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The best champagne and sparkling wine you can buy online
The best champagne and sparkling wine you can buy online
Owen BurkeJan 16, 2019, 21:30 IST
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Don't get intimidated by all that elegant French on champagne bottles. Remember: It's just wine, and it's meant for drinking.
We've researched and tested dozens of champagnes and sparkling wines to find the best ones you can buy online, and Louis Roederer Cristal Brut 2008 is our favorite.
Does champagne have to be vintage and aged for years and years to be enjoyed? Of course not. It's all about where and with whom you pop it. And there are ways to doctor up even the lowliest of sparkling wines. Cut them with a splash of OJ or toss in a sugar cube, and a glass or bottle of cruddy new world sparkling wine will go down like candy.
But, of course, there are bottles of champagne worth cherishing, and if you're going to go ahead and dish out, you want to make sure you're not getting duped, right? I do, at least, which is why I got in touch with a few sommeliers and wine importers to make sense of it all and to find the best champagne and sparkling wine you can get at a variety of price points.
First things first: It's widely believed that Dom Pérignon discovered Champagne in 1693, but bottle fermentation has been traced back to at least 1531 in Limoux, France. Also, Champagne originates from Champagne, France, and particularly five districts: Aube, Côte des Blancs, Côte de Sézanne, Montagne de Reims, and Vallée de la Marne.
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These districts are about 90 miles northeast of Paris, and they're known for exceptionally sweet grapes, hence the widely beloved Champagne grape Cognac. This is why Californian "Champagne," despite what the Korbel might say, isn't Champagne at all, and anything available for anywhere south of about $30 might as well not be, either.
Once you get into a higher price range, you enter a bit of a gray, and highly subjective area where it comes down to minute personal preference if anything at all.
Ashleigh Barrowman, a France-based sommelier put it best: "Champagne is the classic example of perfect competition. It's all the same stuff, really."
This is especially true of non-vintage champagnes, Pierre Haury of Luneau USA Inc. Wine Imports further explained to me: "If you can't afford champagne but you want a quality sparkling wine from France, Crémant, from outside Champagne (from Loire, best is Bourgogne) is better at [about] $18 than bad champagne at $25. It's drier than Prosecco, and a little more expensive, but much, much better."
Yes, sparkling wines from outside the region, confusingly enough, are also sometimes called "Champagne" thanks to a loophole, though that's a technicality mostly decided by customs and trade agreements, and only certain brands outside of Champagne are allowed to label their wine as "Champagne" - don't be fooled by Californian sparkling wine). True champagne is a delicate matter, and if you're not willing or able to dish out for it, Italian Prosecco and Spanish Cava more than suffice and often pair better with a wider array of foods.
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If you do want to sip and savor your rosé or get your hands on a special brut to ask a special something of a special someone, we've got picks for you, too.
Fun fact: Champagne used to be exponentially sweeter, varying in sweetness depending on the country of destination - Russian Champagne, or "Champagne Soviétique," as it was labeled, was traditionally the sweetest. Even into the 20th century, Champagne was most commonly served as a dessert wine.
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Why you'll love it: Louis Roederer Cristal Brute 2008 has been aged for 10 years and might be the champagne house's best yet, according to many critics and sommeliers.
There's a lot of hype around Cristal champagne, thanks in no small part to Jay-Z and his affinity for Armand de Brignac (which he now owns). More than one sommelier expressed sentiments of it being overpriced, but it's still a lovely wine produced by several of the oldest and most revered Champagne houses.
Cristal is the flagship cuvée of Louis Roederer champagne house, one of the more prized and environmentally responsible in the region.
First made in 1876 for Russian Czar Alexander II, the bottle was — and still is — uniquely made with a flat bottom and no punt because the fearful leader was worried someone would plant an explosive in one and blow him to kingdom come. If that doesn't lend it to gangsta rap, it's hard to say what would.
There's also no real consensus as to why champagne and wine bottles even have a punt in the first place, and it may just be a remnant from when bottles were hand-blown.
But to get to the wine, Roederer's Cristal 2008 was bottle-aged for eight years and then left to rest for eight months or more, and this is Roederer's first 10-year-aged Cristal. It's a 60%/40% blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from Roederer's own vineyards, which are mostly biodynamic, lending a powerful palate with hints of citrus and stone fruit on the nose.
This might otherwise be an offensively bold wine, but the exceptionally long aging process gave it time to mellow.
If you're going to dish out the better part of a Benjamin for a bottle of bubbly, apart from dazzling your taste buds, it'd better come with a story. For starters, Ruinart is the oldest champagne house in Champagne, and thereby the world.
Founded in 1729, the Ruinart family could be credited with the first true champagne, too. But it's had its ups and downs: At the end of World War II, the company was down to some 800 cases and a mere 17 hectares.
Needless to say, the family has bounced back, and then some. It's difficult to discuss champagne at any length without mentioning Ruinart, which apart from being the oldest, is lauded for the fresh and fruity aromatics of the Chardonnay grapes they use.
Pros: History as the oldest champagne house in the world, fresh, fruity, somewhat eco-friendly
Why you'll love it: Moët & Chandon's standard bottle of Imperial brut isn't cheap by any means, but it's $10 cheaper than our other non-vintage pick, Veuve Clicquot, and if it's within your budget, you can't go wrong.
Moët & Chandon is another classic we all know and love, and its wines range from remarkably reasonable to unimaginably unaffordable. In short? The house puts out some 28 million bottles a year, and there's something for all.
Moët produces bottles ranging from about $45 up to, well, the sky's the limit. I might add that the company is the producer of the illustrious Dom Pérignon, which can run you hundreds.
Now, Moët & Chandon owns Veuve Clicquot, and like Pierre Haury of Luneau USA told me, it's more or less all the same stuff. He finds Veuve to be fruitier and more effervescent, which might please some palates more than others.
There may be no more subjective substance on Earth than champagne. In short, to each their own, and at this price range, you can't go wrong with either.
Pros: Reliable consistency, moderately affordable, both popular names most will know and appreciate
Cons: Not the most sustainable, some might consider Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot overpriced
Why you'll love it: A lot of the choicest champagnes will be relatively eco-friendly, but Bollinger makes a point of keeping its lower-tier wines eco-friendly, too.
Bollinger isn't quite as popular in the US as Veuve Clicquot or Moët & Chandon, and it costs a bit more than other non-vintage champagnes, but it's organic.
Founded in 1829, Bollinger continues to be run by members of the family, which has winemaking routes in the region dating back to the 16th century.
Because Bollinger has a large enough estate of 399 acres, it can provide enough grapes for about two-thirds of its requirements, and it's able to control the quality of its grapes. Apart from being organic, Bollinger has stuck to traditional farming, harvesting, vinification, fermentation, and disgorging methods.
Why you'll love it: Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé is fresh, clean, crisp, and surprisingly affordable for how much care goes into it, and it's organic.
Another wine that's popular and found on many a festive table across Europe but perhaps not so much in the new world is Billecart-Salmon. The company makes wonderful champagne all around, but the rosé is, in my opinion, far and away the best you can get.
And I'm not alone: Wilfred Wong of Wine.com says it "could be my desert island wine."
Okay, so it isn't cheap, but I feel like a broken record here: This is champagne we're talking about.
Fine, slow bubbles and a heavy stonefruit aroma give this wine its character, and, yes, it does go great with salmon, especially the raw kind.
Why you'll love it: La Marca Prosecco is an affordable but elegant alternative to champagne that goes with anything.
Champagne is prohibitively expensive for most of us, and there's nothing more despicable than its cheap, lowly forms. If you're willing to forego champagne altogether below the $30 price point, Italian Prosecco or Spanish Cava is the way to go.
They're much less expensive to make, but they're still equally as fun to pop and drink. They also go better with a wider variety of food. For about $13, La Marca does it all.
Prosecco is a specialty of northeastern Italy, and it must come from the region to be considered such — just like champagne. The main difference with Prosecco is that there is lower pressure required during the carbonation process, which takes places in a stainless steel tank, resulting in a sweeter, frothier, more finely-bubbled beverage.
It'll still do its job, we promise. And the people of this great globe seem to think so too. According to Vine Pair, Prosecco has risen in quality over the last couple of decades and, in 2013, outsold Champagne worldwide for the first time ever.
If accolades are important: Wine Spectator (subscription required) called La Marca Prosecco one of the top 100 wines of the year in 2007.
Pros: Affordable, goes with almost any food
Cons: Sweeter than champagne, too sweet for some tastes
Why you'll love it: Dominio de los Duques is made with much of the care of Champagne, and all the body and flavor, but it's much more affordable.
No, Cava isn't anywhere near as aged or carbonated as Champagne, but there's no denying that it's made with love.
Made with hand-harvested Parellada and Macabeo grapes, Dominio de los Duques is matured in the bottle for more than 12 months. This keeps the dead yeast cells in touch with the wine in the bottle, offering a creamier body as opposed to Prosecco's fresher and fruitier notes.
Cava also might be a bit drier, on average, than Prosecco, so those without a sweet tooth might prefer it. It also tends to be less metallic because it's not aged in a stainless steel tank.
My advice? Try both Cava and Prosecco side by side to find what you like — that's part of the beauty of delving into more affordable wines.
Pros: Affordable, less sweet than Prosecco
Cons: Creamier, more sediment (due to bottle aging)
