Sometimes, only true Champagne will do

There are plenty of wines with bubbles in them. California has produced delicious incarnations of sparkling wine for 40 years.

Spain has its value-driven cavas. From Italy, we get fragrant moscatos d’Asti, proseccos and increasingly, sparklers that mimic the wines from Champagne. But no matter how they try, winemakers the world over must tip their hats to the region that put bubbles on the map.

Even during this time of belt-tightening, sometimes there’s no substitute for champagne.

If there is a problem with champagne, it is its cost. While there are plenty of inexpensive sparkling wines, I’m not aware of any champagnes under $30 and most are well north of $35 a bottle.

Many Americans use sparkling wine and champagne interchangeably. Champagne comes from only one place and that is Champagne, France, which brings me back to the cost problem.

The Champagne region is about 90 miles northeast of Paris. That’s 49 degrees, 18 minutes north latitude.

According to my wine professor, Steven Kolpan, you are not supposed to be able to ripen grapes sufficiently when you’re that far away from the equator (or that close to the North Pole).

But they do grow grapes up there, and it ain’t easy. If the cold climate is not challenging enough, frequent spring hail storms can eliminate crops. Lost vintages are so common that producers are mandated by law to keep three years’ worth of wine in reserve as a hedge against successive years of bad luck.

So how can they grow grapes?

Champagne sits across the English Channel, about 200 miles southeast of the cliffs of Dover, England. Champagne’s gently sloping terrain is composed of the same white, chalky mineral found in those cliffs. During the day this chalklike rock, called kimmeridgian limestone, absorbs the sun’s heat and keeps the vines just warm enough to get the grapes sufficiently ripe.

The limestone also blesses the wines with “minerality.” It’s that pure, pointed, crystalline-like quality that great wines have. Champagne has minerality in spades. It sets this region apart from all others and makes it worth the risk and effort to produce.

Other requirements and factors, such as a nearly insatiable worldwide demand, also conspire to drive up champagne prices.

OK, this explains the $30 to $50 bottles, but what’s up with those $100, $200 and $300 bottles? These ultra-premium, ultra-flashy, ultra-expensive, bottles are known as tete de cuvee, and most champagne makers produce one. They are fussed over by the winemakers and may be aged for 10 years or more before they are released.

Are they worth it? Yes and no.

Most tetes de cuvee have a noticeable depth and character not found in the lesser bottles. I’ve always found it remarkable that these top-of-the-line champagnes have finer and fewer bubbles than all other sparklers. Bubbles are part of the taste and texture of any sparkling wine, but they can mask the wine’s flavors. In the case of a top tete de cuvee, its floral, fruity and mineral qualities are quite special to behold. The delicate fizziness accents something that is already quite amazing.

So when is champagne not worth it?

Well, if it comes down to paying the rent or buying champagne, champagne loses. Or if tasting exceptional bubbly wine is not your thing, then there are plenty of other substitutes.

But please remember that the $8 sparklers are stand-ins for the real McCoy. You may say that talking about such a luxury item is inappropriate for this difficult economic period and that I should focus on alternatives. All I can say is that even in the darkest of times, some celebrations require the one, the only, champagne.

Gil Kulers is a certified wine educator with the Society of Wine Educators and teaches in-home wine classes. You can reach him at gil.kulers@winekulers.com.

WINE RECOMMENDATIONS

For this report, Gil Kulers blind-tasted 30 champagnes, including three tetes de cuvee and five roses, which were sampled separately.

Duval-Leroy Brut Champagne, France

$36

Two thumbs way up

Engaging aromas of cling peach, orange zest, challah bread and butterscotch. Subtle bubbles don’t get in the way of complex flavors of peach, apricot, grilled pineapple and orange marmalade, with notes of green almond and hazelnut.

Deutz Brut Classic Champagne, France

$50

Two thumbs way up

A champagne lover’s champagne with prominent yeasty, doughy aromas, with a touch of almond and hazelnut. Barely noticeable effervescence support flavors of orange zest, tangerine and toasted cashews. It leaves a lingering creme brulee note.

1999 Piper-Heidsieck Rare, Champagne, France

$250

Two thumbs way up

Best of the ultra-premiums. Aromas of orange zest, lemon, sourdough and subtle pine forest. Delicate, barely noticeable bubbles support flavors of tart green apple, pear, creme caramel, toasted bread, cling peach and tangerine. Don’t serve too cold.

Henriot Blanc Souverain Pur Chardonnay, Champagne, France

$49

Two thumbs way up

Poster child for scintillating, chalky minerality. Unique aromas give it a sense of place. Flavors of lemon curd, green apple, poached pear, nutmeg and a note of creamy vanilla.

2000 Moet & Chandon Grand Vintage Champagne, France

$60

Two thumbs way up

Somewhat aggressive aromas of raw honey, rose petal, earth and green apple that eventually mellowed. Bright flavors of lemon curd, toasted bread, lime zest and Bing cherry. Disparate flavors that somehow work together.

Note: Wines are rated on a scale ranging from thumbs down, one thumb mostly up, one thumb up, two thumbs up, two thumbs way up and golden thumb award. These are suggested retail prices as provided by the winery, one of its agents or a local distributor.