Popping the cork for crémant, the affordable alternative to champagne
As sales of sparkling wine continue to soar, one aromatic French fizz is worthy of particular appreciation
It was in the middle of the pandemic that I ceased stashing sparkling wine. There were no special occasions, or occasions at all, really, save for daily episodes of the BBC’s Baby Club with two cabin-fevered infants and the weekly thrill of a veg box. I might have been stockpiling chickpeas, but I was cracking bubbles open willy-nilly because, well, why not?
And I never stopped. The unrelentingly grim news agenda seems as good a reason as any to pop a cork these days, because sparkling wine invariably lifts my spirits. And I’m not alone in drinking more of it: according to a study by the International Organisation of Vine and Wine, sparkling wine sales have grown faster than any other style in recent years, rising in value from €2.3bn to €8.5bn over the past quarter-century. (That said, I might be an outlier on the timing front, because 2020 figures also point to a dip in sales)
For many of us, bubbles have become, if not quite everyday drinking, then much less the preserve of celebrations that they once were. The snag, of course, is that we haven’t all got a budget for champagne or English sparkling; I certainly don’t. Sherbety, purse-friendly prosecco isn’t my thing unless it’s mixed with a bitter, and funky pét-nat isn’t always the order of the day. Which is why crémant is my friend: brilliant fizz that can stand in for champagne, but with a lower price tag. The Björn Again of French sparkling wine? Perhaps, but that might be selling it short: crémant is made with the same “traditional method” as champagne – ie, it experiences a second fermentation in the bottle to produce bubbles and greater complexity of flavour thanks to ageing it on the lees (AKA in contact with dead yeast cells) – but it’s no champagne knock-off. Rather, it uniquely expresses the terroir of where it’s made.
Today’s picks are crémants from some of the major French wine regions, showcasing the grapes and singular terroirs of each place. I’ve chosen them to showcase the differences that reflect where they’re made. From crémants de Loire, where the limestone soil and chenin blanc (blended with chardonnay, cabernet franc and/or pinot noir) bring zing and elegance, to those of Bordeaux, where warmer days and fuller grapes bring generous, brioche notes, and the famously ripe style from Limoux in the Languedoc and crémants d’Alsace, where pretty pinot blanc (again, often blended with chardonnay) make for refreshing, aromatic fizz that’s well suited to aperitifs, spice or, indeed, anything. After all, if there’s one thing the age of austerity has taught us, it’s that it is always time for sparkling wine, so long as the price is right.
Five crémants worth your attention
Crémant de Bordeaux £10 Tesco, 12%. A blend of two Bordeaux stalwarts (semillon and merlot) that’s as expressive as it is refreshing. Serious bang for your buck.
The Society’s Celebration Crémant de Loire 2023 £13.75, 12%. Great value from the Loire’s Saumur appellation: fresh, mineral and with a high percentage of chardonnay for elegance and body.
Cave de Ribeauvillé Les Comtes de Ribeauvillé Crémant d’Alsace Brut £18 Majestic, 12%. Smooth, orchardy and subtly floral, this would work particularly well with curries and spicy foods.
St John Crémant de Limoux 2023 £24, 12%. A moreish blend of chardonnay, chenin and a rustic touch of local mauzac, made by Antech, my favourite Limoux crémant producer.
Domaine la Croix Montjoie Crémant de Bourgogne Brut £24.50 Berry Bros & Rudd, 13%. A complex, moreish dance between four Burgundian grapes. I’d buy this over cheap champagne any day.