Champagne vs. Domestic Sparkling Wine - Wine

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Champagne vs. Domestic Sparkling Wine
updated: Jun 30, 2012, 11:00 AM

By Marc Liberts

This month's BYOB Wine & Dine event at Max's Restaurant & Cucina in Santa Barbara on Sunday June 24 featured a face-off between Champagne and domestic sparkling wine. The featured winemaker was Clarissa Nagy, winemaker at Riverbench in Santa Maria. Clarissa gave a number of short talks about Champagne, sparkling wine, and her new job as the winemaker at Riverbench.

The event started out with everyone bringing one bottle of Champagne or domestic sparkling wine to share with everyone else. This was an excellent opportunity to try about 25 different bottles! The sharing was accompanied by Cheese from C'est Cheese in Santa Barbara. One cheese in particular was my favorite: St. Andre, a cow's milk cheese from France. It is smooth, creamy, and not overbearing and just generally great.

After we shared our bottles, we sat down for an interesting 3 course meal prepared by Max's Restaurant & Cucina. The meal started off with a Smoked Trout & Radish Salad, with Shaved Fennel & Champagne Vinaigrette. The salad was paired with the 2010 RIVERBENCH - CORK JUMPER - BLANC DE BLANCS which worked very well. I'm not a smoked trout fan, but it was obvious that everyone else was really enjoying it.

The next course was Seafood & Vegetable Paella, with Medley of Shellfish & Whitefish over Saffron Rice, paired with 2010 RIVERBENCH - CORK JUMPER ROSE - BLANC DE NOIRS. Another very good pairing! I was in Spain last month and I can tell you from personal experience that this paella was actually more enjoyable than the ones I had in Spain because it wasn't as fishy as the real Spanish ones tend to be.

The meal concluded with an Almond Torte with Ginger Creme Anglaise paired with the 2010 RIVERBENCH - CORK JUMPER - BLANCDE BLANCS - DEMI-SEC. Both were excellent!

It is important to know that the difference between Champagne and sparkling wines is that only sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France can be officially labeled "Champagne." Other European countries use other names for the sparkling wine they produce: Cava in Spain, Prosecco, Asti or Spumante in Italy and Sekt in Germany. ‘Champagne' style wines from California, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the several wine-producing countries of South America are generally referred to as sparkling wine or sparklers. Cremant sparkling wines are usually made in France in the ‘Champagne' style, but are not from the Champagne region.

Unless there is specific terminology on the bottle, all champagne and most domestic sparklers are comprised of three grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and the less often used varietal Pinot Meunier. The bubbles are created through a process called "secondary fermentation," which means they make regular wine first and then re-ferment it with yeast left in the bottle (which is filtered out later). This is why you'll often get a fresh baked bread aroma from bubbly. Most bubblies are non-vintage or "NV," meaning they are created from a blend of wine vintages.

When buying sparkling wines, there are a number of typical terms to be familiar with.

Brut: The driest one, but not to be confused with "Extra Dry," which is not as dry as Brut. Brut is usually the most food-friendly of champagnes. The smoky, salty nature of caviar is a classic match.

Extra Dry: A touch of fruity sweetness but finishes on a dry note. These are quite versatile and can be served as an apertif or after a meal. They're in the middle of the spectrum.

Sec: Next in line for dryness, but uncommon.

Demi-sec: The most residual sugar of the bunch (outside of Doux, which is rare). This is a classic dessert wine. Never sweet in a cloying way, these have a delicious caramelized quality. Avoid pairing these with fare that is sweeter than the wine, as the bubbly will come off harsh and dry. Fresh fruit works best.

Blanc de Blanc: This bubbly is made from 100% Chardonnay. The Chardonnay grape lends sparkling wine it's toasty, nutty and rich quality.

Blanc de Noir: This bubbly is made from mostly Pinot Noir. The Pinot Noir grape gives it the refreshing, fruit driven, citrus quality.

The next BYOB event features one of my favorite categories of wine - white wines from the Alsace region of France. Alsatian whites consist generally of Dry Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, and Sylvaner. The event will be held at Max's with a menu of Assorted paired cheeses from C'est Cheese, Caramelized Onion Flatbread with Shiitake Crisps, Salmon in Dijon & White Wine Sauce, with Potatoes & Cabbage d'Alsace, and Almond-Orange Pots de Crème. You can get more information about it from Max's website.

Below are the Champagnes and sparkling wines I was able to try during the evening:

1. CHAMPAGNE HENRIOT - BLANC SOVERAIN - PUR CHARDONNAY - BRUT - NV: toasty and yeasty with a hint of brioche. Typical Champagne - 88 points.

2. DOMAINE STE. MICHELLE - BLANC DE NOIRS - COLUMBIA VALLEY, WA - NV: grapey and nice but somewhat unrefined. 86 points.

3. 2009 GOAT BUBBLES - BLANC DE NOIR - CLOS PEPE VINEYARD - STA. RITA HILLS: Yeasty and persuasive with forceful identity. Very nice - 89 points.

4. CHANDON - CALIFORNIA BRUT CLASSIC - NV: I brought this one - blah. I'd never had it before but it came highly recommended. Uninspiring and vapid. 84 points.

5. KORBEL ROUGE - SONOMA COUNTY CHAMPAGNE - NV: Tasted cheap and frilly. Flavors were undisciplined and atypical. 82 points.

6. BLUE MOUNTAIN - BRUT - OKANAGAN VALLEY - BRITISH COLUMBIA - NV: Really nice even though it was outside of the parameters of the tasting as it isn't a domestic wine. Taut and pretty with toasty notes. 90 points.

7. BLASON de BOURGOGNE - BLANC DE NOIRS - CREMANT DE BOURGOGNE- One of my favorites! Tight and yeasty with good acid and pretty floral notes. 91 points.

8. MUMM NAPA - BRUT PRESTIGE - NAPA VALLEY - NV: Ok but not great. Imprecise on the palate and unstructured. 85 points.

9. SCHRAMSBERG - MIRABELLE - BRUT ROSE - Pretty! Bursting with sparkles with nicely integrated brioche and fruit. One to look for if you need to bring something for a holiday dinner or celebration! 91 points.

10. MOET & CHANDON IMPERIAL - CHAMPAGNE - Refined all the way! Nice Champagne that you would expect. A little on the quiet side but very dignified. 88 points.

11. GLORIA FERRER - VA de VI - ULTRA CUVEE - SONOMA COUNTY SPARKLING WINE - NV: A nice effort. Pretty on the nose with decent yeasty and toasty flavors. 87 points.

12. FREIXENET - METODO TRADICIONAL - CORDON NEGRO - CAVA - NV: A very dry and well put together cava. A little more spicy and a little less yeasty than the others. 86 points.

13. SEGURA VIUDAS - CAVA - NV: Another nice Spanish sparkling wine. Like the Freixenet, not as yeasty as the others but compelling. I liked it slightly better - 87 points.

14. MICHEL OLIVIER - TETE DE CUVEE - CREMANT DE LIMOUX - Very nice with pretty toasty notes and vibrant sparkles and acidity. 89 points.

15. DOMAINE J. LAURENS - BRUT - APPELLATION CREMANT DE LIMOUX - NV: Another Cremant very similar to the Michel Olivier. Very nice with broad dignified appeal. 89 points.

16. CHAMPAGNE GRAND SIECLE - LA CUVEE - BRUT - PAR LAURENT-PERRIER - NV: A beautiful and classic high-quality Champagne. Fresh bake brioche with hints of hazelnuts and forest. A really beautiful effort compared to the rest here - 94 points.

17. LAETITIA SPARKLING WINE - BRUT CUVEE - ARROYO GRANDE VALLEY - NV: Strong and ripe flavors with disjointed notes. Enjoyable because of its force - 87 points.

18. CHAMPAGNE POMMERY - BRUT ROYAL - NV: Dignified and refined with notes of buttered brioche. Very appealing and very dry. 89 points.

19. TOBIN JAMES - SPARKLING WINE - I didn't catch the details on this one, but it was cloying and tasted cheap. 79 points at best.

20. GRUET BLANC DE NOIRS - NEW MEXICO - NV: Excellent domestic sparkling wine. Tight personality with pretty bubbles and delicious flavor profile - 92 points.

21. BLASON de BOURGOGNE - BRUT ROSE - CREMANT DE BOURGOGNE - NV: very nice Cremant with logical flavors and precise construction. 88 points.

22. 2006 TRADER JOE'S RESERVE - BLANC DE NOIR - SONOMA COUNTY - SPARKLING WINE - 2006 - Don't laugh! Not a bad effort! Light yeast and nice fruit with decent integration. A good effort - 86 points.

23. HEIDSIECK & CO - MONOPOLE - BLUE TOP - CHAMPAGNE - BRUT - NV: Powerful yeast with good finesse and style - 88 points.

24. 2010 RIVERBENCH - CORK JUMPER - BLANC DE BLANCS - Very pretty and demure. Ripe and good natured - 88 points.

25. 2010 RIVERBENCH - CORK JUMPER ROSE - BLANC DE NOIRS - Good structure with light yeast. Balanced and enjoyable - 88 points.

26. PIPER-HEIDSIECK - BRUT - CHAMPAGNE - NV: Classic Champagne with good finesse, palpable yeast and very taut. 90 points.

27. 2010 RIVERBENCH - CORK JUMPER - BLANCDE BLANCS - DEMI-SEC: Pretty with a hint of sweetness. A fun sparkling wine! 89 points.

FIRST PLACE: CHAMPAGNE GRAND SIECLE - LA CUVEE - BRUT - PAR LAURENT-PERRIER

SECOND PLACE: GRUET BLANC DE NOIRS - NEW MEXICO

THIRD PLACE: BLASON de BOURGOGNE - BLANC DE NOIRS - CREMANT DE BOURGOGNE