In my never-ending quest to find fresh, crisp, non-yeasty/doughy sparklers, I have arrived in an unexpected place and grape. Germany. Riesling. I guess you have to tip your hat to both riesling and chenin blanc; is there anything they can’t do?
The Raumland Riesling Brut Sekt is the kind of bubbly that you can drink gallons of. It’s a shade under 30 bucks, and I would rather pocket the extra 15 bucks that you would have to spend for Champagne. Delicious!
riesling and chenin blanc; is there anything they can’t do?
Make a decent red wine? 😉
I agree that Germany can make some wonderful riesling sparklers…I.E. Sekt. But, very little of it is exported as Germans drink more sparkling wine per capita than any other country. Secondly, 95% of sekt uses the bulky-bubbled, muddled finnish charmat method. So, when you combine the difficulty of acquisition that comes with Sekt, and the rarity of a well crafted sekt on top of that…I’d say go with Champagne for the price range. You know it’s Method Champagnoise…Or Cava. Segura Vuidas Brut Reserva is a 92 point (WS) Sparkler that retails for $8.99 U.S.
You could even go to other regions of France…
OR, MAYBE, if you wanna save $15…STOP DRINKING VEUVE!
Try a bottle of Piper-Heidseick, and get a bottle of real champagne for $30.