Everyone knows that Champagne is a sparkling bubbly that everyone drinks on New Year's Eve. What better way to celebrate than with Champagne? Most of my readers want to know the best value choices in wine, especially when it comes to expensive wine alternatives. Although French Champagne remains one of the great value wines the world a non-vintage bottle still costs around $40 a bottle.
Spain produces some great sparkling wines at unbelievable prices. European Union laws prevent any sparkling wine produced outside of Champagne, France to be called Champagne. In Germany it is called Sekt, in Italy it is called Spumante, and in Spain it is called Cava.
Wine #1: Cristalino Cava Brut NV
For many years, the #1 sparkling wine in my "value tastings" has been Cristalino. It comes from Catalonia, located in northeastern Spain, which is considered to be the best Cava-produceing region in the country. It is made with indigenous grapes produced in the same process as French Champagne (methode Champenoise), and is aged for nearly two years in oak. It is great for weddings, special events, and large parties because of its quality and price. This wine has great effervescence (small bubbles) and is light, refreshing, and easy to drink.
Retail Price: $10
Other recommended Cava producers are: Codorniu or Freixenet
California has been making sparkling wines since the end of Prohibition, but didn't produce a quality sparkling wine until the 1965 introduction of a sparkling wine from the Napa Valley winery of Schramsberg. In 1973 the French Champagne producer Moet & Chandon created a Napa Valley sparkling wine, called Domaine Chandon, on a larger scale, and the quality of California sparkling wines has been soaring ever since.
Wine #2: Roederer Estate Brut NV
Many of my readers are familiar with the French Champagne Roederer. Roederer has been involved in fine winemaking for more than two hundred years. They chose to plant their North American vineyards and build their winery in the cooler climate of the Anderson Velley in Mendocino County. The Roederer Estate Brut NV is produced exactly as done in Champagne and is a blend of 60 percent Chardonnay and 40 percent Pinot Noir. All of the grapes used to make Roederer Estate Brut are grown by Roederer in their own vineyards, hence the word "Estate" on the label. The wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks with some oak aged reserved wines added to the blend to give the wine more intensity and flavor. The winemaker has left some residual sugar in the wine (1.2 percent), which balances out the acidity and combined with the fruit flavors makes this wine very accessible now.
Retail Price: $25
Wine #3: Domaine Carneros Brut 2004
This sparkling wine producer was created by another great French Champagne house, Taittinger. This is a vintage sparkling wine; and it contains more red grapes (61 percent Pinot Noir), which gives it more body. All the grapes for this come from the Carneros district, the coolest region of Napa/Sonoma, perfect for growing the finicky Pinot Noir. It has also been aged for three years in the bottle and the fruit's acid and carbon dioxide have blended together, making for a clean, crisp, and elegant sparkling wine.
Retail Price: $25
Other recommended California Sparkling Wine producers are: Domaine Chandon, Piper Sonoma, Mumm Cuvee Napa, Schramsberg, and Iron Horse.
The above post appears in the 2009 edition of the Windows on the World Complete Wine Course by Kevin Zraly, available in bookstores now. Look for the 25th anniversary edition in Fall of 2009. The Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is the world's best-selling, most highly praised wine book.
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