I take a look at California sparkling wine in my Creators Syndicate column this week. The sinking dollar combined with the reluctance on the part of Champagne producers to lower prices to whittle inventory make alternative bubblies most attractive this holiday season.
You could turn to Prosecco or Cava, but for my money the greatest bang for the buck is California sparkling wine, which is produced in the Champagne tradition, where the second fermentation — the one that makes the bubbles — occurs in the bottle.
California sparkling wine producers are few in number, but their attention to detail and commitment to quality are evident in the sophistication and pleasure delivered by their wines.
Here’s a smippet from the column:
‘Tis the season to contemplate the meaning of Champagne, the beverage. Champagne, as the French are quick to point out, comes only from the designated boundaries of the Champagne district, located in northern France about an hour’s drive from Paris.
Champagne is the mother’s milk of sparkling wine. It is very good — perhaps even profound — and very expensive, too. More than half of all Champagne sold in the United States is purchased between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, because special occasions call for something, well, special.
The alternatives are, well, not so special. At least that’s been the conventional wisdom lo these many years. Not so fast, though. While sparkling wines are produced in just about every winegrowing corner of the world, and few of them would be flattered by comparisons to Champagne, there are the exceptions.
California bubbly, for example. All snickering aside, California probably comes closest to Champagne when the issue is quality. When the issue is price, California wins in a landslide. As wine consumers continue to guard their wallets, the value aspect should make California sparkling wines the bubbly of choice this holiday season.
Read the whole thing over at Whitley On Wine.
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