Getting Fizzy
Bubbly 101
Champagne is sparkling wine that comes from the Champagne region of France. It can come from a ‘Big House’ — like Veuve and Moët, who buy grapes from different growers (designated by NM for Negotiants Manipulants) — or it can be produced by the same estate that owns the vineyard, called Grower Champagne (designated by RM for Récoltant-Manipulants), such as Christophe Mignon and others, available at local bottle shops including a large selection at Paradise Grapevine.
Pétillant Naturel, or Pét-Nat, is the OG way to make champagne, made by a method so old that the French term for it is methode ancestrale, where the wine is bottled while it’s still fermenting. Canadian wineries producing this more natural fizz include Trail Estate, Benjamin Bridge, Bella Wines, Leaning Post, Hinterland, and Domaine du Nival, to name a few.
Sparkling wines made with the same technique as Champagne, aka the Traditional Method, but from outside the region are called Crémants; while those made in Spain are called Cava (such as the cheap and cheerful Segura Viudas). And sparkling wine made in the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions of Italy are called Prosecco, produced using the Charmat Method.
Annual Fizz Guide
The 2022 Annual Fizz Guide features the top bubbly picks from John Szabo and other WineAlign contributors with a focus on Canadian sparkling wine producers.
All things considered, it’s a very good time to be enjoying Canadian sparkling wines and supporting local industry without compromising on pleasure.
The Fizz Buyer’s Guide is categorized by method. Some of their recommendations include British Columbia’s Blue Mountain Blanc De Blancs R.D. 2013 (Okanagan Valley) and Ontario’s Stratus Blanc De Blancs “Trials” 2012 (Niagara-on-the Lake), Cave Spring Estate Blanc De Blancs (Beamsville Bench), Henry Of Pelham Cuvée Catharine Carte Blanche Estate Blanc De Blanc 2017 (Short Hills Bench), 13th Street Premier Cuvée Sparkling 2015 (Niagara Peninsula), and Malivoire Bisous Rosé (Beamsville Bench) for the Traditional Method; and Bottega Il Vino Dei Poeti Prosecco Brut Millesimato 2021 (Italy) and Lazzara Bianco Secco (Ontario) for the Tank (Charmat) Method, to name a few.
Champagne Wishes and Caviar (in this economy!) Dreams
The Globe and Mail’s Champagne wishes: What are you drinking on New Year’s Eve? by Christopher Waters begins with a reference to the 80s TV series, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, before getting into the increased competition from sparkling wines produced in Italy and Spain, as well as from Grower Champagne producers.
They are even being challenged by smaller estates in Champagne who offer a point of difference with so-called grower Champagnes, small-batch, often vintage dated bubblies made by families who control every stage of production from the vineyard to bottle.
Waters writes about the “value for money of crémants made in Alsace, Burgundy and the Loire,” and the popularity of Prosecco in Canada (it accounted for one out of three bottles of sparkling wine consumed), and other more budget-friendly bubbly including Spanish Cava. That said, pandemic pent-up demand has seen strong sales of Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Krug, and Dom Pérignon, with parent company LVMH reporting that their Wines & Spirits revenue were up 23% over the first nine months of 2022 to €5.2 billion. And for those splurging this holiday szn, Waters recommends Ruinart Brut Blanc de Blancs Champagne and Bollinger.
Non-Alcoholic Fizz
In the Globe and Mail’s These non-alcoholic wines and cocktails are perfect to enjoy during the holidays and beyond Christopher Waters offers a selection of zero-alcohol options. ClearSips is a new agency in Ontario specializing in selling and distributing non-alcoholic drinks, with Waters recommending Kamptal Verjus Spritz from Austria and Oddbird Spumante Rosé from their portfolio. Waters also writes about Vancouver-based Edna’s Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Company which produces ready-to-drink sparkling non-alcoholic cocktails, and Leitz Eins Zwei Zero, a de-alcoholized wine produced by Leitz winery in Rüdesheim, Germany, available via Ontario’s Vineland Estates Winery.
Plus there’s also Revel Cider’s Spring, Toronto’s Teetotaler Wines, Acid League’s Proxies, and Feragaia, an alcohol-free spirit imported by Drink Better in Ontario, to name a few more in a growing category of non-alcohol options.