From purse-friendly Loire rosé to a stellar Kentish cuvée and a Champagne magnum, our Drinks Editor James Viner selects seven sparkling wines for the festive season –
plus a 50th-anniversary wine book for your Christmas wish list.
Fizz turns ordinary moments into celebrations. Champagne remains the benchmark, but it no longer dominates the conversation. From the Loire and Kent to the Western Cape and beyond, producers are making some thrilling alternatives.
I’ve selected seven sparklers made using the painstaking traditional method, in which the second fermentation takes place in the bottle. Ageing on the lees (spent yeast cells and other sediment) adds complexity and depth.
The choice is yours: which of these will you put on ice this festive season? Cheers!
1. SAINSBURY’S TASTE
THE DIFFERENCE CRÉMANT
DE LOIRE ROSÉ NV
France (£12.25, Sainsbury’s, 12%)
Bouvet-Ladubay, a leading sparkling wine house in Saumur, produces this beautifully crafted pink crémant, with a fresh raspberry bouquet and stone-fruit flavours. Its fruit-led, easy-going style makes it a crowd-pleaser. A bargain bonanza when Sainsbury’s 25% Nectar offer on six or more bottles returns. Party on!
2. SEGURA VIUDAS
BRUT CAVA 2023
Spain (£12.50 or £10.00 Clubcard price until 31/12/2026, Tesco, 12%)
Nab this well-priced vintage cava, made from the traditional trio of Catalan grapes, with a dash of Chardonnay. Expect crisp green apple, lemon zest and a hint of bread crust resulting from lees ageing. Chill and serve alongside tapas, tortilla or seafood canapés. A steal on the Clubcard price.
3. SIMONSIG KAAPSE VONKEL (‘CAPE FIZZ’) BRUT
CAP CLASSIQUE 2024
South Africa (£16 when you mix six, Majestic, 12%)
Cap Classique, South Africa’s answer to Champagne, consistently delivers some of the best-value fizz. This offering from pioneering producer Simonsig – whose Kaapse Vonkel, launched in 1971, was the country’s first Cap Classique – is citrusy and floral, with lively, superfine bubbles and a long, appetising finish. Great gear!
4. ASQUITH GARDENS ENGLISH SPARKLING WINE NV
England (£18.50, Asda, 12%)
With Chardonnay accounting for 62% of the blend, this suave non-vintage, own-label English sparkling wine makes a polished aperitif. It has spent a full five years ageing on the lees in bottle too. Expect red apple, citrus and brioche richness. Produced by Rolling Green Hills Ltd, a Nyetimber subsidiary. One for fish and chips. Excellent value.
5. CO-OP LES PIONNIERS VINTAGE CHAMPAGNE 2018
France (£36.25, Co-op, 12%)
Compagnie Champenoise Piper-Heidsieck/Charles Heidsieck makes the Co-op’s gorgeous own-label Champagne. The 2018 vintage is a well-judged blend of equal parts Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, offering notes of buttered toast, stone fruit and delicate hazelnut. Mouth-filling, polished and poised, it’s drinking exquisitely!
6. DOMAINE EVREMOND CLASSIC CUVÉE EDITION II NV
England (£55, or £50 Nectar Price, Sainsbury’s; also available from Domaine Evremond and independent merchants, 12%)
This superb Pinot Noir-led sparkler comes from Champagne house Taittinger’s Kent outpost and combines lemon zest, green apple and almond with a fine mousse and a creamy, toasted-brioche finish. A confident second release, with impressive persistence. Try it with oysters or smoked salmon blinis. Chapeau to roving chef de cave Alexandre Ponnavoy!
7. MAGNUM OF THE SOCIETY’S CHAMPAGNE BRUT NV
France (£75, The Wine Society, 12.5%; 1.5L magnum)
For a celebratory gathering, this multi-layered Champagne in magnum is a showstopper with real X-factor. Made by Alfred Gratien, it blends all three Champagne grape varieties, with oak-barrel ageing adding depth. Rounded and biscuity, it lingers admirably and makes a sybaritic centrepiece. Hello crab, lobster and warm gougères!
BEYOND THE BUBBLES –
A BOOK FOR WINE LOVERS
Fifty years on, Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book remains an essential guide to wines, growers, regions and vintages. The 2027 edition features a fascinating supplement exploring flavour, climate change, new varieties, alcohol levels and more. An outstanding Christmas gift for oenophiles.
Hugh Johnson’s Pocket Wine Book 2027: 50th Anniversary Edition, by Hugh Johnson and Margaret Rand. Mitchell Beazley, £15.99. Hardback, 368 pages.
