In the hierarchy of sparkling wine, Champagne clearly occupies the top rung by reputation and merits. That said, Champagne producers are hardly lonely up there.
In the quest to make bubbly that compares favorably to Champagne, producers in Italy — the Franciacorta and Trentino regions, to be precise — and California have made tremendous strides over the past three decades, narrowing the gap between Champagne and its keenest competitors.
The quest began in California by Jack and Jamie Davies, who in 1965 restored an abandoned vineyard on Diamond Mountain in the Napa Valley to become the historic Schramsberg Vineyards. It was founded with the stated intent of producing America’s finest sparkling wine, despite the fact that chardonnay and pinot noir grapes — the money grapes of Champagne — were scarce at the time.
The success of Schramsberg inspired a number of top-notch Champagne houses to invest in California so that today, Tattinger (Domaine Carneros), Mumm, Chandon and Louis Roederer are French names that are common in California wine circles. Add to that group Iron Horse Vineyards, J Vineyards and Gloria Ferrer, and together they form a powerhouse nucleus of sparkling wine producers who can give Champagne a run on their best day.
Northern Italy is another excellent source for sparkling wines that compare favorably with Champagne, meaning they are beautifully structured and deliver exceptional depth and complexity with the ability to improve with age. The leaders are Ca’ del Bosco and Bellavista in Franciacorta, and Ferrari in Trentino.
While all the wineries mentioned here can knock it out of the park in blind tastings alongside comparable tiers of Champagne, their bubblies are generally less expensive. That doesn’t mean they’re cheap. Because of the length of aging required to achieve profound complexity, outstanding sparkling wine is costly to produce.
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