Wine Time

Bubbling Over

A sparkling and less expensive way to toast the holidays

by Trevor Burton | photography by Trevor Burton Champagne has cleverly carved out a market position, as a finely crafted, luxury wine that is tightly linked to celebrating life’s important moments, weddings, births and even something simple, like the start of a new year. It’s my opinion that the celebration part of sparkling wine revolves mostly around the bubbles and not the name, “Champagne.” Champagne winemakers may have a lock on wines that carry the name, “Champagne.” But they don’t have a worldwide lock on bubbles. And that’s good news.

Champagne is the end result of a second fermentation that takes place in the bottle. When grape juice ferments, yeast acts to convert sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. In “normal” fermentation the carbon dioxide simply vents off into the atmosphere. When fermentation takes place in a closed bottle, carbon dioxide has nowhere to escape to and gets absorbed into the wine. That’s where the bubbles come from.

There are a number of sparkling wines made in exactly the same way that Champagne comes into the world. They’re much less expensive than the, admittedly, fine wines that emanate from Champagne.

Most of the main wine producing regions in France have their own sparkling wines. These wines are called Crémant. Each of them is made in the same manner as Champagne; on the label you’ll see the notation “méthode traditionnelle.” You absolutely can’t go wrong with them and they carry a price that will have you bringing lots of them home. They’re easy to find and they are so much more than just cheap alternatives. They have their own character. They are interesting and great to sip on.

I love wines from Burgundy so I like to sip on the Crémant de Bourgogne. Burgundy Crémants are made from some of the same grapes as Champagne—Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. You’re getting as close to Champagne style as possible. Burgundy is not as chilly as Champagne so you get a different type of wine; deeper, warmer and less crisp. Move a little north and you get the chills, chills that produce crisp wines, but you won’t get Champagne’s grapes. And that’s fun; exploring what different grapes and different terroirs bring to their wines. One great wine to search out is Crémant de Loire; they are particularly good. Their main grape is Chenin Blanc. Another northern star is Crémant d’Alsace. Here the grapes are Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and several others. If you’re on the lookout for bottled bubbles, both Crémant de Loire and Crémant d’Alsace are good bets and there are many more from other regions around France.

So, there’s a huge array of sparkling alternatives to pick from in France. Move across the Pyrenees and you run into another. This is one of my favorite wines purely and simply because of the value you get. The wine is Cava. A really good bottle can find its way to your dinner table for under $20. Cava is made in the exact same way as Champagne. The grapes are way different— not surprising as you’re in Spain, not France. The grapes used in Spain are Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo.

With Cava you’re into a whole new world. There’s nothing chilly about this part of Spain. The Penedès wine region, where most Cavas come from, is located along the Mediterranean coast in northeastern Spain. Its grapes are grown under a climate, characterized by plenty of sunshine and heat during the growing season, lack of humidity and a mild winter. Cava is distinctive. It demonstrates regional and cultural character. The Catalan region is significantly different from the rest of Spain even to the point of having its own language, a mélange of French and Spanish. And, no doubt about it, Cava is Catalan’s wine, linked to the ways of its people.

It’s that time of year. Go for those carbon dioxide bubbles. There are many reasons to celebrate. Most important is that we may finally be over this COVID mess. There are so many ways to toast to good fortune without spending one. Enjoy.