Sparkling wines for leaving ’20 behind
It’s been a dismal year, but let’s look at the bright side: It’s nearly over.
Recently we had a polite discussion about whether 2020 was worthy of being ushered out with sparkling wine. The verdict was clear: Forget about what 2020 deserves. We have earned all the sparkling wine we want.
The manner in which sparkling wine will be served, though, will differ this year. The COVID-19 pandemic precludes the usual sorts of holiday blowouts and packed celebrations. Instead, corks will be popped quietly among couples, small friendship pods, over Zoom and even alone for those who have had to isolate for one reason or another.
Though the year has certainly been singular, bubbles still feel right to mark its end. While many people will miss the bustle and excitement of crowds, smaller gatherings offer new opportunities to explore the versatility of sparkling wines. Instead of the usual jammed rooms, with standup noshes and snacks, sparkling wines this year may be poured with dinners for two, with a movie or an all-night New Year’s Eve binge.
In anticipation of whatever passes for a celebration this year, I recently shopped on the websites of a number of New York City stores, and picked out 10 sparkling wines well worth drinking.
If you yearn for homegrown bubbles, I highly recommend bottles from Roederer Estate, Schramsberg, Iron Horse, Blue Ox, Cruse, Soter and Under the Wire from the West Coast.
I know not everybody will have the budget for Champagne prices, by which I mean $40 or more. So I divided the list in two, with five sparkling wines under $30 and five Champagnes $40 and over.
Here are my 10 recommendations, from least to most expensive.
• Sidónio de Sousa Branco Portugal Brut Nature NV, $17.
Sidónio de Sousa is a stalwart producer in the Bairrada region of Portugal. The estate works traditionally, even down to aging its wines in old barrels made of Portuguese oak. This wine, a blend of three Portuguese grapes (arinto, bical and Maria Gomes), is balanced and subtle, with flavors of herbs and citrus. It’s a superb value. ( NLC Wines, Brooklyn, New York)
• Lambert de Seyssel Petit Royal Seyssel Methode Traditionelle NV, $20.
This wine, from the tiny appellation of Seyssel in the Savoie region in eastern France, has become part of our regular rotation at home. It’s fresh and energetic, and it tastes almost like walking through a cool cloud on a hot summer day. It’s subtle and insinuating, with flavors that never quite reveal themselves, so you want to keep returning to the glass. The wine is made of molette and altesse, two grapes that are seen largely in the Savoie. (Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley)
• Hild Mosel Elbling Sekt Brut No. 52 NV, $20.
Matthias Hild farms about 15 acres in the Upper Mosel,