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Feeling festive this holiday season? Here's a tip: Now may be the best time in recent memory to stock up on champagne and sparkling wine. There's a big glut on the market, says Kevin Zraly, author of Windows on the World Complete Wine Course, perhaps the best-selling of all wine guides.
The reason: Retailers still have huge stocks left over from last year. "The Millennium was a nonevent, so now they're wheeling out all the champagne that was left over," Zraly explains.
On top of that, many legendary French producers have invested heavily in California vineyards, where production has dramatically increased. And these days, with the euro as flat as day-old bubbly, European sparkling wines -- including some normally expensive French champagnes -- have come way down in price. In New York City, for example, wine merchants are advertising such flagship brands as Veuve Clicquot and Taittinger for $30 or less. That's 20% or so lower than I'm used to paying.
Meanwhile, online wine merchants such as Wine.com, which ships to 42 states from its home base in San Francisco, have been searching the world for the sort of great bargains you won't find in stores. eVineyard.com, a big site based in Portland, Ore., is offering free shipping for the holidays for orders of more than $25.
TOUGH JOB. When wine expert Jeff Prather was in France recently, scoping out wines to add to the offerings of Wine.com, he tasted 300 or so wines per day. One that really stood out, he recalls, was, a 1993 Domaine de Cray Crémant from the Loire Valley, not a region generally known for sparkling wines. He terms the wine "astounding -- one of the greatest non-Champagne [region] sparkling wines I've ever tasted." You can buy it now at wine.com. What I find most surprising is the price: A mere $16 per bottle.
Later in this column, I'll pass on some buying tips. But first, before I share some labels that range from $8 up to around $50 per bottle, here's a little background that may take some of the mystery out of buying champagne.
Keep in mind that only sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region of France and prepared by the famous méthode champenoise can actually be labeled "champagne." Everything else must be called "sparkling wine." That's even true for bubbly such as the Domaine de Cray Crémant, which is made in France but not in the Champagne region.
TOAST OF THE TOWN. Although wine snobs still prefer champagne, sparkling wine is often just as good. Most of the better sparkling wines produced in Italy, Spain, and the U.S. are made by the méthode champenoise, which requires a second fermentation in the bottle. Last year, Newsweek gathered a panel of wine experts for a blind tasting of champagnes and sparkling wines. The winner was a 1992 Roederer Estate L'Ermitage -- a sparkling wine produced in California by the famous French champagne house -- priced at just $29.95. Unfortunately, since the article, the price has shot up to $40 or more. Even at that price, some wine experts still consider it a bargain.
That's because the wines the Ermitage vanquished were far more expensive. No. 2 was Roederer's Cristal, which is made in France and priced at $170. No. 3 was a Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame at $99.95, also produced in France, and No. 4 was Schramsberg's J Schram at $65. Dom Pérignon, which is also made in France and priced at $109, came in No. 5.
Price tends to be based on whether or not a given sparkling wine is a vintage. Nonvintage means the wine is a blend of grapes from different years. A popular example is the basic Veuve Clicquot with the yellow label, which sells for $30-plus. A vintage champagne is made only with grapes from a single year -- and in Champagne, only the best years are so honored. The top of the line, known as tête de cuvée in France, is vintage sparkling wine that's aged at least 15 months. These wines usually cost at least $50 per bottle. The last four wines in Newsweek's tasting -- Roederer Cristal, Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame, J Schram, and Dom Pérignon -- are all tête de cuvée.
EAT, DRINK, BE MERRY. An important point about bubbly is that it is far more versatile than most people think. Americans tend to tip a glass mainly at weddings and other celebrations, but champagne is also splendid with food. In fact, all the wine experts I spoke with say it can be an excellent idea to start a big meal with champagne -- and then stick with it all the way through to dessert. "I've done it hundreds of times," says Ron Wiegand, a leading wine authority who is now the chief wine officer at eVineyard.com. Wiegand says he also loves to drink champagne with potato chips.
The big question: which type of sparkling wine to eat with which food? Remember that "brut" on the label means the wine is dry, while "extra dry" is slightly sweeter. Which is better? Well, that's largely a matter of personal preference.
The other key distinction is which type of grapes predominate in the blend. Sparkling wine is made mainly with two kinds: pinot noir and chardonnay. In general, the more white grapes in the blend, the lighter the taste, and the more red grapes, the more full-bodied.
TIPS AND TIPPLES. With oysters, chicken, or seafood, you might drink a light champagne such as Lanson, or a sparkling blanc de blancs made entirely with white chardonnay grapes. With salmon, ham, or heavier meats, you could sip a full-bodied champagne such as Veuve Clicquot or a blanc de noir, which is a white sparkling wine made with red pinot noir grapes. Jamie Davies is CEO of Schramsberg Vineyards, based in Calistoga, Calif., one of the top domestic makers of bubbly. She suggests using a rosé as an aperitif to start off a meal.
Which wine should you buy? One good bet is always Davies' Schramsberg Vineyards, which has sparkling wines in various styles starting at around $28. You can find them in wine shops or at winetasting.com, a Web site featuring California wines that ships to 19 states. If you want to spend less, check out Schramsberg's budget-price Mirabelle sparkling wines.
Here are some other picks from the experts:
Zraly: On the low end of the price scale, he suggests Freixenet Brut. It's made in Spain using the méthode champenoise but costs only about $8 to $10 per bottle. In the $10-to-$15 range, he likes Korbel sparkling wine from California, either the brut or natural, the latter costing around $1.50 more than the brut. My family has a big champagne party at Christmas, and we were quite pleased with Korbel Natural when we served it last year at Zraly's suggestion. In the $30-plus range, he prefers full-bodied champagnes such as Veuve Clicquot or Taittinger. Among California sparkling wines, he suggests going with Iron Horse Blanc de Blancs, which costs around $30.
Wiegand: He agrees with Zraly that Freixenet represents "good value." Also from Spain, try a Segura Viudas N.V. Aria Heridad at about $15, or a brut from the same producer at $13. From California, he suggests some sparkling wines made by French producers, such as a Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut at $21 or Rosé at around $25 per bottle. Alternatively, try a Domaine Carneros 1997 Brut, made in California by Taittinger, at $22. Domaine Carneros "has made a quantum leap in quality in recent years," he says, "and this wine is particularly amazing."
Prather: Wine.com has a wide selection of sparkling wines of all types but prides itself on the discoveries it has made among little-known European producers. One reason Prather loves the 1993 Domaine de Cray Crémant at $16 is that the wine is left "on the yeast," or fermenting in the bottle, for more than six years. He calls that "unheard of" for such an inexpensive offering and says the aging helps account for the wine's full-bodied taste.
For somewhat less money, he suggests a Domaine J. Laurens Crémant de Limoux Brut Blanc de Blancs that sells for $11, or a Meyer Fonne Crémant from Alsace for $12. Both are very dry wines that you won't normally find in a store.
Prather says Italian sparkling wines also can be great values. At $11, he suggests a Rotari Blanc de Noir Brut, which owes its faint blush to the mix of 75% pinot noir grapes and 25% chardonnay. At the same price, you can also get a Rotari Brut Arte Italiana Trento, which is made mainly with chardonnay grapes.
POP YOUR CORK. If you're willing to spend more, he suggests French champagne from a little-known producer. Try an A.R. Lenoble Blancs de Blancs Grand Cru at $28. This is a tête de cuvée champagne at an amazingly low price. Alternatively, he suggests a Michel Dervin Brut, an award-winning nonvintage champagne at about $32.
Those who really want to splurge should go for an Alain Robert Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru at $49.95, he says. Prather calls it an "unbelievable, rich beautiful champagne" produced by a family that has been in the business since the 17th century.
Once you've made your selections, remember that most sparkling wines are meant to be drunk right away, not aged. Be sure to open the bottle very slowly, allowing the gas to escape bit by bit. The bubbles will last longer if you do, Zraly says. A bottle-stopper helps, too. "I suggest having a few bottles in the fridge at all times," Prather says. "The holidays are full of open-house opportunities." Amen.
Peterson is contributing editor for Business Week Online. Follow his Moveable Feast Column, every week Edited by Douglas Harbrecht
Copyright 2000, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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