During the holiday season, local wine shops do a brisk business in Champagnes, which wine purists will tell you can come only from the region in France by the same name, and sparkling wines from other countries labeled Cava (Spain), Sekt (Germany) and Prosecco or Spumante (Italy).
So we went "to the source" to get some recommendations — Belinda Yingst, who manages Ray's Wine Spirits Grill in Clayton, and Beth Freyvogel, who oversees Arrow Wine & Spirits' Washington Twp. store — and did a bit of sleuthing ourselves, to come up with a list of recommended sparkling wines:
• Ferrari Brut ($24.99 for a standard-sized 750-milliliter bottle) scored a shout-out from both Yingst and Freyvogel, and I had a chance to taste its sister sparkler, the Ferrari Brut Rosé ($15.99 for a 375-ml "half-bottle), and can understand why Ferrari's wines are getting good buzz. These sparklers are made in a cool, mountainous region in northern Italy, and are consistently praised as strong values — which is another way of saying, "They taste like they should cost more."
• Villa M Rosso ($14.99) is a sweeter-styled red, slightly effervescent (or "frizzante") without being fully sparkling. Yingst says she gets plenty of return customers asking for this crowd-pleasing bubbly, which has the added benefit of being relatively low in alcohol at 5 percent.
• Laurent-Perrier Brut ($39.99) is produced by a genuine Champagne house that was founded in 1812, and Freyvogel noted that its regular price is $59.99.
• Neige Bubble Premium Sparkling Apple Wine ($14.99): Who says wine has to be limited to fermented grape juice? This semi-sweet sparkling apple wine has been a strong seller at Arrow's south store, Freyvogal said.
• Darting Weissburgunder Sekt Brut ($33) hails from the Pfalz region of Germany, and from a producer, Kurt Darting, that makes great-value German Rieslings. This delicious sparkler is made from pinot blanc grapes, and it's beautifully made, with a touch of sweetness followed by a dry finish that invites the next sip.
SPLURGE ITEMS
If your budget allows — or perhaps demands — it, there are more expensive options, such as the 2002 Bollinger RD Extra Brut for $320 a bottle, or the Piper-Heidsieck Rare Millesime Brut for a scant $200 a bottle. Both were offered up for sampling Sunday afternoon at Dorothy Lane Market Oakwood store's annual sparkling-wine tasting, which gave attendees the opportunity to choose from among more than 30 sparkling wines to sample (and where I found the aforementioned Darting).
But if you buy one of those luxury cuvees, I heartily recommend you drink it, rather than smashing it against the hull of a ship.
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