Cheap sparkling wine is better than ever — so pop a cork
Refinements in production have markedly improved the quality of affordable sparkling wine
Mumm Sparkling “Brut Prestige”
California
$19.89 12.5% alcohol
PLCB Item #6742
Sale price; regularly $22.89
The sparkling wine category has been leading in sales growth for years now, driven in large part by younger drinkers. But there’s another factor at work: Affordable sparkling wines simply taste better today than they did before.
The quality upgrade is the product of innovation and refinement in how sparkling wine is made. In standard winemaking, the number one flavor factor is the fruit itself, so the winemaker’s job is to source the best grapes, then preserve as much of their character as possible; this is why winemakers tell you that their make or break decisions are made in the vineyard, not at the winery.
Sparkling winemaking is different. Like brewing beer or distilling spirits, engineering becomes important at every step in production, especially at scale. You still need quality ingredients, of course. But how the grapes taste at the point of harvest is not front and center in wines made with the Champagne method, which includes extensive blending across vine varieties, regions, and even vintages, as well as two separate fermentations and an extended lees aging process — overshadowing the fresh fruit, which becomes a background canvas of sorts on which flavor is painted through these meticulous processes.
This clean-tasting and well-balanced California brut is made by a respected French Champagne house that established a Napa Valley outpost almost 50 years ago. Despite using both chardonnay and pinot noir grapes sourced from throughout the state, in its flavor, only the tangy apple qualities derive from those grapes. The aspects that provide complexity — its creamy texture and the wholesome scent of fresh baguettes — have been deftly imparted in their processing.
Also available at:
Kreston Wine & Spirits in Wilmington, $19.90
Total Wine & More in Wilmington and Claymont, $19.99
Canal’s Liquors in Pennsauken, $21.91