Battle of the bubbles
So will YOU try the elegant rival to prosecco and Champagne?
PICKINg up a bottle of sparkling wine used to be easy. Champagne if you wanted to flash the cash, prosecco if you didn’t want to break the bank.
Now there’s a new fizz in town that combines the affordability of prosecco with the sophistication of champers — crémant.
sales of the French sparkler are booming. Waitrose has shifted nearly 30 per cent more crémant in the past year and at Majestic figures are up 16 per cent. In all, we’re drinking about 3.7 million bottles a year, according to the Wine And spirit Trade Association.
HELEN MCGINN reveals all you need to know about crémant.
SO WHAT IS CREMANT?
THE name describes some of the best French sparkling wines made outside of the Champagne region, meaning they can’t be given that exalted title. They’re made in the same way as champagne, though, by the ‘traditional method’.
All wine is essentially fermented grape juice. But sparkling wine is grape juice that’s been fermented twice — the second time, it’s done under pressure to trap bubbles in the liquid. In the traditional method, this second fermentation takes place in the bottle.
Prosecco, however, gets its bubbles from a second fermentation in stainless steel tanks. This makes it cheaper to produce, but also means it is fairly simple in style, in contrast to its two rivals.
WHERE IS IT FROM?
UNlIKE Champagne, several regions across France are allowed to produce crémant, including Alsace, Bourgogne, loire, limoux and Jura. Each will use its own grape varieties, but there are various stipulations about how the wine must be made.
For example, the grapes must be picked by hand to ensure they are pressed as whole bunches, to get better-quality juice. And the wine must spend at least 12 months ageing in the bottle on its lees (the yeasts left over after fermentation) before it can be sold, adding more complex flavours to the wine.
CLUES ON THE LABEL
As with Champagne, Brut often appears on the label — this just means ‘dry’, which most crémants are.
You’ll also often see NV for ‘non-vintage’. This means that, like most affordable Champagne and prosecco, it’s been made from a blend of grapes grown in different years.
HOW DOES IT TASTE?
DIFFERENT regions, grapes and ageing times mean that while crémants might be similar in style to Champagne, they don’t taste the same. Crémants are usually younger, so the flavours are often lighter. Think of it as champagne-lite.
There is a great variety of flavour — a good crémant can range from bone-dry, lemony flavours when made with Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay grapes to strawberry notes in a pink crémant made with red grapes, like Cabernet Franc.
Compared with prosecco, crémant is far drier with more weighty flavours — and fizzier.
WHAT ABOUT PRICE?
THE other major difference between crémant, prosecco and Champagne is the price.
As Champagne has crept up in the past few years — the average bottle costs more than £ 20 in the UK — the gap between it and prosecco, now about £7, has grown.
Crémant neatly fills the gap between the two, starting at £8 with the majority priced below the £15 mark. Just right for impressing your guests without going overboard.
According to James Reed, sparkling wine buyer at Majestic: ‘Crémant represents the ideal middle ground for our customers. It has a depth of flavour and quality, which would usually be associated with Champagne — yet the prices are closer to prosecco.’
HELEN’S TOP PICKS:
La Cave des Hautes Cotes Crémant de Bourgogne, £12, M&S THIs is from the Burgundy region (Bourgogne) and is made from two of the grapes used to make Champagne, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. But there’s also a dollop of Aligoté grapes and even some red gamay ones in there too. A lovely creamy fizz with soft citrus fruits and a touch of floral. And I love its straighttalking label. Taste The Difference Crémant de Loire, currently £9 (usually £11), Sainsbury’s oNE of the best- value crémants at the moment, this is fantastic fizz. Made in the loire Valley, mostly from the Chenin Blanc grape, it has a light and airy lemon meringue pie flavour, — and is completely moreish. Made by Bouvet ladubay, a winery that’s been around since 1851.
Abbesse de Loire Crémant de Loire Rosé NV, £13.99, Laithwaites
HAPPIlY, Crémant also comes in pink! This one’s from the loire and gets its colour from the red Cabernet Franc grapes. A really lively, light pink fizz with soft strawberry flavours.
Exquisite Collection Crémant du Jura, £7.99, Aldi
FRoM a small region in eastern France, called Jura, this is made from one of the classic Champagne grapes, Chardonnay. And for the price, it’s got bags of character. The cheapest in the line-up and to be honest, ANoTHER great thing about Crémant is that often the labels are fancy and champagneesque. This wine’s made only from Chardonnay grapes by one of the best cooperative wineries in the Burgundy region. Fresh, light and crisp, expect simple citrus flavours and a touch of lemon biscuits. Crémant Domaine de la Croix Saint- Jacques, £14.99, thefizzcompany.com BEAUTIFUllY packaged crémant from Burgundy this is super dry, balanced with bready, nutty flavours. It’s made from 100 per cent Chardonnay and definitely lies at the elegant end of the sparkling scale. Wonderful stuff. THIs one’s made from a blend of Chardonnay and local grape Mauzac and is produced by a sixth-generation, family- owned winery. It reminds me of orchard fruit and if I get a bottle of this on Mother’s Day, I’ll be very happy indeed.