The Good, The Bad, and The Bubbly

Reviewing champagnes and sparkling wines is always a lot of fun. They happen to be one of our favorite types of wine, and somehow, by evening’s end, the effervescence in the glass manages to transform a group of serious tasters into a party of sparkling conversationalists. Indeed, maintaining our focus and objectivity while conducting such a tasting takes a good deal of work. Nevertheless, I think we succeeded and managed to accurately evaluate more than a dozen bubblies and to separate the good from the bad.

It’s always been my contention that when buying champagne or sparkling whites, as with any wine, a high price tag does not guarantee high quality. That’s not to say that some of the great vintage Champagnes from renowned houses like Roederer's Cristal, Salon’s Clos de Mesnil, or Pol Roger’s Cuvee Winston Churchill are not worth their lofty prices; these beautiful bottles always rank among the very best. However, there are some highly priced offerings out there that sit on the same shelves as these, but that, at least in my opinion, don’t always deliver what they promise. Although these wines are not actually bad, they just don’t merit their asking prices. In fact, even in our tasting of bubblies under $20, which reside a few shelves down from the aforementioned rarefied beauties, some of the least expensive far outshone their more costly competitors, a few of which were disappointments and others, just outright bad.

Given the state of the economy these days, a lot of us will probably be looking for ways to celebrate the holidays a little more frugally than before. So, here are a couple of guidelines.

Get more bang for the buck with non-vintage Champagne. After all, when blending a non-vintage champagne, the well known houses have a whole palate of vintages from which they can select to achieve a blend that reflects their particular style, whether it be full bodied (e.g., Veuve Clicquot and Bollinger are among my favorites), medium bodied (Pol Roger, Moet & Chandon), or light bodied (Tattinger).
Look for domestic wines made by good foreign producers. I have found, at least here in the U.S., that French houses like Roederer, or Taittinger are producing elegant and tasty alternatives to the imports. They have all the hallmarks of a good champagne: good mousse (bubbly foam), fine perlage (steady streams of small to tiny bubbles), and great taste.
Seek out imported sparkling wines that are not Champagne. Remember that “Champagne” is a specific appellation just like “Bordeaux” or “Burgundy.” Wines made with the same or a similar method as Champagne but that come from another district may not legally be called “Champagne,” although they may be kissing cousins. For instance, a Cremant de Bourgogne or a Cotes du Jura is reasonably priced yet still possesses all the old-world style and finesse that we expect from a Champagne.
Look for fine domestic producers. Names like Schramsberg and Iron Horse produce some wonderful sparklers. Granted these producers make some pretty expensive wines as well, but they can be considerably more affordable than imports without sacrificing quality.
Ask your wine merchant. If you have a knowledgeable wine merchant that you trust and who has recommended good selections in the past, ask him or her to suggest a reasonably priced sparkling wine. Be sure to make clear, however, exactly what your tastes are. Do you like your sparklers dry, or sweet, or somewhere in the middle? Do you plan to serve the wine with dinner or as an aperitif? Also try to find bottles that are still in boxes or are at least protected from direct light. Light can damage a good bottle.
Look for sales. I have found that just after Thanksgiving, Champagne and sparkling wines seem to go on sale for about a week or so. This is just a personal observation and not based on any marketing surveys or research. You might also go shopping right after the holidays and pick up some bargains. This is the time to buy a variety of these wines and find the ones you like. If you have the proper storage space, stock up for next year. But on second thought, it’s hard to resist popping those corks. You’ll probably find yourself celebrating anything you can think of, like Groundhog’s Day or They Only Raised Our Rent 2% Day, and so on.
Buy by the case. Granted twelve bottles are a lot of Champagne for one family. But if you split a case or even two among friends, you all benefit from the case discount, which can be as much as 20%. So plan ahead. Get together with your friends and neighbors and go Champagne shopping.

We hope that these guidelines will help you save a few dollars and that the reviews, which follow, will save you from paying good money for not so good wine. But then again, good friends can make even a bad bottle drinkable.

For this feature, we tasted the wines in ascending order by price (except for a sweeter Mosacto). We tasted each wine by itself and then selected several to sample with an assortment of “hoover doovers,” better known as puff-pastry hors d’oeuvres, some quiche, and a little smoked salmon.

Enjoy and our best for the holidays.

	NV Andre, Champagne Extra Dry, California ($3.99) Although not a true Champagne, this wine has a decent, but quick-fading, mousse and small bubbles. Pale straw in color, it has an unpleasant, medicinal nose that one taster likened to "wet diapers." Despite its multitude of bubbles, the wine is flat on the palate and has almost no flavor until the finish, which is reminiscent of tart peaches. Overall, a disappointing, but not undrinkable, sparkler that might be OK for a very quick toast if you're serving more than 200 people. In fact, the wine improved somewhat when tasted with our "pigs in a blanket" and wound up to be the least objectionable of the old-guard, value-priced bottles.

	NV Cook's, Champagne Brut, California ($5.99) This California sparkler has a fine-foam, yet fleeting, mousse. Pale straw in color, it has small bubbles and a faint, unpleasant nose reminiscent of synthetic leather. It's flat on the palate and has a medicinal flavor that reminded one taster of an aspirin that get's stuck on the tongue. The flavors linger--unfortunately.

	NV Tott's, Champagne Brut, California ($6.99) Another Champagne imposter, this wine has a decent mousse and small bubbles. Pale straw in color, it has a moldy, damp-basement nose with nuances of sulphur that intimate hard-boiled eggs. There's some sparkle on the palate, along with floral, musky flavors from start to finish. It's what you expect for the price.

	1998 Marques de Gelida, Cava ($7.99) This Spanish sparkler has a good mousse and is pale straw in color. It has very small bubbles and an attractive, perfumy nose of roses. Dry and effervescent on the palate, the perfume characteristics of the nose unfortunately carry through to the flavor as well as to the finish. It reminded one taster of passing by a department-store cosmetics counter and getting some perfume-sample spray on the tongue. Imported by Tempranillo, Inc., Mamaroneck, NY.

	1999 Brut Dargent, Blanc de Blanc, French Sparkling Wine ($8.99) This French sparkler, made totally from Chardonnay, has a good mousse and is pale gold in color. It has a classic, yeasty nose. It's mildly effervescent on the tongue and delivers pith-like, bitter-grapefruit flavors from start to finish. A disappointment on its own; it might fare better if used to make a sweet punch. Imported by Grapevine Imports, Somerville, MA.

	*NV Zardetto, Prosecco, Brut ($9.99)* This wine has a pretty mousse and medium bubbles. Very pale gold in color, it has an attractive floral nose of apricot and honeysuckle. Pleasantly effervescent, it delivers dry peach flavors that are in stark contrast to the sweet nose. It has a rather quick finish. This is a classic Prosecco and a very good value. Makes a fine aperitif. It was good with our hors d’oeuvres. Imported by Winebow, New York, NY.

	NV Korbel, Champagne Brut, California ($12.99) This wine has a good mousse and medium bubbles. Pale straw in color, it has a yeasty, orange-zest nose. On the palate, there's good effervescence. Off-dry, it delivers caramel, burnt-sugar flavors that carry through to the finish. It was pretty good with the food. Better than we had expected.

	NV Gruet, Brut, New Mexico ($14.99) This wine has a good mousse and small bubbles. Pale straw in color, it has an attractive, yeasty, citrus nose. On the palate, it's dry and delivers pleasant citrus flavors with dry peach undertones. There's a bit of complexity to this sparkler. It has good length, and the flavors carry through to the finish. It was very good with food--especially with the smoked salmon. The first star of this tasting.

	NV Pacific Echo, Brut, Mendocino County ($15.99) This California sparkler has a good mousse and small bubbles. Pale gold in color, it has a vegetal nose with yeasty undertones. Its nondescript flavors vanish quickly, and something lingers on the palate--but I'm not quite sure what it is. This wine was a major disappointment, especially because we have enjoyed it for a couple of years now. In fact, it ranked among the stars of one of our previous tastings. A bad bottle?

	NV A. Charbaut et Fils, Champagne Brut ($19.99) The only true Champagne of this tasting, this wine has a good mousse and very small bubbles. Pale gold in color, it has an aggressive, yeasty nose, with hints of apple pie. On the palate, it's dry and delivers yeast and apple flavors along with some tart, citrus underpinnings. The flavors linger, and it has a good, dry finish. We found this wine better on its own than with the food. Imported by Vranken America, New York, NY.

	NV Chandon, Reserve Sparkling Wine, Sonoma 52% and Napa 48% ($19.99) This wine has a very big mousse. Pale gold in color, with small bubbles, it has a synthetic nose that reminded one taster of stale socks. "Struggling to be sophisticated," quipped another taster. It delivers vinyl-like flavors together with a cloying sweetness. What we expected to be a star of this tasting, based on other Chandon bottles like their Brut de Noirs, turned out to be a black hole.

	NV Roederer Estate, Brut, Anderson Valley ($19.99) This wine has a very good mousse and tiny bubbles. Pale gold in color, it has a pleasant, yeasty nose with nuances of apple and pineapple. With good effervescence and some acidity, it delivers lovely flavors of apples and toast, together with some underlying citrus. It has good length and a caramel finish. A fine bottle of California bubbly. It was OK with the food, but better on its own. Another star of this tasting.

	2001 Coppo, Moncalvina, Moscato D'Asti, DOCG ($16.99) This wine has a refined, restrained mousse. Pretty and light gold color in color, with tiny bubbles, it has an attractive nose of muscat, pear, and apple butter. Light on the palate, it delivers forward, lingering flavors of apricot, peach, and litchi. It has a good finish that is consistent with its initial flavors. This wine was good with our food. Another star of this tasting. Imported by Winebow, New York, NY.

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TableWine is a personal website and does not sell any wine. However, many of the wines we review are purchased from our local wine merchants, Wine & Spirit World in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ and The Wine Seller in Ridgewood, NJ. The Wine & Spirit World website may help you locate a good number of our selections. You might also use the database of quality wine merchants at Wine Searcher.com to help find wines that are difficult to locate. Finally, if your local wine store does not carry a wine that you've read about here, don't hesitate to ask them to order a bottle or two for you. For imported wines, you may need to supply them with the name of the importer or distributor.

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