10 Sparkling Wines for Leaving 2020 Behind - The New York Times

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The end-of-the-year parties will look different in 2020, but the featured bottles will still be bubbly, whether they come from Champagne or elsewhere.

It’s been a dismal year, but let’s look at the bright side: It’s nearly over.

Recently in Wine School, we had a polite discussion about whether 2020 was worthy of being ushered out with sparkling wine. The verdict was clear: Forget about what 2020 deserves. We have earned all the sparkling wine we want.

The manner in which sparkling wine will be served, though, will differ this year. The Covid-19 pandemic precludes the usual sorts of holiday blowouts and packed celebrations. Instead, corks will be popped quietly among couples, small friendship pods, over Zoom and even alone for those who have had to isolate for one reason or another.

Though the year has certainly been singular, bubbles still feel right to mark its end. While many people will miss the bustle and excitement of crowds, smaller gatherings offer new opportunities to explore the versatility of sparkling wines. Instead of the usual jammed rooms, with standup noshes and snacks, sparkling wines this year may be poured with dinners for two, with a movie or an all-night New Year’s Eve binge.

In anticipation of whatever passes for a celebration this year, I recently shopped on the websites of a number of New York City stores, and picked out 10 sparkling wines well worth drinking.

I know not everybody will have the budget for Champagne prices, by which I mean $40 or more. So I divided the list in two, with five sparkling wines under $30 and five Champagnes $40 and over.

Some of you will note that among the sparkling wines, I’ve included bottles from France, Germany, Italy and Portugal, but not from the United States. That’s partly the random nature of shopping, and because I wanted to offer some new names.

If you yearn for homegrown bubbles, I highly recommend bottles from Roederer Estate, Schramsberg, Iron Horse, Blue Ox, Cruse, Soter and Under the Wire from the West Coast, along with assorted pétillant naturels from all over the country.

The worldwide universe of sparkling wines is exceptionally diverse, with multiple production methods and innumerable grapes involved. Champagne, on the other hand, is generally limited to three major grapes — pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier — and conforms to a single method of production. Yet it, too, is surprisingly varied.

The big Champagne houses account for most of the production, collectively making many millions of bottles annually. These houses practice the art of blending, combining grapes from many different terroirs within the Champagne region, along with aged wines from previous vintages, until they arrive on the style they are seeking.

Some of these are wonderful wines. Others are surprisingly mediocre despite their famous names. Simply emblazoning “Champagne” on a label is no guarantee of quality.

A small fraction, around 6 percent of the Champagne shipped to the United States, comes from vignerons, who both grow their own grapes and make the Champagne. These, too, can be superb, often more idiosyncratic than the big house Champagnes because they are made from smaller sets of sites and older wines. But they can be more expressive of the terroir of a particular village or even a single vineyard.

Just as with the big brands, though, the fact that a bottle comes from a small grower-producer is no promise of quality. The five Champagnes I suggest include two bigger producers and three growers.

Here are my 10 recommendations, from least to most expensive.

Sidónio de Sousa Branco Portugal Brut Nature NV $17

Sidónio de Sousa is a stalwart producer in the Bairrada region of Portugal. The estate works traditionally, even down to aging its wines in old barrels made of Portuguese oak. This wine, a blend of three Portuguese grapes (arinto, bical and Maria Gomes), is balanced and subtle, with flavors of herbs and citrus. It’s a superb value. (NLC Wines, Brooklyn, N.Y.)