Now we’re hurtling towards Christmas, we’re being bombarded by articles about bargain fizz being better than others five time the price. Mainly written by me, it has to be said.
Trust me though, when I tell you that I tasted a sparkling at a recent supermarket wine tasting that you’re going to die for. Or at least you’ll pass out and require resuscitation, in a good way. It’s from Lidl, and although it can’t compete with Champagne on quality, it’s a keeper to have in your fridge over the Christmas period.
The fizz in question is called Vivacello Sparkling, a carbonated Spanish sparkling wine that has delectable flavours of peach, apricot and lively tangerine, plus it’s lower in alcohol at 10.5%. The bubbles aren’t refined in the way of a premium sparkler, they’re chunky and clumsy. But, for £4.99, what do you expect?
If you’re wondering how in the dark arts Lidl achieves that sub-£5 price point, here’s how. It’s made by the forced carbonation method, as if you were pumping up your car tyre or adding spritz to your drink via a Soda Stream. It’s how they make soda and fizzy soft drinks, and is infinitely less costly and time consuming than the other method.
The ‘Traditional Method’, on the other hand, involves yeast, two fermentations and over a year to produce the bubbles, which are finer and biscuity tasting. Champagne, Cava and English sparkling wine are made that way, hence the whole not getting any change for £30 situation. Even Prosecco, the ‘drink-me-now’ party popper, is made fizzy via yeast fermentation.
With the forced carbonation method, only food-grade CO2 is added, from a vessel known as a saturator. It’s a metal capsule with super small pores, used to distribute the gas in fine streams. The wine is chilled until it’s nearly frozen, making it easier for the wine to absorb the gas in an instant. It’s then stoppered and put on shelf, ready for someone to pop it open, pronto.
And though forced carbonation is currently used to produce sparkling wines at the bargain end of the market, winemakers are now using it to make more innovative wines that don’t suit the more expensive and time-consuming traditional method. There are other benefits, like having complete control of how much CO2 goes into the wine, the fact that gas preserves the wines aromatics, the ease of manipulating the wine’s texture according the grape variety or preferred style, reducing alcohol levels and not having to pay silly money to drink them.
Now we’re all acquainted with the various methods of making wine fizzy, here are some of the best to get the festive party popping:
Contevedo Cava Brut, Spain, £5.49, Aldi
I can’t rate this Cava highly enough, it’s deeply impressive for the price point. Flavour-wise, you’ll get lashings of dry green apple, yellow plum with a soft and creamy finish. Honestly, your guests will think you spent five times the price. See, there I go again…
Co-op Fairtrade Irresistible Limited Edition Tilimuqui Sparkling Brut, Argentina, £9.50
This wine was a standout in the recent Co-op press tasting. It’s made from a grape called Torrontes, an Argentine grape which usually makes dry and floral white wines. Here, we have a dry, floral and herbal sparkler, unlike anything you’ve recently tasted. I gave it two out of three stars, so it must be good.
M&S Crémant de Bordeaux Blanc Brut, France, £10
M&S has delivered a lively, creamy, red-appley and saline sparkler here. Fun fact about Crémant, the word was originally used to describe non-Champagne sparkling wines made in France, which had a lower bottle pressure back in the day. That’s not the case nowadays, £10 gets you a wine made in the same way as its more expensive cousin, with similar flavour characteristics too.
Specially Selected Crémant du Jura, £10.99, Aldi
This is a safe pair of hands, in bottle form, made from 100% Chardonnay. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, friends and family will think this is Champagne unless you tell them otherwise. It’s not, it’s Crémant, but why would you put them straight? My tasting notes say, ‘perfumed, light and zesty, lovely pear and apple fruit character with orange blossom on the finish’.
La Vieille Ferme Sparkling Rosé NV, £12, Sainsbury’s
Newsflash, the chicken wine has brought out a rosé sparkling. It’s made from Grenache and Cinsault, and is all wild strawberries and a gummy peach dipped in lemon sherbet note on the finish. As if we needed anymore reasons to love this iconic brand.
Prince Alexandre Crémant de Loire Brut NV, Waitrose, £14.99
A bubbly blend of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley, home to everyone’s favourite bougie white wine, Sancerre. Here, you’re getting more on the delicate, lightly honeyed notes from the Chenin component, think Williams pears drizzled in Manuka, in a dry way. My tasting notes say, ‘bready, fresh, appley, pear-like, very good, two stars (out of three).’
Sainsbury’s TTD Champagne Brut, £23
I usually advise steering clear of cheaper Champagne, as upper end Cava or Crémant gives you more bang for buck. In this case, I’ll eat my words, or drink them. Louis Kremer has produced a grown-up, elegantly dry and saline fizz with flavours of fennel and preserved lemon with a gorgeous lemon thyme note on the finish.
New Theory Potluck Pet Nat, South Africa, £22, Ocado
‘Low-intervention wine, without the junk’ is how New Theory pitch their wines. Well, at least we know what we’re getting. In this case, it’s a pithy, apricot-like and delicious rosé pet nat wine, or ‘naturally sparkling’. They use natural yeast for what’s known as a ‘spontaneous fermentation’, so leaving Mother Nature as Head Winemaker. Worth a shot if you’re looking to impress with something a bit different.
Bolle Rosé, £19.99, Bolledrinks.com
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I’m endlessly impressed with Bolle’s non-alcoholic sparkling wines, which actually taste like, well, what they’re supposed to. This one is everything you’d want from a rosé sparkling, think strawberries and clotted cream flavours, all without the alcohol. It’s twice fermented, like Champagne or English sparkling then dealcoholised in a patented process.
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Immerse yourself in the world of good drink, fronted by industry expert Rob Buckhaven – a place for readers to whet their whistle with the latest and greatest in the world of drinks. From unpacking the best supermarket wines from Aldi, Tesco and Lidl, to introducing audiences to the wallet-friendly Cremant out-bubbling the fanciest of French Champagnes (or the best wines to drink after sex), this is a haven for those who love to celebrate.
Stay ahead of the curve as Rob plucks from the vines the wines of the season and the spirits you need to know about; speaking with experts and mixologists while unpacking the latest concoctions, finding the best non-alcoholic options for those looking to moderate, discovering the best food pairings for your drops, and going up against the latest TikTok chatter to demystify the liquid landscape.
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