Sparkling Wine Options for Toasting the New Year
New Years eve is upon us and that usually means a glass, or three, of bubbly to celebrate and toast the new year ahead. In fact, it seems the sound of a bottle of bubbly opening signifies celebration and good times. In addition to New Year’s eve, people often open sparkling wine to celebrate weddings, promotions, proposals and other special occasions but remember it’s tasty and something fun to drink on occasion just because.
The good news is that there are plenty of options in taste and pricing when it comes to sparkling wine. Champagne which is made in the champagne region in France ferments in the bottle which is called methode champenoise and is generally the most pricey. If you want champagne but at a lesser price go with a non-vintage or multi-vintage blend. This will be a blend of champagne from different years and will be less pricey than a vintage champagne which is made from only the best grapes of years that the vintners feel are worthy of a vintage production.
If you want French bubbly that costs less consider sparkling wine made in the charmat methode which means it is fermented not in the bottle but in stainless steel tanks. You can also go with sparkling wine fermented in the bottle and made in the methode champenoise but from somewhere outside of Champagne, France. For these sparklers, because the grapes are not from the region of champagne they cannot be called champagne and are labeled as sparkling wine.
California actually produces many delicious sparkling wines many made by French owned champagne houses such as Moet Chandon’s Domaine Chandon, Louis Roederer’s Roedrerer Estate and Taittinger’s Domaine Carneros. Or if you want good domestic California bubbly consider Rack & Riddle Brut from Mendocino, Handley Cellars Brut from Anderson Valley or J Vineyards Sparkling Wine from Sonoma.
Another option is to go for sparkling wine from a country other than France. Spanish sparkling wine is called Cava, Italian sparkling wine is called Proseco, Portugese sparkling is called Espumante, Sekt is German sparkling and Australia has sparkling Shiraz. Sparkling Shiraz is generally sweeter than champagne and is made from Shiraz grapes. Champagne is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meniur while sparkling wines are typically made from a combination of some or all of the varietals of Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay or Pinot Noir.
Whatever sparkling wine you end up choosing, I wish you a Happy and wine filled New Year and thank you for your support of Vinogger. Please consider liking Vinogger on Facebook and subscribing to www.vinogger.com if you have not yet done so. Thank you and Salut!
Tags: champagne, Domain Carneros, Domaine Chandon, Handley Cellars, J Vineyards, methode champenoise, Moet Chandon, Rack & Riddle, Roederer Estate, Tattinger
I remember a time when New Year’s Eve meant Champagne and only Champagne. Now there are so many delicious Sparkling wines available at much better pricing that we very seldom look for the more expensive French Champagnes. This year we are celebrating with Sparkling Rieslings from the New York Finger Lakes.