Graduation and Weddings clearly call for celebratory bubbles, and the same goes for Mother’s and Father’s day. Of course, you could skimp on the wine or pick up a mass-market bottle at the last second. But then you’d be running a major risk, since it could turn out that reincarnation really exists: If you buy something for $9 in a black bottle for a wedding or your Mama, you might spend your next life as a dung beetle.
Don’t spend your next life as a dung beetle. Do a little legwork and get something terrific to celebrate the big day. Here are three extraordinary options that will set you on an upward trajectory whenever you confront the Great Beyond:
Mont Marcal, Cava Brut Reserva “Extremarium,” Penedes, Spain, NV ($25, Classical Wines): Full disclosure requires that I acknowledge that I’m not a big fan of Cava, and that I 
have spent my own money to buy it exactly once during the past twenty years (for a Spanish-themed wedding party that happened to be my own). With that said, however, my credibility in praising this wine should be pretty damned solid. This is a stop-you-in-your-tracks Cava, and that’s exactly what it did to me. Whereas most cava is rather rustic, with a wet straw character that is less endearing on the third sniff-and-sip than it is on the first, this wine is clean and fresh and engaging in both aroma and flavor. And in texture too: Even prestige-level cavas can be notably coarse in effervescence by comparison to fine Champagnes, but this wine has a marvelously creamy feel. That really enhances the soft, generous aromas and flavors of the wine, which show a gorgeous lemon chiffon character as well as a baked apple backnote. It is absolutely gorgeous from stem to stern, and can soften even the hardest core cava skeptic. I should know, right? 92
Lilbert-Fils Champagne Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs Brut, France, NV ($51, Vintage ’59 Imports): If there is a producer in Champagne making more impeccably fresh, stylish Blanc de Blancs wines today, then I am unaware of it. I have loved these wines for years, and, being an admirer but also a critic by profession, have always been on guard for a bottle that would show a dip in quality. I’ve never seen one, and indeed the two bottles of Lilbert NV that I tasted 
during the past two weeks were among the best I’ve ever tried. The key to the excellence of Lilbert’s non-vintage wine (a vintage-dated Grand Cru Brut is the house’s only other offering) is a precise balance between austerity and generosity, and the accent here is on the word, precise: On one hand, this is a subtle, restrained, linear, sharply focused wine rather than an in-your-face blast of fruit and yeast. On the other hand, the wine is never stingy, but rather subtly satisfying, showing a focused and persistent beam of fruit recalling green apples and ripe lemons. Faintly toasty accents and a hint of minerality lend complexity to the finish, which is exceptionally persistent and refreshing, thanks in large part to very fine mousse that is stylistically in keeping with the wine’s overall flavor profile. If I’ve made myself clear here, you’ll understand that this is not a bombastic wine and not the best choice for bowling over a novice. It sounds snotty to say so, but this is a connoisseur’s wine, a Champagne of exceptional refinement. 94
Ayala, Champagne Brut “Majeur,” France, NV ($49, Imported by Cognac One): For more 
than a year I’ve been hearing about how good the wines of Ayala have become from my WRO colleague Ed McCarthy, and yet I was still not adequately prepared for the experience of this wine. It is the single most impressive standard-issue non-vintage brut Champagne that I’ve tasted in years. An extraordinarily dramatic wine, it is explosively aromatic, and virtually billows with scents of fresh bread crust and baker’s yeast, along with toasty, nutty notes. The flavors are mature in their ripeness and depth, and the wine’s relatively deep color also indicates the presence of a significant portion of reserve wines (or a long span of ageing sur pointe, or both). Despite all of these dramatics, the wine remains admirably fresh and balanced rather than heavy or excessively oxidized, and the finish is clean and precise. To be clear: This tastes for all the world like a cuvée prestige, and yet is priced at about half of that category of wines, making this a stunning value in addition to being a stunning wine. 94
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