Time to stock up on sparkling and send this year on its way! If you get the chance to celebrate with your whole crew, we’ve got bottles to pass around or add pizzaz to the lineup. If you’re ringing in the New Year with an intimate dinner or just a cozy couch party, we’ve got a truly special Champagne at crazy-good New Years pricing to make your last day of 2021 the best one yet.
La Gioiosa
Prosecco Valdobbiadene DOCG
Far from the sweet peach soda vibes of many mass-produced Proseccos, La Gioiosa’s DOCG Prosecco offers a more refined bubble presence and a whole lot more flavor complexity at a comparable price point. Prosecco has become the most widely-enjoyed sparkling wine in the world, and La Gioiosa’s careful and eco-minded handling of their Glera grapes produces a fresh and very quaffable example. Fresh lemon and tangerine, ripe apple, and fragrant florals finish on a “joyous” and persistent bubble.
Calvet
Cremant de Bordeaux Brut
For a sparkler that brings Champagne-level finesse at a fraction of the price, look for a Cremant. Made via the same secondary fermentation process as true Champagne, Cremants offer a similarly fine and persistent bubble with a wider variety of grapes in the mix. Calvet’s Brut Cremant de Bordeaux is a cuvée of Sémillon and Cabernet Franc, which have a crisp and bright interplay of floral lychee, lemon, yellow apple, and a light bit of toast on the finish. An awesome option to fill out your bubbly lineup, it can also serve as your countdown toaster no problem.
Champagne Le Mesnil
Grand Cru Blancs de Blancs
Listen, if you’re not a Champagne nerd, the price tag on a real-deal bottle can be a bit of a shock. While these are some of the highest quality wines in the world, and the most difficult to produce, the quality-to-price ratio is sometimes suspect.
Hand to our heart — that is not the case here. Champagne Le Mesnil is a cooperative producer taking its name from what may be the most famous of Grand Cru Champagne villages, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. These growers supply some of the most famous Champagne houses with both grapes and finished base wines. Their Grand Cru Blancs de Blancs NV Champagne is 100% Chardonnay with 3 years of lees aging to add a toasty brioche note to its vibrant lemon, warm cashew, chalky minerality, and gorgeous, pearly bubbles — the perfect cheers to a bright and healthy 2022!
-Aimee Hutchinson | Wine Manager Top Ten Liquors