Some Down-to-Earth Champagne Stars

Many of us spent too much on champagne over the last two holiday seasons, succumbing to the marketing push to celebrate the new millennium, whichever year you believe it occurred.

But despite the marketers’ best efforts to increase demand, sparkling wine prices haven’t really gone up that much. Sure, there are the $100 bottles of Dom Perignon, Roederer “Cristal” and Pol Roger “Cuvee Winston Churchill” (to name just three of my favorites). But in this age of $200 California Cabernets, somehow that no longer seems so extreme.

Even better, there has always been a good supply of tasty mid-priced sparkling wines, from both France and California. For years they have been among the best values in the wine marketplace. Champagne takes a bit of time to produce, but aside from the money tied up in aging the wine, it is not a particularly expensive wine to make.

Now that millennium fever is over, champagnes are more plentiful than ever and prices seem even more moderate. The prices have not returned to mid-’90s levels, but what has? Still, you needn’t search too hard to find French Champagnes and California sparkling wines priced 15% to 20% lower than last year’s. If not exactly inexpensive, they offer more quality for the money than most other wine categories.

I find that a comforting thought as I get ready to drink to a better year in 2002.

California Sparkling Wines

$ Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Noir, Non-Vintage, Columbia Valley, $11. I’ve seen this wine discounted as low as $7 a bottle, making it one of the all-time bargains. Its bright pink color, slightly sweet flavor and frothy texture are matched by its youthful fruit and good balance.

$** Mumm Cuvee Napa Blanc de Noirs, Napa Valley, Non-Vintage, $18. Popularity has pushed the prices up for this lovely wine and also meant that it is not so often seen at heavy discount. Still, there are very few two-star wines in this price range. This latest version is generously stuffed with bright, slightly candied cherry and strawberry-punch fruit filled out by fresh yeasty, bread notes. Its full, lively texture and brisk, clean finish mark it as an ideal stand-alone champagne that will stand up nicely to hors d’oeuvres.

$** Roederer Estate Brut, Anderson Valley, Non-Vintage, $20. The brut style is typically drier in taste and firmer in structure than the blanc de noirs style, and you can clearly see that difference in this deep, bright, lemony, biscuity wine with its endless stream of tiny, pinpoint bubbles and tight, yet rich, finish. It is my clear first choice among all brut champagnes, whether French or Californian, because of the exceptional quality offered at such an exceptional price.

*** 1996 Roederer Estate “L’Ermitage,” Anderson Valley, $42. Priced by the winery at $38, this extraordinary wine is in such demand that some stores are selling it at a premium. It is simply the best sparkling wine I have encountered this year at any price under three digits. Indeed, its complexity, its richness and its vitality rival even those pricier French bottlings. And, this is one of the very few sparkling wines that should actually get better with a bit of bottle age.

$*** 1997 Schramsberg Blanc de Noirs, Napa Valley, $30. This beautiful wine transcends the Blanc de Noirs category by setting the youthful, energetic fruit associated with the type against the depth, briskness and range of yeasty character more commonly found in expensive brut wines. It is easy to drink on its own, yet it will work fabulously with a range of foods.

French Champagnes

** Laurent-Perrier Brut, Non-Vintage, $45. This wine is classically “brut” in every dimension, from its bright color to its deep yet never pushy citrus and green apple fruit, to its slightly toasty yeast-aged characteristics. Its nuances of chalk, roasted lemons and caramel are carried well by its irrepressible carbonation and show the extra complexity that have come into this wine by the bit of extra time it has spent in the winery before being released to market.

* Champagne Mumm “Cordon Rouge,” Non-Vintage, $30. Mumm makes wines that are light, lively and outgoing, and while this house may not have fared so well over the past decade, it is now in calmer waters. The result is a reliable, elegant, firm Champagne that shows the fine French touch that makes wines that are less fruity than their California counterparts, but no less interesting.

** Louis Roederer Brut “Premier,” Non-Vintage, $39. The house of Roederer, both in France and California, swept the honors in this year’s tastings. This wine is comparable to the California Roederer brut bottling in energy and richness. It is just enough less fruity and lighter on its feet to show its French heritage, though the two wines are clearly members of the same family. Obviously, I prefer Roederer’s “L’Ermitage” to either of the non-vintage bruts, but this is a wine worthy of any table on its own merits.

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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.