in each category. Whatever you choose to drink, please have a happy and safe new year.
Sparkling wine
Loxarel Saniger Classic Penedes Brut Nature Reserva 2019, 12.5 per cent, US$15
It is hard to imagine a better deal in sparkling wine than the Loxarel Saniger Brut Nature Reserva, a Spanish sparkling wine made with the classic grapes – xarello, parellada and macabeo – all biodynamically grown. Loxarel (an anagram of xarello) has been farming biodynamically for almost 20 years, and the quality shows up in the clear, pure herbal and floral aromas and flavours. Loxarel is one of those producers that no longer uses the term “cava” because of its connotation of poor quality. Instead, it uses “Classic Penedes”, which comes with strict rules requiring organic certification, 15 months of ageing on the lees and vintage dating. (Classic Wines, Stamford, Connecticut)
Punta Crena Colline Savonesi Lumassina IGT 2020, 11 per cent, US$22
Lumassina is a white grape grown rarely in Liguria these days because it ripens late and is not as assertively aromatic as vermentino. But Punta Crena maintains the tradition of growing lumassina to make this excellent sparkler. It is fresh, delicately floral, subtle and dry, and, at 11 per cent alcohol, it goes down easily. The Ruffino family, which has tended vineyards in Liguria for centuries, farms, the family says, the way every farmer did when “organic” simply meant farming. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, California)
Jean-Paul Brun Domaine des Terres Dorees FRV 100 Rose NV, 8.5 per cent, US$22
Here is a different spin on a year-end sparkler, a lightly sweet rose petillant naturel that is balanced, playful and refreshing. Jean-Paul Brun, an excellent Beaujolais producer, makes this wine entirely with gamay. It is low in alcohol and tastes like red berries and apples. Serve with fruit or dessert or, really, any time. By the way, the name FRV 100? Give each letter and the number 100 their French pronunciations – eff, ehr, vay, cent – and it comes out like “effervescent”. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)
Anima Mundi Cami Dels Xops Penedes 2021, 12 per cent, US$25
Agusti Torello Roca is the winemaker at AT Roca, an excellent cava producer in the Penedes region of Catalonia. One of his side projects, Anima Mundi, makes small lots that explore the terroirs of the Penedes through petillant naturel; all, as with AT Roca, made using organically grown grapes. Cami Dels Xops is a blend of macabeo and xarello. It is deep and resonant, with aromas and flavours of flowers and citrus. (Jose Pastor Selections/Llaurador Wines, Fairfax, California)
Domaine Huet Vouvray Petillant Brut 2017, 13 per cent, US$32
Huet, the great Vouvray producer, has long made this wonderful sparkling wine. You could call it a petillant naturel, though Huet does not use the term. It is beautifully balanced and fine, with aromas of hay, straw and flowers and the honeysuckle sweetness of chenin blanc, though it goes down dry. As with all of Huet’s wines, it is made entirely of grapes grown biodynamically. (The Rare Wine Co, Brisbane, California)
Ridgeview Sussex Cavendish Brut NV, 12 per cent, US$37
This wine is made with the leading trio of Champagne grapes – pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier – in the same way as Champagne, with a second, fizz-inducing fermentation in the bottle. It might even fool you into thinking it is Champagne. But it is not. It is English sparkling wine, made in Sussex, and compared side by side with Champagne, differences emerge. It is a little more brisk and tense with acidity, as English sparklers often are, garden fresh, well-balanced and delicious. “Please, sir, I want some more.” (Banville Wine Merchants, New York)
Champagnes
Ployez-Jacquemart Champagne Extra Quality Brut NV, 12 per cent, US$50
This small family producer makes fine Champagnes that seem simultaneously rich and delicately textured. The Extra Quality Brut is the entry-level bottle, a blend of 50 per cent chardonnay along with 25 per cent each of pinot noir and pinot meunier. It is creamy and saline, with aromas and flavours of citrus and flowers. (Bowler Wine, New York)
Chavost Champagne Blanc d’Assemblage Brut Nature NV, 12.5 per cent, US$53
Most cooperatives in Champagne make large amounts of routine wines, primarily for supermarkets. Chavost is an anomaly. It is a small cooperative that produces natural wines, made without commercial yeasts or any additions, even sulphur dioxide, the widely used stabiliser and antioxidant. It is a risky approach, but the results are excellent. This cuvee is primarily chardonnay, with 20 per cent pinot meunier and 3 per cent pinot noir. It is bone-dry and chalky, well-balanced and deliciously refreshing. (Terrestrial Wine Co, Manhasset, New York)
Chartogne-Taillet Champagne Sainte-Anne Brut NV, 12.5 per cent, US$60
Since Alexandre Chartogne took over this old family estate in 2006, Chartogne-Taillet, in Merfy, north-west of Reims, has gotten better and more precise. It now makes exceptional cuvees from the entry-level Sainte-Anne up through its top bottles, which include a series of single-vintage wines. Sainte-Anne is roughly equal parts pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier aged in oak. This bottle, mostly from the 2019 vintage, is bright, fresh and vivacious. (Skurnik Wines, New York)
Jacques Lassaigne Champagne Les Vignes de Montgueux Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut NV, 12 per cent, US$60
Unlike the rest of the Aube in the southern reaches of Champagne, where pinot noir is the primary grape, Montgueux, tucked away west of Troyes, is chardonnay territory and is known mostly through the wines of Jacques Lassaigne, the leading producer there. Les Vignes de Montgueux, the introductory cuvee, is typical of what Montgueux can offer: a rich, plush blanc de blancs that is nonetheless elegant and sleek. (Jenny & Francois Selections/USA Wine Imports, New York)
Vilmart & Cie Champagne Grande Reserve Brut NV, 12.5 per cent, US$62
Vilmart & Cie in the Montagne de Reims has long been one of my favourite grower-producers in Champagne. This estate ages its wines in oak vats, and the Champagnes are generally complex with the potential to age well. The Grand Reserve, the entry-level cuvee made with 70 per cent pinot noir and 30 per cent chardonnay, is superb: taut and energetic, rich, creamy and elegant. (Skurnik Wines)
Dhondt-Grellet Champagne “Dans un Premier Temps…” Extra Brut NV, 12 per cent, US$68
Under Adrien Dhondt, who recently took over this family estate, Dhondt-Grellet has made a name for itself as an up-and-coming producer. This introductory cuvee, 50 per cent chardonnay, 30 per cent pinot noir and 20 per cent pinot meunier, is bright, lively and subtly complex. Dhondt-Grellet farms using organic and biodynamic methods and ages reserve wines in a solera system, in which wine from the new vintage is added each year, replacing whatever is withdrawn for blending, building up complexity over time. (Grand Cru Selections, New York)
Lelarge-Pugeot Champagne Les Charmes de Vrigny Extra Brut NV 12 per cent US$77
For eight generations, the Lelarge family has been farming in the Vrigny region in the Montagne de Reims in Champagne. For so old a family, they are in the Champagne vanguard today, farming biodynamically and ageing their reserve wines in a solera. This cuvee, half pinot meunier with 30 per cent pinot noir and 20 per cent chardonnay, is aged for 11 years in the bottle before release. It is taut yet creamy with chalky flavours of citrus and herbs. (Super Glou, Accord, New York) NYTIMES
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