The first of four collections of suggested wines for the Christmas holidays. Look out for others on the next three Saturdays. A shorter version of this article is published by the Financial Times. See also our tasting article Festive fizz 2024.
French Crémants, made in the same way as champagne, can be some of the best-value sparkling wines. They spend time resting on, and drawing complexity from, the lees of the second fermentation – like the bottles of champagne seen above in Billecart-Salmon’s atmospheric cellars. And if you need at least two bottles of champagne, do consider buying magnums, the ideal bottle size for maturing champagne. A magnum of well-aged vintage champagne can offer as much pleasure as many prestige cuvées for a fraction of the price. All the wines below are 12% or 12.5% alcohol, unless stated otherwise.
Louis Couturier Rosé Brut NV Crémant de Bordeaux 11.5%
Blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot aged 12 months on the lees of a second fermentation in bottle. More drive than sweetness.
£10 Tesco
De Chanceny Brut NV Crémant de Loire
Another traditional-method bargain from Tesco, this one is a blend of Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc, not trying to be a copy of champagne but very refreshing. Respectable-looking label.
£12 Tesco
Château des Cossé, Réserve du Marquis Brut 2019 Crémant de Loire
A Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay fizz with a bit of maturity and interest.
£13.50 Amathus
Joan Sarda, Reserva Brut 2021 Cava 11.5%
Delicate, organic and dry.
£14.25 Corney & Barrow
Bernard Massard, Cuvée de l’Ecusson Pinot Noir Brut Rosé NV Crémant de Luxembourg
Light, fresh, pretty and well distributed.
£17.95 Champagne One Ltd, £20 That Wine Cellar, £21.50 Amathus
Caves Transmontanas, Vértice Cuvée 2019 Douro
Evidence that the Douro Valley produces so much more than port.
£24 Amathus
Alain Voge, Les Bulles d’Alain Brut 2016 St-Péray 13%
Rhône Valley Marsanne from a fine source, aged four years on lees to produce a rich, flavourful fizz, more interesting than champagnes at this price.
£24.81 Lay & Wheeler
Lebrun, Premier Cru Brut NV Champagne
Great price for a Pinot Noir/Chardonnay blend from a premier cru village in Champagne. Aged three years.
£26 The Wine Society
Benjamin Bridge, Brut NV Nova Scotia
The east coast of Canada is proving a fine source of sparkling wine, well made in the image of champagne. This went down well at both FT Weekend Festivals this year.
£26.02 Flint
Lanson, Le Black NV Champagne
Hugely improved champagne, with its origins and age now clearly identified on the back label. Four Walls have the version based on 2015 though the current one, ‘Création 258’, is based on 2018.
£27.30 Four Walls and many others up to £72
Dom de la Taille aux Loups, Triple Zéro NV Montlouis-sur-Loire
An old favourite sparkling, top-quality, low-intervention Chenin whose quality seems to have survived the sad demise of its creator Jacky Blot.
£27.40 Justerini & Brooks
No 1 Family Estate, Blanc de Blancs NV Marlborough
From Daniel Le Brun, known as the grandfather of traditional-method sparkling wine in New Zealand. A wine with guts.
£28.50 Amathus
Thomas-Hatté Brut NV Champagne
Popular, long-standing house champagne of the Hampshire wine merchant. Biscuity nose. For current drinking rather than cellaring.
£28.95 Stone Vine & Sun
Rémy Nodin, Ernest Mousseux Brut NV St-Péray 13%
There’s a bit of Roussanne with the Marsanne of this relatively cool appellation east of Valence. A really characterful sparkling wine that could be drunk with food.
£29.95 Yapp Brothers
Langham, Corallian Classic Cuvée Extra Brut NV England
Tommy Grimshaw and team are on a roll on their Dorset farm. Their recently launched, youthful Blanc de Blancs is more expensive but is also excellent.
£32.95 producer's website
Guido Berlucchi, 61 Satèn Brut NV Franciacorta
Refreshing liquid lemon sherbet. Italians love bubbles.
£32.65 Shelved Wine
Terrevive Bergiante, San Vicent Rosato Frizzante NV IGT dell’Emilia 11.8%
Fascinating, biodynamic, beekeeping producer of highbrow Lambrusco.
£34 Swig
Roebuck Estates, Rosé de Noirs Brut 2018 England
This superior Sussex producer grows all their own grapes. An excellent English vintage, unlike 2024.
£42 producer's website
De Saint Gall, So Dark Grand Cru Brut 2016 Champagne
The Union Champagne co-op’s pride and joy, made substantially from Pinot Noir grapes grown in Bouzy and the village that supplies Krug’s Clos d’Ambonnay (£2,000 a bottle). Five years’ ageing on lees.
£46 Tesco
Dom du Pélican, S Brut Zéro 2020 Vin de France 13%
The highly respected Marquis d’Angerville of Volnay’s Jura adventure has ventured into fizz with this exciting, bone-dry 100% Savagnin offering.
£46.25 Corney & Barrow
J Dumangin Extra Brut Premier Cru 2009 Champagne
Fully mature. The bottle age and ripeness of the vintage compensate for any potential austerity in an Extra Brut wine.
£48 Yapp Brothers
Duménil, Les Pêcherines Prestige Vieilles Vignes Premier Cru NV Champagne
80% Chardonnay, 20% Pinot Noir from a 55-year-old vineyard in Chigny-lès-Roses. Very arresting.
£48 Davy’s Wine Merchants
Domaine Hugo, Hugo Single Vineyard Brut Nature 2020 England 11.5%
Wiltshire farmer’s minimal-intervention blend from vines thriving biodynamically on limestone and vinified partly in amphora. Very à la mode.
£51.50 Stone Vine & Sun
Taittinger, Brut 2015 Champagne
50:50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir which spent five years on lees. Not a bad price for a famous-name vintage champagne.
£57.25 The Champagne Company, £60 Tesco
Lanson, Le Blanc de Blancs Brut NV Champagne
No hurry to drink this beauty, a blend based on 2019 and mainly from premier and grand cru villages. Zesty aperitif.
£60–£65 various independents
Piper-Heidsieck, Essentiel Extra Brut BV13 NV Champagne
2013 was a great but backward champagne vintage and this tense, bone-dry blend of 2013s with 18% even older wines will only get better.
£120 per magnum The Finest Bubble
Danbury Ridge, Solstice 1st Edition NV England
Producers of England’s best still wine have launched this rich, apricot-scented but dry Essex fizz.
£62 The Finest Bubble
Laurent-Perrier, Héritage Brut NV Champagne
Sort of baby brother of their heavenly Grand Siècle multi-vintage prestige cuvée. Excellent value for a zesty, masterful blend of vintages from 2014 to 2019.
£64.99 Averys, £72 Hedonism or £154 per magnum The Finest Bubble
Telmont, Réserve de la Terre Extra Brut NV Champagne
Vibrant, non-austere wine from perhaps the most eco-aware champagne house, in a super-light bottle.
£69 Millésima UK
Laurent-Perrier, Brut 2008 Champagne
A substantial, mature, complex champagne from another excellent vintage. Deserves food. Aged for eight years on lees.
£78, £164 per magnum The Finest Bubble
Bollinger, PNVZ19 Brut NV Champagne
Bollinger’s relatively new, thoroughly admirable series of Pinot Noir wines from specific vintages and villages: 2019 and Verzenay in this case. The VZ16 in magnum at £194 is great too, and still youthful.
£82 The Finest Bubble
Bruno Paillard, Assemblage Extra Brut 2015 Champagne
Tense blend of premiers and grands crus aged for seven years on lees. Sophisticated.
£84.50 Wanderlust Wines, £85 Hedonism
Nyetimber, Tillington Single Vineyard 2014 England
With their relatively high acidity, English wines can really benefit from bottle age. This mature example is made by the pioneer producer of English fizz but is no bargain.
£87.21 Lay & Wheeler
Pol Roger, Brut 2002 Champagne
2002 was a superlative champagne vintage (Veuve Clicquot 2002 in magnum is also looking extremely good). Fully mature with real undertow but certainly not old.
£92 Lay & Wheeler
Bollinger, La Grande Année Brut 2002 Champagne
Great combination of successful vintage and serious house that believes in Pinot Noir and old oak barrels for the first fermentation. Refreshment plus real depth of flavour.
£158.01 Lay & Wheeler
Billecart-Salmon, Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon Rosé 2012 Champagne
Extremely complex and an example of how the Champenois have been moving away from rosés that could be confused with white wines.
£166 The Finest Bubble
Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 2007 Champagne
Glorious, gorgeous Chardonnay prestige cuvée that always does so well in blind tastings.
£180 The Finest Bubble
Rare, Rosé Brut 2014 Champagne
This one is the colour of a dilute Campari. One of those wines that builds towards the appetisingly dry finish. Rather scrumptious.
£295 London End Wines
Dom Pérignon, P2 Plénitude Deuxième Extra Brut 2006 Champagne
Famous prestige cuvée given extra lees contact in the cellar. Wonderful tension on a luxurious, creamy base.
£370 Hedonism
Louis Roederer, Cristal Rosé Brut 2008 Champagne
In a recent celebration of this iconic wine’s 40th anniversary back to the 1976 vintage, this was the standout. Such energy! Superlative. But Hedonism seem to have recently hiked the price. Truly a luxury.
£900 Hedonism
Tasting notes, scores and suggested drinking dates in our tasting notes database. International stockists at Wine-Searcher.com.
Image © Leif Carlsson, courtesy of Champagne Billecart-Salmon.