The Death of Champagne

The price for a nice bottle of champagne these days is absolutely outlandish. Designer names, the strength of the Euro, and the general snobbery of the wine business have all contributed to even pedestrian champagne running around $30. If you plan on drinking the bubbly at a restaurant, you might want to bring an extra credit card. Not to worry, your savior has arrived: non-champagne champagne. Official champagne is the stuff from the champagne region in northern France, complete with the name recognition of Veuve Clicquot, Moet & Chandon and Cristal, and the requisite price hike involved. In order to receive the same quality for a fraction of the price, one need only to look toward Spain, Italy, and yes, even California. Among the wine cognoscenti, Spain is a go-to region for all types of quality vino. Sparkling Spain, called cava, is one of the best values in wine showbiz. Cava is created using a host of grape varieties not easily pronounced by even the most knowledgeable sommelier. Grapes like parallada, macabeo and xarel-lo are blended and vinified in an identical manner to true champagne. The result is a wine with a very similar taste profile to the French version; with a touch more forward fruit on the palate and a lot more cash in staying in your wallet. A café in northern Italy, even at noon, would appear naked without bottles of prosecco dancing everywhere. This delightful, semi-sparkling (frizzante) wine named after the grape quickly becomes a favorite for even the most veteran wine snob. The flavors of prosecco are reminiscent of green apples and white peaches, creating an addictive alternative to the stoic champagne.Italy’s second contribution to the bubbly revolution is moscato d’Asti. As with prosecco, moscato d’Asti is frizzante and created differently than champagne. Its uniqueness, however, stems from a certain cream soda sweetness that has been described as “crack for young women.” This fluffy candy has caused more than one moscato virgin to swoon like she was just asked to the prom by Mr. Popular. Both prosecco and moscato d’Asti have amazingly low alcohol content (some as low as 7%). Finally, California throws its hat into the ring with champagnemethod sparklers that rival the best in the world. Akin to Spain, these warmer climate versions lessen the earthy biscuit aromas and maximize fruit character, qualities appreciated by young wine drinkers. Many famous champagne producers have purchased property in California for the purposes of producing New World bubbles. The result is high quality without the high price tag.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 7:02 pm and is filed under Archives - Apr-Jun 2008. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.