Sparkling wine, fizz, bubbles, bubbly. Champagne. Mousseux, Crémant, Asti Spumante, Espumante, Cap Classique, Cava, Prosecco, Franciacorta, Oltrepò Pavese Metodo, Brachetto, Sekt. Méthode champenoise, charmat, méthode ancestrale. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chenin Blanc, Arbois, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Auxerrois, Macabeu, Parellada, Xarel-Lo, Glera. It’s all just an amazing confluence of pressed juice, yeast, sugar and carbon dioxide. Nothing in the world screams “party!” like an effervescent bottle of fermented grapes.
Those who immerse themselves with any reasonable amount of time in the wine world need no introduction to the wonders of fizz. I taste at several Sparkling wines on a weekly basis and choose to open one in a regular rotation as much as I do whites and reds. Bubbles are made worldwide in so many styles and in so many price ranges. They are the most versatile (food) wines out there. So why do 99 per cent of the wine-indulging population ignore it, save for weddings, milestone anniversaries and in utilitarian fashion at a December fête? Such is life’s cruel mystery. Who isn’t looking for a Sparkling wine to pop open this month? Should we put up our hands so we know who we are?
Think of it this way. The grapes that are harvested for Sparkling wine are generally the first to be picked. By nature that means the winemaker had those very grapes in mind for Sparkling production. Bubbles are not an afterthought, they are not wines made from the discarded, the non-regarded or the neglected. You have to believe and want to make honest Sparkling wine. Otherwise you skip it altogether. Here are 10 choices, from $20 to $100, from Crémant to Champagne, to help celebrate what matters this holiday season.
Top (L to R): Domaine Deliance Ruban Vert Brut Crémant de Bourgogne, Brédif Brut Vouvray, Ferrari Brut, Château des Charmes Brut Rosé 2010, Roederer Estate Brut Sparkling. Bottom (L to R): No. 1 Family Estate Cuvée No. 1 Blanc de Blancs, José Dhondt Blanc de Blancs Brut Champagne, Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve Champagne, Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Champagne 2004, Moët & Chandon Grand Vintage Brut Rosé Champagne 2002.
DOMAINE DELIANCE RUBAN VERT BRUT CRÉMANT DE BOURGOGNE, Ac Burgundy, Franc (355917, $19.95, WineAlign)
Chardonnay and nothing but. Full arid, atomic behaviour, rehydrated pear and indicative of a grower’s Champagne style, like a petite Bérèche. Expands blowsy in the mouth, like pop rocks but it never wavers from being extra, extra dry. Nut, pith, no citrus and as a food wine it begs for something rich and fatty. Nothing creamy about it. Salted zest to finish. 88 Tasted November 2013
BRÉDIF BRUT VOUVRAY, Ac Loire, France (352179, $20.95, WineAlign)
Arid, frothy and fitful, atomically speaking. White peach and preceding spring flowers. Charcoal rubbed, also clean and fine. Sparkling Chenin Blanc done right. 88 Tasted November 2013 @ProfileWineGrp
FERRARI BRUT, Metodo Classico, Doc Trento, Alto Adige, Italy (352153, $25.95, WineAlign)
Racy like the coupe, this is curve hugging Champagne-method spumante full of velocità and terribilita. Yes, like the master painter, this storied northern Italian sparkler is full of heroic, awe-inspiring power and grandeur. Classic method bubbles made well, driving fast and on course. Call it ulterior motive-driven but this spanks and tickles the tongue with a struck match and a finessed power wield of fine mist. Il duce of Trentino. 90 Tasted November 2013 @DiamondEstates
CHÂTEAU DES CHARMES BRUT ROSÉ 2010, Méthode Traditionnelle Rosé 2010, VQA Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (78055, $28.95, WineAlign)
From the earliest picked Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, on the hedge’s edge of phenolic gratification and a caterwaul of acidity. So acutely rosé, aromatically parched, sun-dried meridional as if Provençal procured via saignée. The tendency to deliver in dulcet tone is musical, to be pardoned and after all, don’t “we all want a love bizarre?” The usual suspects make themselves heard; strawberry, rhubarb, fresh basil and crème fraîche. Not to forget the warmth of 2010. Just add cool. Bring on the raw bar. 89 Tasted December 2013. @MBosc
ROEDERER ESTATE BRUT SPARKLING, Anderson Valley, Mendocino, California, (294181, $29.95, WineAlign)
Composed of approximately 60 per cent Chardonnay and 40 Pinot Noir. As close to greatness a house style from California can achieve. Discovers some secrets shared by cool-climate Sparkling wine, first with a delicate floral waft from out of a salmon copper tone. Complex, savoury bubbles, in rhubarb, tarragon and poached pear. Round, really fine, earthly, grounded stuff that spent a minimum two years on the lees. Marked by citrus too, namely pink grapefruit and creamy vanilla from the addition of some oak-aged wine. 91 Tasted November 2013
NO. 1 FAMILY ESTATE CUVÉE NO. 1 BLANC DE BLANCS, Marlborough, South Island, Méthode Traditionelle, New Zealand (56358, $34.95, WineAlign)
Aromatic rhetoric would argue this Marlborough bottle of bubbles is a ringer for classic Blanc de Blancs. Promises pleasure and class from the first whiff. Decidedly lemon citrus tight and stony until an herbal, splintered, stemmy tarragon balm takes over, rendering the wine more of its place than what it tries to emulate. Still, a really terrific effort. 89 Tasted November 2013 @oenophilia1
JOSÉ DHONDT BLANC DE BLANCS BRUT CHAMPAGNE, Ac Champagne, France (358408, $53.95, WineAlign)
A grower’s Champagne from which you will immediately pick up good vibrations. A mousse phenom, lees-effectuated fizz. Dominated by a yeast reductive aroma, joined by herbs and spices. “I, I love the colorful clothes she wears and the way the sunlight plays upon her hair.” Boys, she’s a long walk on the beach. Creamy and mouth-filling but also pith marked, like grapefruit yogurt or guava crème brûlée. Tangy and beautifully bitter too. 91 Tasted November 2013 @Dhondt_Grellet
CHARLES HEIDSIECK BRUT RÉSERVE CHAMPAGNE, Ac Champagne, France (36962, $53.95, WineAlign)
Simply classic triumvirate balance of citrus, brioche and exotic perfume. Centrifugal spun scents of nearly candied, spiked lemon, white grapefruit pith, wet yeast and bottled jasmine. Top value in big name, pherule bead, made in a house style. 91 Tasted October 4, 2013 @CHChampagne
MOËT & CHANDON GRAND VINTAGE BRUT CHAMPAGNE 2004, Ac Champagne, France (69773, $83.95, WineAlign)
May not be the esteemed house and vintage of the century’s love-child but I can’t think of a single reason not to spend a pittance more on a vintage-dated Champagne like this Moët in lieu of a sea of NV alternatives. Granted it’s wound maddeningly tight, spewing still young venom, crazed by pear and citrus concentrate but…trust must be placed in its charms. This Moët is quite refined. Apples tempered in acidity, beloved for its building blocks, it’s really good Champagne. 94 Tasted November 2013 @MoetUSA
MOËT & CHANDON GRAND VINTAGE BRUT ROSÉ CHAMPAGNE 2002, Ac Champagne, France (69831, $89.95, WineAlign)
Bubbles large as tobiko roe. The vintage has now and finally just let go as viewed in the wine’s once fuscia and now copper patina. The advance to secondary life smells like grinding metal, pink grapefruit and orange dominated south Asian potpourri. Great though not sacred is this compliment to give this typical ’02 and its linear largesse, fine finesse and admirable balance. 92 Tasted October 2013
Good to go!
