Sparkling wines usually make an appearance during the end of year celebrations. And of all of these, Champagne reigns supreme. But it is usually so expensive, can you actually taste the difference with other bubblies?
The answer is yes, in many ways.
In every other year, I would have suggested inviting over enough friends to finish 4 different bottles of bubbly and taste the difference for yourself. But maybe you could wait until next year to do that.
So instead of going into details about Champagne itself, I will highlight its peculiarities by comparing it with 3 other types of sparkling wines: Prosecco, Cava, and Champagne-like sparklings from California (that said, this post features some material from my book)
Prosecco
Prosecco DOC from the Veneto region in Italy is one of the most affordable because it’s made using the tank method rather than Champagne’s traditional method. That tank method preserves the freshness of the fruit aromas, but the bubbles are more like those of a carbonated drink. They fizzle pretty fast, and the mousse is almost nonexistent.
In comparison, Champagne bubbles are very fine, and aggregate on top of the glass to create a dense, foamy mousse. Drinking Champagne in long flute glasses gives the chance for Champagne bubbles to slowly rise to the surface for a really long time, and makes the glass look like it’s filled with sparkling wine for much longer than it would with Prosecco.
But again, Prosecco wines are cheap. The very high-end cost about the same as an entry-level Champagne, and hail from Prosecco di Conegliano-Valdobbiadene DOCG. A word of warning, those are off-dry/medium-sweet compared to the regular dry Prosecco.
Cava
Another contender for the value-oriented sparkling wine is Cava DOC from Catalonia, Spain. This is made using the traditional method, so bubbles are more Champagne-like. Actually, they were the first sparkling winemakers to make use of gyropalette, the machine used to riddle the wines now in use everywhere.
But Cava is crafted from local grapes, Macabeo, Parellada and especially Xarel-lo which gives it an unmistakable taste of citrus and orchard fruits. The closest thing to it would be Blanquette de Limoux AOC made a couple of hundred kilometres north from a grape called Mauzac.
But it’s a far cry from the Champagne blend, which is Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (a close cousin of Pinot Noir). Chardonnay gives a backbone of lemon and apple aromas, and takes on buttery, brioche-like flavours after some time. And both Pinot give Champagne berry notes and depth. This combination gives Champagne more complexity and a broader range of tastes.
A bit of ageing helps a lot to give complexity, so Cava Reserva and Cava Gran Reserva are definite improvements
Champagne-like blends
Given that the 3 grapes allowed in Champagne are grown all around the world, you may think that the formula can easily be adapted around the world. And it has been.
Franciacorta DOCG from Lombardy, Italy is made mostly of Chardonnay, with Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc to round up the blend. Crémant de Bourgogne AOC is made with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. And of course, several large Champagne houses have established a presence in Napa Valley and use the same blend to produce sparkling wines there.
Those come close to Champagne in terms of mousse and taste profile, but with several caveats. First, their price range is largely overlapping with that of Champagne. Second, Champagne has aging requirements that are pretty long compared to most sparkling wines, giving even its most basic bottlings a clear edge, and even more so with higher-end ones. The longer lees ageing gives Champagne notes of brioche and buttery toast that gives it a depth and structure that is hard to beat. Last and maybe most important, terroir makes a big difference.
Terroir
Champagne is at the northernmost limit of where vines can grow in France. In many vintages, the grapes have a hard time ripening, which gives it the sharp acidity that we love in sparkling wines. But Champagne lies at the edge of the Paris Basin (which was a sea 200M years ago), and the very thin topsoil covers massive quantities of chalk. Chalk is a type of limestone which is ideal for regulating water content and is well suited to grow Chardonnay. Pinot Noir does extremely well on limestone-rich marl, whereas Pinot Meunier excels with a higher sand content mixed in.
This is why the main growing areas in Champagne all have a dominant grape based on their respective soil. Côte des Blancs (south of Epernay) is mostly planted to Chardonnay, as are its neighbours Côte de Sézanne and Vitry-le-François. Côte des Bar (southeast of Troyes) and Montagne de Reims (south of Reims) are the kingdom of Pinot Noir, whereas Vallée de la Marne (west of Epernay) is mostly planted to Pinot Meunier. Val de Reims has a bit of everything, but both Pinot take the lion’s share.
Types of Champagne
Most Champagne is a blend of multiple years. By reserving a sizeable portion of the wine year after year and blending the prior years into the current year’s wine, the Champagne houses can create a blend that is consistent year after year and does not suffer from vintage variations. It's commonly referred to as “non-vintage” and is the most common type of Champagne.
Millésimé (vintage) Champagne is only made in excellent years when grapes are sufficiently ripe and is usually more expensive, but tends to be an improvement over the usual house blend.
There are also two labels you may encounter: Blanc de Blanc and Blanc de Noir.
• Blanc de Blanc means that instead of the usual Champagne blend of 3 grapes, this is made with 100% Chardonnay; depending on the place it was grown it can range from fine and delicate to rich and powerful.
• Blanc de Noir means that it's only made out of Pinot (Noir or Meunier). While they are white sparkling wines, they express a bit more tannins and more fruity notes.
Like most sparkling wines, Champagne exists on a continuum from very dry to sweet, but its labelling is very unfortunate. The so-called Extra-Dry and Dry Champagne are actually off-dry and semi-sweet. Look for Brut or Extra-Brut bottling instead. Brut Nature has no added sugar and can taste a bit tart, especially in non-vintage versions.
Champagne brands
Most Champagne wine is produced by Champagne Houses which buy most of the grapes they bottle from growers (although they also grow some themselves). The Champagne Houses are the brands of Champagne and most of them have 2 tiers of labellings: the house brand and the tête de cuvée which is their flagship brand, offering their best product. For example, Dom Pérignon is made by Moët & Chandon, Cristal by Roederer and La Grande Dame by Veuve Cliquot.
But in recent years, growers/winemakers have started to grow in importance and give some serious competition to the best Champagne houses. But if you are looking at a few bottles, how do you know whether you are dealing with a grower or a house?
There is a 2-letter code on every champagne bottle somewhere on the label; it may be hard to find but it has to be there by law so look for it.
Here is what the codes mean:
• NM (Négociant-Manipulant): A producer that incorporates grapes from other growers. Most Champagne houses are NM
• RM (Récoltant-Manipulant): A producer who only makes wines with grapes they grow.
• RC (Récoltant-Coopérateur): A producer who is part of a cooperative, but resells the wines under their own name.
• SR (Société de Récoltants): A group of growers who sell the wines under a joint name
• CM (Coopérative de Manipulation): A co-operative cellar that makes wines from grapes grown by its members
• MA (Marque Auxiliaire) A private label used by restaurants, wine stores, supermarkets, etc... It could be made by any one of the above
• ND (Négociant-Distributeur) Used for wine buyers who buy wines from any above and resell them under their own brand.
So look for NM (Champagne house) or RM (grower-producer) Champagnes. RC/SR and CM are cooperatives of varying quality, and I would stay away from MA/ND unless I know the story behind the specific bottle.
So do yourself a favour and next time you are looking to celebrate and go for a bottle of sparkling wine, look around for a Champagne. You will taste the difference.
As usual, if you are in Canada you can search for available inventory in your local wine store on Winereco
I will take a break for the holidays, and will be back for more in the new year.
Until then, happy drinking!