STAR QUALITY : You Don’t Need a Special Celebration to Pour Sparkling Wines. Any Payday Will Do.

C hampagne is almost a synonym for “celebration.” Madame Elizabeth Bollinger of France’s famous champagne dynasty never waited for a special occasion to drink bubbly: “I drink Champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad,” she said. “Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company, I consider it obligatory. Otherwise I never touch it . . . unless I’m thirsty.”

Born in the province of Champagne in northern France, the clear, bubbly wine known as vin mousseux evolved under three Benedictine abbots, who were winemakers of pre-Revolutionary France: Dom Perignon, Dom Ruinart and Frere Oudart. They conceived the idea of blending grapes from different regions to produce a better-balanced wine, a cuvee , meaning a “tubful.” Together, they worked out a system still employed today, albeit with many technological improvements, known as the methode champenoise , for clarifying the fizzy wine of sediments from the secondary fermentation in the bottle--the one that creates the bubbles.

The basic white wine in any champagne, regardless of its country of origin, is more important than the bubbles. The style and elegance of the wine derive from its creative blending and the finesse of its finish. There are about 34 wineries in California producing outstanding sparkling wines in the classic methode champenoise, which includes the proper crushing equipment for the extraction of juice, yeast selection, vehicle of fermentation (barrel or tank), malolactic fermentation (partial, whole or none), time on the yeast in the bottle (known as tirage ), riddling (which moves sediment to the top of the bottle), disgorging of sediment and the final dosage of wine and sugar that determines dryness.

Domaine Chandon winemaker Dawnine Dyer has worked with Champagne master Edmond Maudiere, the creator of the Dom Perignon cuvee in Epernay in France. A virtual commuter between Epernay and Yountville, Maudiere has worked with Dyer “opening windows” of taste with every vintage, walking vineyard rows, tasting the harvest, observing the maturation of the wines.

Most Domaine Chandon sparklers were to be blended of young wines as non-vintage. Particularly fine vintage lots were to be blended and aged in magnums, to be released as Domaine Chandon Reserve. And here is where the mystery of their newest release, Etoile, begins. Maudiere and Dyer learned that for some inexplicable reason, wine aged better in magnums. Maybe, Dyer reasoned, after being in magnums, the wine could be re-bottled in fifths. How would this be done? “Very carefully,” Dyer says.

The first lot, a blending of ’84 and ’86 wines, was released in November, a mere 2,300 cases for the whole world, and sold out before Christmas. A second release, this time of 7,500 cases, is scheduled for April. Born of Pinot Noir for elegance and structure, Chardonnay for crispness and a touch of Pinot Blanc for mid-palate fullness, it has a “most delicate taste and endless finish on the palate,” Maudiere says. It tastes of pears, apples, nutmeg and lemon. Like a whiff of wonderful perfume, it’s all one complex sensory wonder--for $24.95 per bottle.

The choice of the name Etoile was not difficult; it is the French word for “star,” and a star has been the logo of Moet & Chandon for centuries. It was Dom Perignon who said, upon tasting the first accidentally created cuvee at the Abbey in Hautvillers, “I am drinking stars!” And for the packaging of this California champagne, Dyer says, “the designers have come up with a bottle as stunning as the wine.” It’s inspired by an 18th-Century mold, with the name splashed on by hand in 22-karat gold.

In addition to Domaine Chandon’s Etoile, California offers a wealth of choice champagnes. Here, just in time for Valentine’s Day, is a batch of bell-ringers, in no particular order. Retail prices were provided by the wineries; consumers may find lower prices in local stores.

Domaine Carneros Brut, $18, is Claude Taittinger’s realization of his long-held dream of producing a sparkling wine in California in the tradition of his Champagne estate in Reims. He appointed Eileen Crane to make the wine, exclusively of Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The wine is a non-vintage delight.

Codorniu Napa Brut, $14.95, comes from the dazzling contemporary Carneros winery of Manuel Pages Raventos of Barcelona, with young Californian Janet Pagano the winemaker. This newest of California’s methode champenoise producers opened last year. The cuvee of 50% Pinot Noir and 50% Chardonnay makes a wine redolent of white chocolate, raspberries and hazelnuts. Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut, $17.50: Winemaker Michel Salgues makes his intense, aristocratic wine only from estate-grown grapes.

Scharffenberger 1988 Mendocino Blanc de Blancs, $18.99: Drawing grapes from several vineyards, John Scharffenberger’s creamy-smooth Chardonnay blend becomes, he says, a whole “topography of taste.” His wines--notably the Brut, $14.40, or stunning Brut Rose, $16--have been the toasting choice of international summits. Pommery acquired the winery in 1989 and last year built a handsome winery in Philo, in the Anderson Valley.

Mumm Cuvee Napa NV (non-vintage) Napa Valley Brut Prestige, $15: A toasty nose introduces the creamy-smooth wine with a hint of clean, refreshing lemon.

Maison Deutz NV San Luis Obispo Brut Cuvee, $15: From vineyards overlooking the Pacific, the winery harvests Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes to make stunning wines, including a Brut Reserve, $22.

Gloria Ferrer 1986 Carneros Royal Cuvee, $16: With a 95 rating as the Gold Medal Best American Sparkler in Wine & Spirits’ December issue--and a previous win over French vintage champagnes in this magazine’s tasting--this California estate owned by Freixenet of Spain delights founder Jose Ferrer and his son in charge, Pedro. Winemaker Robert Iantosca’s 1985 Carneros Cuvee, $20, is an extraordinarily rich experience.

Chateau St. Jean NV Sonoma County Blanc de Blancs, $12: Listed in the American Wine Competition “Best Buy” category noted in Wine & Spirits, this 78% Chardonnay-22% Pinot Blanc sparkler offers seductively complex scents and tastes.

1988 J Sonoma County Brut, $21.50: The “J” stands for Jordan Winery, and the cuvee is a blend of 53% Chardonnay and 47% Pinot Noir. Custom-crafted, three years en tirage , a Rolls-Royce of bubblies in style and performance.

Iron Horse 1988 Green Valley Blanc de Noirs, $23: Another “wedding cuvee “ from Barry and Audrey Sterling’s nuptial wine for daughter Joy and winemaker Forrest Tancer. The original was so delectable the nomenclature became a tradition. Intense fruit flavors abound in this impressive sparkler.

Robert Mondavi 1985 Napa Valley Brut Reserve, $35: Only after 15 years of experimentation and limited production did the Robert Mondavi Winery of Oakville decide to introduce its sparkling wine to the general market. About a 50-50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with five years on the yeasts en tirage and with hand-riddling, this is a California bubbly in the style of the Grande Marques wines such as Mumm’s and Piper-Heidsieck, their floral aromas balanced with toasty scents of nuts and spice and a long, smooth finish.

Domaine Montreaux 1986 Napa Valley Brut, $26: A stunning wine from the Corley family of Monticello Cellars. One of the only sparklers with its cuvee from wines aged in French-oak barrels--60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay plus aged Reserve wines to enrich the dosage. A wine of layered complexity and ineffable charm.

Korbel Natural California Champagne, $12: Easily another “Best Buy,” this is also winemaker Bob Stashak’s favorite, with a cuvee of 75% Pinot Noir-25% Chardonnay from Sonoma County fruit.

Schramsberg 1983 Reserve, $28: The best for last. America’s most prestigious Napa Valley champagne, Schramsberg was chosen by Richard M. Nixon to toast Chou En-lai in the Great Hall in Beijing. This Reserve of 1983 is 50-50 Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with five years en tirage. Here are not only rich depths of vinous perfume but also long, palate-caressing tastes that will linger in memory.

Rounding out the roster are the equally classic sparkling wines made by S. Anderson, Benziger of Glen Ellen, Callaway, Culbertson, Richard Cuneo (Sebastiani), Jepson, Mirassou, Piper-Sonoma and Wente Bros.