Time to sparkle

Rose Reserve Champagne. Photo / Babiche Martens

Nobilo Methode Traditionelle 2005 $25.99

You get plenty of bubbles for your buck in this classy vintage sparkler from Nobilo; its lively notes of lemon are married with more complex and mature toasty and nutty nuances. You can afford to keep a few bottles of this in the fridge over the festive season for those unexpected guests.

(From fine wine retailers or contact the Huapai Cellar Door on 0800 800 653.)

* Flat Champagne

The Romans may have planted the first vineyards in Champagne in AD79, but before the 18th century most of the region's wines were still ones. It was only with the invention of stronger bottles and the wire cage which kept corks firmly in place that bubbles were actively encouraged in what we now know as Champagne.


Quartz Reef Central Otago Methode Traditionelle NV $29

A partnership between Champagne's Marc Chauvet and Central Otago's Quartz Reef has resulted in some of the most consistently high quality bubbles to be found in this price bracket. There's a bite of Granny Smith apple to this captivatingly creamy and stylish citrusy blend of chardonnay and pinot noir.

(From Point Wines, Fine Wine Delivery Company, Glengarry, Caro's, Scenic Cellars.)

* An English invention

Though the French monk Dom Perignon is widely cited as the man who put the sparkle into Champagne, it appears that the secrets of sparkling wine were actually uncovered by an English scientist and physician called Christopher Merrett. Decades before Dom Perignon's discovery in the late 1600s, Merrett documented how the addition of sugar to a finished wine created a second fermentation and consequently the fizz that characterises the style, something not widely disseminated by the Champenois!


Johanneshof Cellars Emmi Methode Traditionelle Brut NV $36-$37

Emerging from New Zealand's first subterranean rock cellar after more years of ageing than most sparkling wines, Johanneshof's Emmi is worth the wait and the effort owners Edel Everling and Warwick Foley put into turning all the bottles by hand. It's a bold style of bubbly whose richness and spice is beautifully balanced by its elegant line of acidity.

(From Caro's, Milford Cellars, Kohi Corner Bottle Shop, Blend, Wine Vault, Village Winery, Artisan Wines.)

* Under pressure

The pressure inside a bottle of bubbly is easily as much as that of a car tyre, causing the cork when popped to be propelled at speeds of over 40km an hour. It therefore comes as no surprise that errant corks have been known to blind unlucky imbibers, so always open sparkling wines well away from yourself and others.


No 1 Family Estate No 1 Cuvee Rose Méthode Traditionelle NV $44.95

An impressive inaugural rose release from Marlborough sparkling specialist, No 1 Family Estate. Made by Frenchman Daniel Le Brun, who imbues his wines with a Champagne-like finesse, his new rose is dry and delicate with subtle strawberry fruit, a hint of almond and a squeeze of citrus.

(From Caro's, Blend, Fine Wine Delivery Company, Glengarry, selected New Worlds.)

* White wines from black grapes

Pinot noir is one of the key grapes of Champagne and found in many of the world's top bubbles, both rose and white. It's able to make a white wine because in bubbly the skins of this black variety are swiftly whipped away before they impart any colour to the juice: like most black grapes, pinot noir's colour comes solely from its skin. For rose styles, red wine is added separately to white sparklers to create their pink hue.


Cloudy Bay Pelorus Vintage 2005 $53

If you're seeking a very special sparkler from our shores, vintage Pelorus is definitely worth a punt. Its 2005 release is another weighty wine, containing components that have spent time in large and small oak vessels. Creamy textured with a fresh tang of citrus, this pinot noir-dominant blend combines notes of apple, freshly baked bread and vanilla pod that build to its long nutty climax.

(From Glengarry, Fine Wine Delivery Company, Caro's.)

* Fashioning fizz

Champagne and most high quality sparkling wines are made by the Methode Traditionelle, a complex process that creates the finest mousse (the French term for fizziness). A slightly cheaper way of bringing on the bubbles is the transfer method, which is often indicated on the label as "bottle fermented". Lesser methods include sparkling wines made in bulk in tanks or carbonated like fizzy drinks, which produce less complex wines with bigger and short-lived bubbles.


Drappier Carte Blanche Brut Champagne NV $59/$43 on promotion

Fantastic value fizz from a small family-owned Champagne house that's on the up. Drappier's Carte Blanche has floral scents and a fresh apple Danish pastry-like character that's accompanied by an umami-like savoury undertone and a cleansing crisp acidity.

(From Glengarry.)

* Champagne: uniquely French

Champagne can only be produced within the Champagne region of northeastern France. While producers of sparkling wine outside France once used this regional name on their products, it is now protected in most countries through national laws, international treaties or local regulations. Even using the name on products other than wine - from foods to perfumes - is not permitted.


Lenoble Cuvee Riche Demi-Sec Champagne NV $69.90

For those who like their Champagne with a soupcon of sweetness or are looking for a match that works with lighter fruit-based desserts such as pavlova or rich pates, a demi-sec style should suit. This example from Lenoble combines notes of toasted spiced bread with a fabulously fresh fusion of citrus and mineral.

(From Scenic Cellars.)

* Keep it cool

Cool is the keyword when it comes to the serving temperature of sparkling wines and the regions best suited to making them. The optimum temperature for serving sparklers is a chilly 6-10C; while cooler climates - such as those of northern France, New Zealand and Tasmania - can best grow the crisp fruit suited to making the style.


Louis Roederer Brut Premier Champagne NVV $100

Seriously good non-vintage Champagne from the makers of the legendary prestige cuvee, Cristal. Roederer's reliable and refined Brut Premier has an understated power in its fresh palate that melds the mineral, grapefruit and hazelnut with a suggestion of savoury.

(From fine Wine Stores including Caro's, Fine Wine Delivery Company, First Glass.)

* Bad bargain

This Christmas will see plenty of sharp deals on Champagne. However, beware of ultra-cheap bottles of big brands offered by price-cutting liquor stores, as you don't know where they've been! There's a risk they could be a parallel import brought into the country outside the control of the producer, which may well have been transported in conditions conducive to damaging the delicate liquid within. To avoid disappointment, it's best to buy from a quality retailer, such as the stockists listed here, which will be selling properly stored Champagne.


Gosset Grande Reserve Brut Champagne NV $74.99

Although it's the producer of some fabulous fizz and the oldest house in Champagne - celebrating its 425th anniversary this year - Gosset's dry and full flavoured Champagnes have largely remained under the radar of most wine drinkers. Its Reserve Brut is typical of its house style, a rich and powerful Champagne in which notes of apple, honeycomb and spice are underpinned by an exhilarating line of citrus.

(From fine wine retailers including Glengarry, Liquor King.)

* Bursting the bubble

A sparkling wine's bubbles are created when the carbon dioxide produced by fermentation is trapped within a wine. However, a recent study conducted by French scientists found that the bubbles in a sparkling wine also contain aroma compounds, which are released as the bubbles pop on hitting the wine's surface.


Charles Heidsieck Rose Reserve Champagne NV $115

Sales of rose Champagne have been booming off the back of the world's seemingly unquenchable thirst for all drinks pink. Forget the colour's associations with sweetness and insubstantiality, rose Champagne can be wonderfully complex, like this dry and ethereal example from Charles Heidsieck with a fascinating thread of floral incense that runs through its silky palate of crisp apples, red berries and yeasty undertones.

(From Glengarry.)