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Amazing sparklers that won’t break the budget!
While most people are familiar with champagne, not so many are aware it is the name of a particular type of sparkling wine that hails from the Champagne region of France. This prized, effervescent wine is prepared in a two-way fermentation process, wherein yeast and sugar are added during the second fermentation to form carbon dioxide that results in the fizz formation. Prepared from a blend of three kinds of grapes, such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, Champagne is well-known for its fine quality and preparation technique.
'Champagne' and 'celebration' have always gone hand in hand, however, its high price can be off-putting. Moderately priced ones range from £30 to £60 while the high-end ones cost £80 onwards. Thankfully, for those on a budget, there are other exuberant wines that are good alternatives to France's sparkling classic. Like champagne, they have bubbles and can be consumed as aperitifs or with various foods.
Cava
Cava is a sparkling wine hailing from the Catalonia region of Spain. It is prepared using the same French Champagne technique, but is prepared from a blend of Xarel-lo, Parellada and Macabeo grape varieties. Freixenet's sparkling wines have long been admired, with 80% of Spanish Cava being exported. Cavas are available in white and rosé; the rosé variety is called Cava Rosé or Rosado.
At half the price of champagne, lighter and fruitier, Cava is a more than adequate substitute. It's slightly less acidic with notes of green apple, dried herbs, citrus and honey. Besides being crisp and lively, it’s smooth and soft on the palate. Cava is also differentiated based on sweetness, classified as brut nature, brut, seco, semiseco, or dulce. Dulce is the sweetest; brut the driest.
Prosecco
This elegant, fine-tasting, Italian equivalent of champagne is manufactured in the northern Veneto region and is primarily made from Prosecco grapes. Consumed during almost every occasion in Italy, these refreshing, light wines vary in sweetness from brut, extra dry to dry. However, their 'brut' versions are much sweeter than those of the Cava. Prosecco is a straw-coloured, light-bodied wine that carries notes of peach, apricot, pear, apples, acacia and citrus with an intense, flowering aroma.
Unlike Champagne or Cava, Prosecco wines do not ferment in the bottle; instead, the second fermentation process - addition of yeast and sugar - takes place in tanks. Here, the wine is kept under pressure to capture the freshness and fruitiness of the grapes, which is why Prosecco has a fruitier and sweeter finish. However, since it hasn't been fermented in a bottle, it must be consumed within two years of bottling, although high-quality vintage Proseccos are aged for up to seven years.
French Crémant
Sparkling wines are not just made in the Champagne region of France, but are also made in different areas including Alsace, Burgundy, Loire Valley (Anjou-Saumur and Touraine) and Bordeaux. These wines are made in the same way as Champagne but cannot be called so because they're not from the region, though they also go through the second fermentation process in the bottle. These wines, like other sparkling wines, are considerably cheaper.
Made from a blend of different types of grapes―Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Riesling, and/or Chardonnay, crémant contains good acidity. Its flavour profile varies depending on the grape blend of grapes and the region it hails from. Those from Burgundy are rich and creamier on the palate, while those from Alsace are crisp, packed with zesty citrus fruit. These French alternatives for champagne are food-friendly and great in terms of flavour and elegance.
Besides these sparkling wines, there are others like the Australian sparkling red wine, Portuguese Espumante, Italian Moscato d'Asti, and even the Californian sparkling wines.
Champagne has earned its name for a reason and while there are no true substitutions, these sparklers are a fantastic alternative offering an effervescent wine at a cheaper price.
Jason Mules
Waitrose Okehampton