Twelve Party-Perfect Bubblies
Twelve Party-Perfect Bubblies
Richard Nalley, Forbes.com
Pick your sparkler for the holidays the way you'd make up a guest list -- by personality. Here are a dozen different characters to consider.
Choosing a sparkling wine is one of those things in life that is worth doing right if you're going to do it at all. There are literally hundreds of brands on the shelves, and they are definitely not created equal. Not even close.
Here are a few tips for finding your bubbly bliss (scroll down):
In Pictures: 12 Party-Perfect Bubblies
Twelve Party-Perfect Bubblies
from Forbes.com
The Party Boy
Marques de Gelida Cava 2004 Brut Exclusive Reserva ($15)
You can't miss this Spanish sparkler's splashy, abstract-art, pumpkin-yellow-and-white plastic "label" that wraps the whole bottle, but you might be surprised by what's inside. This is an affordable wine you can pour for a group without apologies-or put in your Kir Royale. A blend of classic Catalan grapes plus chardonnay, it is firm-bodied, dry and assertive, with a whistle-clean lick of citrus and a subtle fruity character that falls somewhere in the realm of crushed, ripe blueberries.
from Forbes.com
The Sure Bet
Roederer Estate NV, Anderson Valley ($22)
While Moet and Mumm set up their U.S. operations in tourist-rich Napa Valley, Champagne Roederer followed the cool-climate grapes north to then-obscure Mendocino County and established a new American benchmark for sparkling wine. This, the winery's cornerstone bottling, is affordable, reliable, sold everywhere and, best of all, a treat to drink: fresh, lively and chock-full of juicy yellow apple and pear flavors.
from Forbes.com
The Sweet Tooth
Prosecco Zeta by Zardetto ($22)
A top example of the popular soft, fizzy Italian wines from Italy's Veneto (prosecco is also the name of the grape variety used). The Zeta carries a lively touch of sweetness overlaying its crisp, acidic keel, which makes it wonderful with lightly sweet desserts or as an aperitif with salty hors d'oeuvres. It has enough aromatic exoticism to supply interest all by itself: musky-Muscat-y, with notes of anise, Asian spices and something fruity like dried fig. The classic base for a Bellini, it'll also put some shimmy in your mimosa.
The Wild Card
Majella 2005 Sparkling Shiraz, Coonawarra ($30)
What pours into your glass after you pop the silver bottle cap takes you aback at first glance: Deep red and issuing a purple-tinged froth, it resembles red wine scooped straight from the fermenter. The second surprise is that it not only tastes pretty darn good but--despite its big-bodied, shiraz richness--it is balanced, even restrained; there is nothing coarse or jammy about it. Not something you'd want every day, perhaps, but after a few whiffs of its oak-inflected wild berry perfume, you see why this has become a sommelier/wine nut cult item.
from Forbes.com
The All-American
Schramsberg 2005 Blanc de Blancs, California ($36)
Tucked away in the northwestern slopes of Napa Valley, venerable Schramsberg--Jack and Jamie Davies revived this century-old winery in 1965--is making its best sparkling wine these days. This all-chardonnay bottling ("white from whites," in the French phrase) shows the result of years spent figuring things out: It is blended from Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Marin County grapes, vinified in various ways (barrel fermented, steel fermented, etc.). It comes together in a seamless, youthful, very lively sparkler with a broad palate of apple-y, citrus-y fruitiness. Not the lofty, sip-and-discuss side of blanc de blancs, but the pour-me-another side.
The American Artisan
Soter 2004 Brut Rosé, Beacon Hill, Oregon ($50)
Cerebral, pioneering winemaker (Etude) Tony Soter has moved from Napa Valley to the Willamette Valley and, among other things, turned his hand to producing some of the New World's most distinctive and impressive sparkling wines. Made from painfully low-yielding chardonnay and pinot noir vines and bottled drier than most French champagnes, this salmon-rose colored beauty is rich and flavorful--think strawberries in cream--but with a strikingly lean, clean, palate-refreshing vibrancy.
from Forbes.com
Going Green
Pommery NV "Wintertime" Blanc de Noirs, Champagne ($55)
Pommery went "green" back in the 1990s, doing the unflashy work required to achieve an ISO 14001 certification for environmental management, and the winery continues to innovate under new ownership (it is now part of Vranken-Pommery Monopole). Pommery's new-to-the U.S.-market "seasonal" champagne collection sounds a bit more gimmicky, but the "Wintertime" is straight-ahead good drinking, blended entirely from red pinot noir and pinot meunier grapes and meant to match up with hearty dishes like choucroute or chicken stuffed with morels: a luscious, rich, medium-gold, fruity, white peach-like wine leaning toward the sweeter end of the Brut spectrum.
from Forbes.com
Farmer's Market
Henri Goutorbe NV Cuvee Prestige Brut, Champagne ($60)
Squint very hard and you will notice that the teeny numbers on this champagne label are preceded by "RM" ("Recoltant-Manipulant"), meaning that it is the grape grower's own wine. (The big houses, which buy and combine grapes and wines from all over the region, display an NM preceding their label numbers.) These "growers' champagnes," with their very particular flavors, are much in vogue in wine circles, but I have never tasted one more purely, stop-and-linger-on-that-sip delicious than this one. Rich, sappy, custardy even in the mid-palate -- but dry -- it achieves a kind of sophisticated confectionery satisfaction like those fine European jams, with ethereal, directly translated flavors of ripe fruits but little actual sugar sweetness.
from Forbes.com
The New Kid
Bollinger NV Brut Rosé, Champagne ($100)
One only hopes that the legendary grande dame of the house, Mme. Lily Bollinger, would have approved of this new wine. She apparently had misgivings about putting the family name on a Rosé Champagne, which in the early part of the 20th century carried a lingering association with bawdy houses. Banish the thought; Bollinger's first-ever non-vintage rose is sexy (and pricey) but definitively high-toned. A pale, salmon-y color the French refer to as "partridge eye," this is toasty, generous, wine-y and very filled-in on the palate, both elegant and robust.
from Forbes.com
The Light Touch
Taittinger 1998 Comtes de Champagne, Blanc de Blancs ($150)
Thibaud, Count of Champagne, is said to have brought chardonnay to Champagne on his return from the Crusades, and the Taittinger family not only owns his palace, dating from 1240, but is among the handful of winemakers who most notably amplify his vine's legacy. Even from a sunny, ripe vintage like 1998 what strikes you about this all-chardonnay wine is its pinpoint elegance, a refined texture and closely woven harmony that comes in part from its nine to 10 years of cellar age before it hits the market. But graceful does not mean shy or retiring; this is an impressive mouthful, filled in front to back.
Shop around before taking the plunge.There are wonderful sparklers from about $15, like the Marques de Gelida Cava 2004 Brut Exclusive Reserva, a perfect party pour.
For those in mood to splurge, the prices go (way) up. A complex, age-worthy champagne like the elegant, all-chardonnay Taittinger 1998 Comtes de Champagne, Blanc de Blancs, will set you back $150. Thibaud, Count of Champagne, is said to have brought chardonnay to champagne on his return from the Crusades, and the Taittinger family not only owns his palace, dating from 1240, but is among the handful of winemakers who most notably amplify his vine's legacy.
Even from a sunny, ripe vintage like 1998, what strikes you about this all-chardonnay wine is its pinpoint elegance, a refined texture and closely woven harmony that comes in part from its nine to 10 years of cellar age before it hits the market. But graceful does not mean shy or retiring; this is an impressive mouthful, filled-in front-to-back.
You'll pay about $25 more for the richer, more pinot noir-influenced Krug NV (non-vintage) Grande Cuvée, Champagne. Many non-vintage champagnes--many delicious ones--are essentially "vintage" wines in disguise, made almost entirely from lesser lots of current harvests, with a modest lick of older, reserve wine to steer the blend toward the house style. Krug gives the reserve wines a prominent pride of place, employing reserves from six to 10 different years in this bottling, according to the winery.
Integrated into the already distinctive nature of the Krug style--all base wines fermented in small oak casks, the finished wines aging for at least six years before release--it creates champagne as high-wire-act, a balanced tension between a dry, taut crispness and a mellow, juicy, full-flavored fruitiness. Do not drink this champagne too quickly, or too cold.
But buyer beware: Especially at the high end, the price tags often seem as if they've been pulled out of a hat. A recent spin around Wine-Searcher.com discovered, for example, that the new Bollinger Rosé, non-vintage, was selling at one store online for $85, at another for $129 and elsewhere at nearly every price in between. The 2000 Dom Pérignon went for between $110 and $185 at various retailers on that same day. This presents a juicy opportunity if you live in a state that allows interstate wine shipments.
Know your palate. One easily avoided--but often made--mistake is to mix dry with sweet. A "brut" style sparkling wine, like the Soter 2004 Brut Rosé from Oregon, will be a drier style wine, which simply means it contains less sugar. Serving a brut with a sweet dessert can make the wine taste almost sour. A much better bet would be something like the Zardetto 2007 Prosecco "Zeta," from Italy, which has a pleasing touch of sweetness itself.
Ultimately, your choice comes down to a question of personal taste, budget and ultimate purpose. For a business gift, there's probably no competition: a French champagne like the Pommery "Wintertime" Blancs de Noir, or the Henri Goutorbe Cuveé Prestige Brut, still carries the full payload of prestige. But--not to shock you--some people actually prefer the richer, generally less acidic balance of many top American sparkling wines, like the Roederer NV Estate Brut or the Schramsberg 2005 Blanc de Blancs, both from California. To others a lean, Old World edge of crispness is the glory of the thing.
In Depth: Twelve Party-Perfect Bubblies
Recent Comments
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polaris02 07:45:59 AM Dec 31 2008
My favorite wine is Elm Pio's Asti Spumante. Only one that I will drink for holidays.
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pdxwineauxs 11:45:38 PM Dec 30 2008
Champagne ONLY comes from the Champagne region in France. All other bubblies are "sparkling wines". One does not have to spend a lot of find great sparkling wines. Gruet, from New Mexico, is among the best domestic bubblies. Around $15 a bottle. Andre, Cooks? They are bulk process and meant for those who are not into wine. The serve their purpose for those who are not wine fans, yet want some sparkle. Would I drink them? No way! Will I put someone else down for drinking them? Nope.As far as Andre and Dom tasting the same....I must ask...are you a smoker? Your taste buds are obviously tainted.....although I must say that Dom is not the bext Champagne (nor bubbly) in the world...it is one of the oldest. Cristal is another...I prefer their Louis Roederer Brut over the Cristal....it is a fraction of the price, at around $50 in a retail store, $85 on a wine list.
biker82112 06:01:55 PM Dec 30 2008
Why not try a less expensive Champagne, sparkling, or Asti this year? And then please consider donating your savings to those less fortunate.
ckfred 01:20:21 PM Dec 29 2008
mwn560,First, while I like Korbel, it does pale in comparison to Dom Perignon. It compares favorable to any sparkling wine, until you get to Taittinger Reserve, non-vintage. On the other hand, I would rather drink Welch's sparkling white grape juice than Cook's. It's awful. If I remember correctly, Cook's is from New York State. I'm not a snob, but New York just doesn't compare to California, Oregon, and Washington State.
mwn560 08:03:06 PM Dec 28 2008
Andere is just as good as Dom Perion! I drank the two side by side and there is no difference. That was the conclusion of all of us at that affair. And I love champagne. Also it's from the USA. There are other good US champagnes. Try Cooks
jolynn139 05:27:39 PM Dec 28 2008
Try Verdi it is an asti that is absolutely wonderful and only $ 7.00
Jmichaelschmitt 05:27:18 PM Dec 28 2008
For under $10 try Freixenet Brut. Smooth, citrusy and easy going it is jus a good bottle at a grea price.
