TOP 10 SPARKLING & CHAMPAGNE

In the last few weeks I’ve tasted over 90 sparkling wines which included some 35 reputed Champagnes. After these numerous tastings, I’ve come to the clear conclusion that Champagne is seldom a superior sparkling wine. When it comes to value Champagne disappoints. With its high prices and varying quality, too many Champagnes offer a poor quality price ratio.

Increasing popularity: supply and demand

Sorry for bursting your bubble! But to better understand the reality of Champagne you need to be informed of a few simple stats. Worldwide sales of Champagne have increased steadily in the last few years. The growing popularity of Champagne has pushed many growers to overproduce. In spite of the obvious decrease in quality of too many Champagnes, the major houses continue to increase prices.

The quality of Champagne :

The region of Champagne does offer us well made sparkling wines from its reputed traditional Champagne method. Unfortunately, too often many of these expensive wines are made from unripe, diluted grapes. Take note that the region of Champagne has the highest yields amongst quality French wine regions! To make matters worse, producers add a sweet liqueur (liqueur d’expédition) to the wines, to mask the faults that appear from this widespread overproduction. This practice has lead to many sweeter than usual Champagnes.

Alternatives:

Many consumers finally understand that you don’t need to pay $50+ to get a good quality sparkling wine. Today many (more) wine regions are producing high quality sparklers. The time has come to move away from Champagne and take the opportunity to discover other sparkling wines made by respectful quality conscious producers.

Here is my Top 10: sparkling (7) and Champagne (3) :

Sparkling wines : a short list of well made, high quality sparklers

Cuvée Prestige 2012 Franciacorta, Ca’del Bosco, Italy 35,25$

See my tasting notes »