(Courtesy of Lucian Albrecht)
Lucien Albrecht produces Crémant d’Alsace wines that retail between $20-$25 and make for a beautiful holiday bottle.
December is here, and with it a holiday season that will hopefully bring you more cheer and opportunities to gather with loved ones. With celebrations in order, it’s a safe bet to say that many around the world will be grabbing a bottle of bubbly in a collective clinking of glasses to ring in 2022.
Whether you’re commemorating a year marked by personal and professional growth or celebrating the beginning of another, sparkling wine is a staple holiday libation. Though you will always find Champagne in my wine collection, it is not the only bubbly that should get a mention when it comes time to “pop some bottles.” Just like the saying goes, there’s a whole wide world out there, and that goes for sparkling wines as well.
If you don’t want to leave France for a holiday bubbly, there are other regions where you can find a French “crémant,” or sparkling wine, made in the same method as Champagne but simply produced outside of the Champagne region. These wines will be labeled like Crémant de Loire (Loire Valley), Crémant de Limoux (Languedoc region), Crémant de Bourgogne (Burgundy) and Crémant d’Alsace, where will find the featured producer Lucien Albrecht.
Alsace is a region located in the northeast corner of France near the German border. Throughout history, this area changed hands between the French and Germans several times, giving it a very unique culture that incorporates traits from both countries. The white grapes used in making Crémant d’Alsace are pinot blanc, chardonnay, auxerrois, riesling and pinot gris, and the red grape is pinot noir. There are some 100% bottlings, but most of the white sparkling wines are blends.
In our South Florida Market, it's not hard to find the Lucien Albrecht Crémant d’Alsace Brut made from pinot blanc, pinot gris and auxerrois, with lively fresh lemon and floral characteristics and fine, persistent bubbles. Another festive bottle for the holidays is the label’s Crémant rosé, made from 100% pinot noir, as is required for Crémant d’Alsace rosé. This wine is a pretty salmon pink, exhibits flavors of fresh strawberries and cherries, and is round and full of life in the mouth. Both bottles make for perfect accompaniments to a thoughtfully prepared holiday meal.
Now, you may be familiar with prosecco, Italy’s most famous and widely available bubbly mostly from the Veneto region, but have you explored other Italian regions for sparkling gems? One region of note is located in northern Italy, tucked away in the Dolomite Mountains, where vineyards can be found at altitudes ranging from 656 to 2952 feet above sea level. This magical place is called Trentino, and it is from here that we get distinctive Trentodoc (Trento DOC) sparkling wines.
(Courtesy of Ferrari)
Ferrari wines make for a perfect meal accompaniment or holiday aperitif.
Very different from the tank method used to produce lively and fun prosecco, Trentodoc wines are made in the “metodo classico,” or classical method, in the same way that France’s Champagne is created. The unique combination of the mountain influence, soil characteristics and the variable climate – from alpine to continental and even Mediterranean – create undeniably Trentodoc bubbly.
The grapes found in Trentodoc wines are those we are familiar with in other sparkling wines: chardonnay, pinot nero (noir), pinot bianco and meunier. The sweetness levels are also on the traditional scale, with a standard brut containing up to 12 grams of residual sugar per liter. These wines can be made white or rosé with these lees aging designations: brut, at least 15 months; millesimato, at least 24 months; and riserva, at least 36 months.
Ferrari Brut is 100% chardonnay and spends at least 20 months on lees, giving it a fuller body feel and notes of freshly baked bread in addition to golden apples, lemon, and wildflowers. The rosé is 60% pinot nero and 40% chardonnay and presents as a beautiful copper color, with more red fruit flavor and even some sweet almond notes, in addition to that long Ferrari finish.
One more stop for sparkling! If fresh seafood is on the menu, you don’t want to miss out on an opportunity to include Segura Viudas Cava with your holiday spread. Cava is a sparkling wine made in Spain in the traditional method using Spanish grapes such as macabeo, xarel-lo and parellada for whites, and garnacha and monastrell for reds. Chardonnay and pinot noir are also allowed and more recently embraced by some producers.
Segura Viudas Brut Reserva Heredad is made from the best wines of each vintage and aged for 24 months on lees. This wine is 67% macabeo, 33% parellada and 100% elegance. The complex aromas and flavors showcase the aging with hints of biscuit and honey, along with citrus fruit and a bit of smokiness. At around $25 retail, this beautiful sparkling bottle is a must-drink this holiday season.