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It's a somewhat sad statistic that in this country a large percentage of champagne and sparkling wine is consumed in the three weeks around Christmas and New Year. There's so much fantastic fizz available, from our own shores and beyond, it's a shame that for many popping the cork on them is an annual event.
Here is a selection of brilliant bubbles to suit all budgets. Crack them open over Christmas, and hopefully throughout the coming year. Cheers!
Soljans Fusion Gisborne Sparkling Muscat NV
$15
This soft sweet sparkler made in the same style as Italy's asti spumante, simply exudes summer in its pretty floral aromas that lead to its light grapey honeysuckle infused palate. Light, fresh and with a low 8 per cent alcohol, it's a perfect picnic wine, great with fruit and desserts like pavlova, or equally good by itself as a sweet aperitif.
From First Glass, Hobson Liquor, Farro Fresh Food, Viaduct Wines & Spirits, Waiheke Wine Centre, King Dicks Henderson & Massey, selected branches of Liquorland and Super Liquor.
Agusti Torello Cava Aliguer Brut 2004
$19.90
Character is something sadly lacking in many cheaper bottles of fizz, with quite a few examples at this price point - from our friends across the ditch in particular - looking distinctly dull, sweet and flabby. But not this cracking vintage cava from Spain's Augusti Torello. Made in the same way as champagne but with different grapes, it's surprisingly complex for a sub-$20 sparkler with its layers of green apple, yeasty savouriness, hints of marzipan and cumin spice, and crisp citrus bite.
From Wine Circle Huapai, La Barrique.
Lindauer Special Reserve Vintage 2004
$24.95
From its standard brut, to this, the top wine in its range, Lindauer consistently offers smart wines that hold their own against trendier labels and offer great value for money. The Special Reserve Vintage 2004 is Lindauer's first vintage wine, launched to mark the brand's 25th anniversary last year. A proportion of the grapes for this methode traditionelle sparkler were hand-picked before it spent two years on its yeast lees. The result is quite a refined wine, with lots of zesty citrus and some rich yeasty complexity.
From leading grocers and fine wine stores.
Quartz Reef Chauvet Méthode Traditionelle Vintage 2003
$40
With immense finesse and poise, this is one of New Zealand's finest and most champagne-like sparkling wines. It is made in partnership between this top Central Otago producer and the champagne house Marc Chauvet, and the secret of some of its seriousness lies in the near four years it's spent developing complexity on its lees. Beautifully balanced bubbles, with a gently yeasty toasty palate underpinned by bright and well integrated minerally lemon and grapefruit acid, and a length that feels like it goes from Central to Champagne and back.
From Fine Wine Delivery Company, Caro's, Wine Vault, Point Wines.
Alan McCorkindale Waipara Valley Cuvee Rose 2002
$47
Alan McCorkindale is one of the few New Zealand producers to set up a vineyard specifically for the production of sparkling wine, and his Waipara Valley site is situated on limestone soils similar to those found in Champagne. Another homegrown star sparkler that's derived depth from extended time on lees, it's a dry and serious silky textured rose with restrained red fruit, savoury undertones and nuances of almond, spice and button mushroom.
From Accent on Wine, Scenic Cellars Taupo.
Lanvin & Fils Brut Champagne NV
$39.95-$49.95
I'm not the first to recommend the Lanvin & Fils Brut NV and I will doubtless not be the last as it is clearly one of the best champagnes in this price bracket. This classy champagne, with its creamy mouthfeel and notes of apple cake and nut cut by a fresh acidity, is just as good, if not better than a lot of its higher priced counterparts.
From most fine wine stores and selected Liquorlands.
Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Cuis 1er Cru Brut NV Blanc de Blancs
$69.90
While it's the grand marques that are the names on most people's tongues and wine lists when it come to champagne, some of the most individual (and affordable) examples are increasingly being made by the region's small growers. We don't see many of these over here, but let's hope the arrival of the wines from exciting growers like Gimonnet in the country creates a thirst for more. Purity and refinement are the hallmarks of Gimonnet's champagnes and this is a characteristic example, with subtle notes of brioche, a tight minerally citrus spine and long nutty finish.
From Wine Circle Huapai, La Barrique.
Champagne Jacquesson Cuvee no 730
$79.95
Forward thinking and quality-focused house, Jacquesson turned the champagne tradition of blending non-vintage wines to a consistent house style on its head with the release of its cuvee about 728 years ago. Instead, it now aims to make the best wine it can each year, which leads to a variation in style between years that's differentiated by the use of different number for its cuvees. Now on 730 in New Zealand, this is a powerful savoury wine, with ripe but elegant fruit riffing off its crisp citrus acidity.
From Scenic Cellars.
Ayala Zero Dosage Champagne NV
$84-$88
Sparkling wines are usually given a final slug of sugar to balance their naturally high acidity via the dosage used to top up the wines just prior to their final stoppering. However, there's a small movement in champagne that suggests that good fruit and a decent spell on lees dispenses with the need for sweetening. Ayala's zero dosage is one of the few sugar-free fizzes available here, and provides a compelling argument for this style. Racy and bone dry, but in no way austere, it's a sophisticated number with chalky notes apparent beneath its rich nutty layers.
Available from New World Victoria Park and Devonport.
Champagne Bruno Paillard Brut Premiere Cuvee NV
$89.95
Bruno Paillard is one the smallest and youngest champagne houses, but has quickly risen to through the ranks to become a respected name amongst the champagne cognoscenti. It specialises in the production of high quality luxury cuvees, such as its intensely elegant Brut Premier Cuvee, where savoury, toasty and nutty notes are underpinned by a fine lemony acidity. Top stuff.
From selected wine and liquor stores.
