Bonne Année… well, almost. As you prepare for your New Year’s party, no doubt a bottle of bubbly is on your shopping list. Which to choose?
I say splurge. This year chances are it’s just you and your special someone. Go for a really good champagne and enjoy every sip. Personally, I like dryer champagne, so I always choose a brut. On the scale of dry-to-sweet champagnes, brut nature, extra brut, and brut will be the driest; sec will be pretty sweet and demi-sec very sweet.
Remember that in order to be called champagne, it must be from the Champagne region of France. If it’s made anywhere else in France it’s called either crémant or vin pétillant (sparkling wine). Prosecco is sparkling wine from Italy and Cava is sparkling wine from Spain., and like champagne, retains its exclusivity to those nations.
You can order your champagne online or you can find a good bottle at most local wine shops, including grocery stores. Here is a list of some of my favorites from France: Veuve Clicqot (traditional yellow label or rosé), Moët & Chandon (imperial brut), Pommery (brut royal), and Gosset (grande réserve).
I also highly recommend two US champagne-style sparkling wines: Schramsberg from the Napa Valley has excellent French-style sparkling wine as does Soter Vineyards in the Willamette Valley.
