Sparkling wines are most often consumed around festive occasions, be they holidays or celebrations, rather than being consumed more frequently or casually. This can be attributed in large part to the long-standing residual perception of Champagne’s expense, created from the early days of vintages that originated from the Champagne region of France, and the French have done a fair job of keeping prices elevated by marketing their prestige and maintaining that Champagnes are superior in taste and quality than similar wines produced outside of the region. But if you can move past the status or prestige and the bottle presentation of a well established French vintner, and approach the wines merely based on taste and quality, you will discover for yourself that wines made elsewhere such as those made by California vineyards, using the traditional methods, as well as the same grapes, will prove equally as satisfying, at a fraction of the cost. The end of the year holiday season of 2008, with its sobering economic recession, is a perfect time to retain the usual festive accoutrements of the holidays, but divert your resources away from the prestigious brands of French Champagnes, in support of comparable tasting, though less costly, national products by serving California’s sparkling wines.
The thing to remember with any wine, and California’s sparkling wines are no exception, is that vintage wines will garner a premium price as they were bottled using a single year’s grapes, and only bottled during the most favorable years of a harvest for a particular varietal. And you can drive the price up further for aging, given the increased labor and storage costs. So, if a savings is what you seek, opt for the non-vintage sparkling wines, which will not only use multiple varietals, but will combine harvest years as well, and likely forgo aging. Below are five recommended California sparkling wines from local California wineries in the Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley regions that will stand up nicely to even the most discerning palettes on your holiday guest list and will get you through any festive gathering for only $20 - $35 without even a hint of compromising in taste and pleasure:
- $20 – NV (non-vintage) Mumm Napa Valley Brut Prestige
- $24 - 2004 Gloria Ferrer Carneros Blanc de Blancs
- $24 – NV (non-vintage) Mumm Napa Valley Brut Rose
- $33 – 2004 Iron Horse Green Valley of Russian River Valley Classic Vintage Brut
- $35 – 2005 Schramsberg North Coast Blanc de Blancs
