We all should drink more bubbles

26 Saturday Dec 2020

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Bubbles, Cava, champagne, Cremant, New Year's Eve, Prosecco

It’s time to celebrate the new year – perhaps it’s ring in the new year and chase out the old one.

Bubbles, of course, is the traditional beverage of choice for most revelers. Having now worked in retail wine sales, I’ve developed more of a love for sparkling wines. There really is something for everyone and at all price points.

As opposed to recommending specific bottles, perhaps dropping a few names, let’s cover the choices that will work for you and what you might expect to pay.

Bubbles start with champagne. The area of Champagne in France isn’t particularly large but nearly 360 Champagne houses produce more than 300 million bottles annually. True champagne is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier. A blanc de blanc is 100% Chardonnay while a Blanc de Noir is Pinot Noir.

True champagne starts around $30-$50 a bottle. The U.S. is the second largest importer of French Champagne, Britain takes the top spot. The best-selling champagnes in the world are widely available in the US. If you want to go where the crowd goes look for Moet-Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Nicolas Feuillatte, Laurent-Perrier, Taittinger, Pommery. And Piper-Heidsieck – and of course, Dom Perignon.

Ask your wine shop clerk to make recommendations from small houses and you might just find better wines. One specific: Nomine Renard for around $40. Or try US made Schramsberg producers of Blanc and Noir at $30-$40.

There are also regional standout producers like Mawby from Northern Michigan.

A lesser known option is grower champagnes. If you like the farm-to-fork concept in restaurants, a grower champagne is for you. Many of the big houses buy their grapes from growers – nothing wrong with that. The grower champagnes are grown and produced by a single producer. These champagnes sell generally from $70 to $125. This is my best bet for outstanding quality and drinkability over the big houses.

If you want something more affordable look for an Italian Prosecco, Spanish Cava, US champagnes and French Cremant. The Cremants are a particularly good value made like champagne. Great Cremant is produced in Burgundy, Alsace, Loire Valley and Southern France. Average cost for great Cremant bubbles runs around $20. They are also a bit more drinkable if you’re not used to true champagne.

Another entry to not overlook is Italy, yes the land of tannic dark red wines and pasta. La Spinetta and Ferrari are a couple of names to look for.

Bubbles should be enjoyed year round. It’s not just for New Year’s. Try bubbles with a salad of mild flavored food. Drink bubbles on the porch or patio on a hot summer day.

Grab a bottle of sparkle, and let’s toast 2021 – and kick 2020 to the back of our collective memory.

Happy New Year!

What I’m drinking? More bubbles!

27 Tuesday Feb 2018

Posted by Howard in Newspaper Column 2018

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#Mionetto, Bubbles, Cava, champagne, Prosecco, Summer sippers

In the early years of this column I’d do a semi-regular feature called, ‘What I’ve Been Drinking Lately.’ Let’s bring that back in 2018. We’ll recommend specific wines that, in a way, become generic recommendations for easy-to-find wine picks.

More and more bubbles are turning up on my wine rack. It’s taken too much time but after awhile any wine drinker will learn sparking wines aren’t just for New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day, or a wedding reception.

Good sparkling wine is a marvelous aperitif. A cold sparkler is a phenomenal porch pounder. Bubbles pair well with salads, lighter style seafood, and even fresh fruit.

Sparkling wine sales are growing around the globe. Whether its Cava from Spain, Cremant from Burgundy or Loire, Italian Prosecco, American bubbles, or the grand daddy of them all – Champagne from Champagne, France, bubbles are hot.

If you’re not a big bubbles drinker now, let’s find an easy place to start. Prosecco might be the easiest entry point for most wine fans. Prosecco comes from Northern Italy, largely made from the glera grape, and is very affordable. Most Prosecco wines are made dry like a tart brut. But the typical pear, honeysuckle flavors trick the palate into thinking it’s a bit sweeter.

An easy starting point is Mionetto Prosecco. It’s fresh mouthful of fruit with light bubbles. Mionetto can be found at the entry level of $13-$16 and is widely distributed. Other entry level Prosecco include Bisol and Rebuli, among others.

I prefer my bubbles with a good chill. It won’t take you long to figure out where you like the temperature of your sparklers.

Like any other grape in the wine world, you’ll notice new layers of flavor and satisfaction as you climb the price ladder. Prices are quite modest for Prosecco and Cava starting at under $10. Consumers can find outstanding sparking wine’s in the $30 range.

There’s nothing like French Champagne but you won’t find one for 13 bucks. Good champagne starts in the $40-$50 range.

Let’s add its not a bad time to stock up. Most fine wine shops and liquor stores pack the shelves for the holidays through Valentines day. Look for prices to be discounted in the next few weeks.

And a final note for today, most all sparkling wine producers produce a sparkling rose’. In a brut you get a dry, and sometimes yeast hint, that isn’t pleasant to all palates. Sparkling Rose is a personal favorite. Rose’ is still dry, bubbly, but with a bit more fruit.

You won’t regret keeping bubbles on your wine rack.

Pick up some bubbles for summer sips

16 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by Howard in Holidays, Newspaper Column 2017

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Cava, champagne, Cremant, Prosecco, Sparkling Wine

New Year’s Eve is probably the furthest thing from most wine drinker’s mind as June brings summer-like temperatures. But winos need to think about Dec. 31 for summer vino picks.

Sales trends across the U.S. show sparkling wine or Champagne sales increasing at significant rates. Bubbles aren’t just for ringing in the new year any more.

Many point to Italy’s easy-to-drink Prosecco as the catapult for sparkling wine sales. As a matter of fact, Prosecco sales are up more than 25 percent in the latest year-to-date survey released in September.

Prosecco is a gateway to sparkling wine. The flavors are pleasing, the quality is usually outstanding, the bubbles are subdued and the price is right. Prosecco can be found at most good wine shops and some liquor stores for $12 and up.

But the sparkling category is climbing across the board from Prosecco to the considerably-more-expensive French Champagnes. Over the same time period, Champagne sales in the US increased 10 percent and that’s with an average price point of $50 a bottle.

If you combine all sparkling wine sales, America’s consumption has nearly doubled since 2000.

Indiana retailers share a similar story.

Ron Miller

Two Indy wine retailers agreed the sparkling wine category is growing. “Our sparkling sale are up this year with it’s trending toward inexpensive Cava (Spanish) and Prosecco that can be enjoyed as a mixer or just on its own,” Cork and Cracker owner Ron Miller said. “Our Champagnes are doing well but those are still more special occasion wines.”

A bit farther north in Carmel, Vine and Table sales seem to split between Champagne and non-Champagne sparklers. “I would say we probably sell more Champagne when it comes to people just wanting to enjoy a bottle of bubbles,” wine buyer Brendan Kennedy said. “For events or for people entertaining, there’s definitely more of a demand for Prosecco, Cava, and domestic sparkling wines because they can hit a lower price point that’s just not possible for true Champagne.”

Kennedy agreed that Prosecco is getting more people into sparkling wines. “The level of carbonation is a bit lower than most, and I think that appeals to people who don’t regularly drink sparkling wine,” he said. “I could certainly see more Prosecco producers following that model.”

The Carmel shop buyer goes a bit further to predict increasing sales of the dry Brut wines. He noted a tasting done during the fall where the most popular pours were dry Brut wines and Dry Rosé Brut with zero residual sugar.

“I would say we sell probably four bottles of white sparkling for every bottle of Rosé,” Kennedy added. “It seems we’ve been near that ratio for the last three or four years. While sales of still Rosés take off in the warmer weather, the sparkling Rosés usually don’t see nearly the same amount of love.”

Miller said customers still ask for Prosecco more than any other sparkler but Rose and traditional champagne sales are up. “I have always loved sparkling rose and we do well, our top selling is Camille Braun Cremant d’alsace brut rose at $26.99,” he said. “We also have a couple of less expensive roses that do well too.”

One thing both wine retailers can agree on is that bubbles should not be limited to the holidays. “Sparkling wine is our second biggest wine category after Cabernet Sauvignon,” Kennedy shared. “We’ve found that people can forget how crisp and refreshing a bottle of bubbles can be in the summer. We’ve occasionally made easy-to-make sparkling wine cocktails such as an Aperol spirtz or St. Germain cocktails in hopes that people will be drinking sparkling year around and not just for special and celebratory occasions.”

Miller agreed and noted that sparkling wines pair well with almost any food. He will often recommend a sparkling wine when customers aren’t sure what to serve.

“Starting any party with a sparkling wine always seems to set the mood,” Miller said. “I have never seen a frown when I was handing someone a glass of bubbles. Sparkling wine is also the acceptable breakfast alcohol, it doesn’t always have to be 5 o’clock somewhere.”