Fabulous Fizz: My top sparkling wines, Cava, Champagne and Prosecco for Christmas and New Year's
Champagne glasses with fairy lights Fizz ieFood
“In Victory you deserve Champagne, in Defeat you need it.”
This quote is often attributed to Napoleon but is in fact from Winston Churchill, and it rather sums up the versatility of sparkling wine.
Champagne suits births, christenings, weddings, birthdays and wakes as it is the ultimate wine for celebration, as appropriate to celebrate a joyful occasion as it is to toast a life well lived.
Sparkling wine brings a smile to every face. In the run-up to the big day, I will always have a bottle of something fizzy in my fridge for visitors. I bring fizz to parties and use it as a last-minute present.
I will be giving PetNat as a present this year as more people need to know about it. PetNat is the original sparkling wine — producers simply bottle their wine while the yeast is still active creating a creamy light fizz.
My Christmas Day will begin with fizz in the form of a Mimosa. I generally use a Cava or an inexpensive supermarket Champagne as Prosecco is not fizzy enough.
We always begin with Christmas with a proper Irish breakfast and the acidity in dry sparkling wine is perfect for cutting through the fat in sausages and bacon so there is some logic operating here not just decadence.
- Mimosa: Equal parts sparkling wine and fresh squeezed orange juice
- Buck’s Fizz: 2 parts sparkling wine and fresh squeezed orange juice
This won the gold medal for fizz under €30 at the National Off-Licence Association wine competition so is available largely through independent wine shops nationwide.
Classic Cava grapes, aromas of lemon zest and citrus with some toasted almonds, fruity and crisp with a surprising amount of elegance and length. Perfect for Mimosa but also for general fizz use.
(Stockists: O’Donovans; No. 21; Ardkeen Stores; Molloys; Vintry; NOffLA Independents)
, and what guest does not want to be greeted with a glass of something sparkling. My suggestions are either Pet-Nat or Prosecco as they are easy on the palate and fun to drink.
Organic and Biodynamic lightly sparkling (pétillant-naturel) from Bergerac in South West France.
Surprisingly this is my first time featuring this wine, despite having drunk many a glass of it in the likes of L’Attitude 51, Green Man, and elsewhere.
It is a great match for light snacks and charcuterie and works well on its own. A Sauvignon-Sémillon blend - pear and floral lemon aromas, leesy and creamy pear fruits on the palate with crisp citrus acidity on the finish. Rather joyful.
(L’Attitude 51; Bradleys; Green Man Wines; Mitchells; lecaveau.ie)
Other PetNat brands I recommend: Uivo; Oniric; Meinklang,
Frizzante Prosecco rarely comes better than this — white peach and citrus aromas with lemony crisp fruit and classic soft Prosecco silkiness. Just about fizzy enough for mixing with pulped white peaches for a Bellini or with strawberries for a Rossini but also perfect on its own. (JJ O’Driscolls; Red Nose Clonmel; Vintry; Independents)
The Spritz was invented in the Jazz Age in Venice which seems appropriate.
Simply fill a large wine glass with ice cubes and add 50ml of Aperol (or Campari if you prefer a drier version) plus 150ml of Prosecco.
Top up with sparkling wine or more Prosecco if you wish.
Our Christmas starter hasn’t changed in probably 20 years and it was chosen because it matches so well with Fizz.
I serve a Smoked Salmon and Dill Quiche adapted from a Sophie Grigson recipe.
Good Champagne or Cava cuts through the richness of the smoked salmon and the yeasty flavours mingle nicely with the pastry flavours. (Contact me on Instagram for the recipe if you wish @lesliewinefood).
Champagne can also be served with the turkey and ham if you wish just opt for a richer style, preferably a rosé which will better cope with the range of flavours in the traditional Christmas dinner.
The same rule applies for Christmas pudding, a richer fizz will cope better with its sweetness and also cut through the flavours.
Winner of the Champagne Gold Medal in theNOffLA Awards this year. Lemon zest, croissants and apple aromas,green apple and pear flavours with lingering toasted almond notes.
(JJ O’Driscolls; O’Donovans; Castle; O’Briens.)
Bubble Brothers in the English Market have the best price in the country at the time of writing. This is a little more than most of us spend but this is Ruinart after all, the oldest Champagne house and the first to produce a Rosé Champagne back in 1764 called ‘Oeil de Perdrix’ Rosé (Partridge Eye) This pours a soft salmon-pink with floral strawberry and exotic fruit aromas on the nose - silky, luxurious and fruity on the palate with a tangy taut finish. (
(Bubble Brothers (€105); Corkscrew; Whelehans; Mitchell & Son; 64 Wines; World Wide Wines.)
New Year celebrations do not have to call for Champagne, it depends on how much money you have left! O’Briens always have great value for New Years; here’s two to consider.
The Frizzante version (€12.50) is solid, but the extra fizz really makes a difference with ripe peach aromas and flavours cut through by lemony grapefruit zing.
From a small quality-focused Champagne co-op with around 250 growers and a total bargain. Pear, citrus and brioche on the nose, textured and rounded with layers of baked nuts and lemon oil.
- Prosecco is tank fermented and bottled straight from the tank so the bubbles tend to be larger and last for a shorter time, but this does not mean Prosecco is lesser quality it is just different. Many people prefer the fruity white peach flavours of Prosecco over the more yeasty flavours in traditional sparkling wine.
- Sparkling wine such as Champagne, Cava and Crémant de Bourgogne are bottle-fermented where the yeast creates the bubbles. Champagne costs more mainly because it is aged a lot longer but also for prestige purposes.
- Pet-Nat is the most ancient form of sparkling wine where the wine receives one fermentation but is bottled while the yeast is still active creating a light fizz. Pet-Nat has been warmly embraced by natural wine producers and many are organic (expect some sediment.)
