Sparkling Wine Guide

Just in time for New Year's Eve, a guide to Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, Pét Nat and how to buy bottles of sparkling wine that you actually like.

Sparkling wine is a big tent, under which sit Champagne, Prosecco, Cava, Crémant, Franciacorta and Pétillant Naturels (i.e. Pét Nats), among many others.

Many of us (myself included at one point), are probably guilty of oversimplifying this landscape and thinking “Champagne… pricey and just buy one that says Brut? Prosecco and Cava are just more affordable versions of Champagne.”

But via a combination of grapes, methods and locations, each type of sparkling wine has its own general profile, and knowing just a little about them and about elements like dosage can help you navigate these frothy waters to find bottles you actually like.

I’m going to attempt to answer a few key questions here, hoping to make your sparkling wine shopping expeditions easier and more satisfying:

• What are the general flavor and texture profiles of different types of sparkling wines?

• How can I tell the sweetness level by reading the label?

• How much should I spend?

Photo by Michael Maasen

Let’s dive in

Champagne is sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France, must be made from Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or Chardonnay grapes and is usually a blend of all three. It’s produced by méthode champenoise (allegedly invented by a monk named Dom Perignon), where yeast and sugar are added to a wine base and bottled for a second fermentation. During this second fermentation, the wine sits with the sediments of winemaking, called lees or lies, which bring on richness and strong biscuit and brioche flavors.

Prosecco is made from a grape varietal called Glera in the Veneto and Friuli regions of Italy and its second fermentation happens in pressurized stainless steel tanks called autoclaves rather than in the bottle like Champagne or Cava. This gives it a fruitier and lighter flavor profile (the same method is used for Lambrusco), and it tends to be a little sweeter. Fermenting in tanks instead also brings the price point way down since it significantly reduces the cost of making each bottle.

Cava is the sparkler from Spain, and although it shares Prosecco’s lower price point, it’s more like Champagne in character and production method. Made from a range of grape varietals, its second fermentation happens in the bottle (when this occurs outside the Champagne region it’s called méthode traditionnelle), although for a shorter period of time meaning less time on the lees, giving more room for fruit and less of those biscuit notes that Champagne has.

Pétillant Naturel or Pét Nat is made using méthode ancestrale that predates Champagne, using a single continuous fermentation and bottling the wine before the first fermentation has ended. The result is a softer fizz, lightly sweet from the grapes’ natural sugars with no sugar added at the end. It tends to be hazy in color from the unfiltered yeast and sealed with a crown cap (like a beer bottle) instead of a cork. The longer you wait to drink the drier it will be from the yeasts continuing to consume the residual grape sugars.

Crémant is French sparkling wine made with the same method that’s not from the Champagne region. It’s also made from a wider variety of grapes, and its flavor tends to be fruity, toasty and fresh. For my money, it’s the best value.

Franciacorta is an Italian sparkling wine from Lombardy made with a method similar to Champagne but in much smaller batch sizes. Its flavor tends to be rounder, riper and more fruit-forward than Champagne, with a touch of minerality. 

Your flavor profile cheat sheet

Ok, stand up and stretch. You’re almost ready to shop. I put together a quick reference on flavors, and touch briefly on dosage and price before I send you out into the world.

• Champagne: toasty, rich, citrusy, acidic

• Prosecco: fruity, fragrant, fresh, light

• Cava: bright, herbaceous, mineral, creamy

• Pet Nat: fruity and crisp, can be funky, softer bubbles

• Cremant: fresh, fruity, toasty

• Franciacorta: complex and fruit-forward

A few words on dosage

Scanning labels, you’ll see an additional term on many bottles that you’ll want to pay attention to, and it references the amount of sugar added to the sparkling wine at the end of fermentation, known as the dosage. We’re probably most familiar with “Brut,” which translates to “dry” and is up to 12 grams per liter. Confusingly though, Extra-Dry is actually sweeter than Brut, and if you’re really going for dry and low sugar, look for the next level down, Extra Brut. The lowest of all and trending is zero dosage and called Brut Nature, Brut Zero, Brut Sauvage, or Non or No Dose, and these tend to be more mineral and savory in flavor. 

So, how much should I spend?

Due to a combination of market factors and production methods, Champagne is the most expensive option, and it’s hard to find a good bottle for less than $40 or $50. The rest you should be able to spend around $20 for a great bottle.

Are you shopping for regular wines too? Read my Holiday Wine Guide for details on how to shop for wine to go with a big rambling meal.