My Cup Bubbleth Over

The leading holiday season wine is probably Cabernet Sauvignon. But the second-place finisher will be sparkling wine.

That’s certainly the case for the Olkens, who are well known for their propensity to lift a glass or three of the bubbly at the slightest provocation. Weddings, bar mitzvahs, birthdays, anniversaries and the like will find me rummaging through our collection of bottles for something fizzy. We have even been known to haul champagne out on the Fourth of July as the precursor to our beer and Zinfandel.

Our first choice for most occasions is the local variety, sparkling wines from California and occasionally the Pacific Northwest. We like their fruit and vitality, and if they are not so complex as comparably priced French Champagnes, at their best, they’re more open, friendly wines. And for us, any champagne is a wine for good times, conviviality, joie de vivre.

We reserve French Champagnes for solemn occasions such as a big-number anniversary or the coming of age of one of our children. The majesty of those moments call for only the best, and in Champagne, “only the best” is expensive. It is also very, very good.

You will notice that the descriptions of the mid-priced local champagnes and the priciest French bottlings are similar. That is because they are made from the same grape varieties using the same techniques. In fact, a large percentage of California sparkling wine is made by French-owned wineries (Chandon, Mumm, Roederer). But there are critical differences that separate the best of the French Champagnes from the rest of their offerings as well as from American sparkling wines.

Those differences lie in the areas of balance, depth, smoothness, finesse and longevity. The great Champagnes somehow have deep fruit without being fruity. They have creamy and toasty characteristics from years of aging in contact with the yeasts that produce those bubbles, yet even the most yeasty of them somehow avoids the burnt paper and overly toasty aspects of many lesser long-aged bubblies.

And, whether young and vibrant like the Taittinger and Gosset Champagnes or well-aged and incredibly complex like the Pol Roger, the best of the best simply have a level of finesse that one does not find in less expensive bottlings.

WEST COAST SPARKLING WINES

** Chandon “Cuvee 2000 Late Disgorged,” Napa County, in magnum, $48. Bottled in a special Millennium package, this edition of Chandon’s reserve is one of the best. Not only is the big bottle very festive in itself, but the wine is rich in toasty, aged character and comes with fine-grained, pinpointy bubbles and firm acidity bracing its complex, citrus and roast nut flavors.

$ Domaine Ste. Michelle “Blanc de Blanc,” Columbia Valley, $9. The Blanc de Blanc style is intended to be crisp and light with an eye toward service with tangy hors d’oeuvres. This version is a bit softer than the classic direction, but its clean, bright, balanced flavors make it as easy on the palate as it is on the wallet.

$ Domaine Ste. Michelle “Blanc de Noirs,” Columbia Valley, $9. From its bright pink color to its lively, frothy bubbles and the suggestions of candied strawberry fruitiness in its flavors, this is an unqualified success as a reasonably priced, easy-to-like quaff.

** 1995 Iron Horse “Brut Rose,” Green Valley, Sonoma County, $28. This salmon-pink wine brings the flavor of the French genre together with the more evident fruitiness of California. Its fleshy ripeness and its ripe cherry and creamy yeast notes lead to a firm, lengthy finish.

* Mumm “Blanc de Noirs,” Napa Valley, $16. Young, bright flavors that pick up the expected cherry-infusion character of a Blanc de Noirs are carried here by a full, foamy mousse and a firm ending that makes it a joy to drink by itself and yet a nice choice with food.

* Pacific Echo “Brut,” Mendocino County, $20. Fairly generous in green-apple fruit and rich yeasty complexity, this nicely bubbly effort is fairly creamy on the palate and ends with a lengthy, lightly toasty finish.

* Roederer Estate “Brut,” Anderson Valley, $18. This zesty, citrusy wine is lightly yeasty and comes with an especially energetic mousse. Its bright, lively flavors are firmed by brisk acidity, and it has the crisp edge that makes sparkling wine one of my favorite partners to fresh-shucked shellfish.

TE^TE DU CUVeE CHAMPAGNES

*** 1992 Bollinger “Grande Annee,” $150. Very much in the highly toasty, yeasty style of older Champagnes, this first-rate, deep and complex wine is wonderfully satisfying to lovers of aged sparkling wines.

** 1990 Deutz “Cuvee William Deutz,” $115. It may be called “Cuvee Bill” by its friends, but it is “sir” to us. It is graceful and deeply cast but beautifully refined and polished in its bake-shop richness and creamy feel on the palate.

*** 1993 Moet & Chandon “Cuvee Dom Perignon,” $115. Here is the classic name of Champagne, and this superb wine lives up to its reputation in its complex mix of peach, beeswax, vanilla, biscuit and aged yeast notes and its perfectly formed, pinpoint bubbles.

** 1995 Gosset “Celebris,” $139. This outgoing, breezy yet deep wine stands in sharp contrast to the aged austerity of the older wines in this group, yet it gets high marks for its fresh, light and energetic stance set against the full, toasty seasoning of yeast aging.

*** 1990 Pol Roger “Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill,” $160. Everything you could want in an aged sparkling wine is present in Pol Roger’s flagship offering. Churchill, who was once asked why he loved Pol Roger Champagne so much, responded, “Because I am easily satisfied with the best.” He would be well satisfied with this stunningly complex and vibrant blending of toasty yeasts, roasted nuts, sweet and rich citrusy tones and light kisses of vanilla and hazelnut. If you have only one wine to buy and have the “necessaries” in your pocket, this is the wine for you.

*** 1993 Roederer “Cristal,” $179. This one goes in a very different direction with its engagingly outgoing, buoyant personality, which combines with the multi-faceted seasoning of the best Champagnes, including suggestions of walnuts, sesame seeds, green apples and minerals.

** 1994 Taittinger “Comte de Champagne, Blanc de Blancs,” $170. The maturation process is beginning to add sophistication to the youthful vigor and crisp edges of this Chardonnay-based wine. It’s the only Blanc de Blancs among the great Champagnes, and its strong mousse, bracing acidity and long, clean finish capture the genre to perfection.

*** 1993 Veuve Cliquot “La Grande Dame,” $150. You couldn’t ask for a better closing statement to this brush with the best of the best. Here is a breathtakingly beautiful wine whose notes of white peach, apples, biscuits, minerals and sweet citrus capture all of the potential of Champagne and present them in a strong, insistent mousse that both heightens the drama and yet is wonderfully refined.

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Definition of Symbols

* * * A world-class wine, superb by any measure, the top 1% to 2% of all wines tasted.

* * An exceptional wine, well worth the effort to find, 10% to 12% of wines tasted.

* An admirable wine, tasty, focused, attractive, about 25% of wines tasted.

No Rating: The best are quite pleasant and can be good buys when moderately priced.

$ Good value for the money.

x Below average quality, to be avoided.