What Are You Drinking New Year’s Eve?

Getting Fizzy With It

In preparation for getting out your sequined pants and Uber surcharges, WineAlign’s annual Fizz Guide is full of tips on what bubbles to drink as we count down to the New Year. John Szabo and team sampled 140 sparkling wines — available from the LCBO, Canadian wineries, and Ontario importers — in all the categories: No/Low Alcohol, Sparkling Red, Ancestral Method/Pét-Nat, Charmat White and Rosé, and Traditional Method/Champagne White and Rosé. A few highlights include Spain’s Alta Alella Aus Pet Nat Rosé 2022 (imported in Ontario by The Living Vine); Italy’s Case Paolin Col Fondo Asolo Prosecco Superiore 2021, described as a “prosecco equivalent of pétillant naturel” (imported by Drink Better); Trail Estate Pét Nat Red 2022; Hinterland Whitecap 2021; Cave Spring Estate Blanc De Blancs, described as “one of Niagara’s top sparkling values;” and Hidden Bench Blanc De Blanc Zéro Dosage 2014.

Celebratory Sparkling

In Ten celebratory sparkling wines to toast the New Year, the Globe and Mail’s Christopher Waters shares some of his favourite bubbles, including 13th Street Premier Cuvée Sparkling 2017 (Canada), Bailly Lapierre Réserve Brut Crémant de Bourgogne (France), Ferrari Brut Sparkling (Italy), Val d’Oca Prosecco (Italy). And for Champagne proper, Waters recommends Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut, Laurent Perrier La Cuvée Brut, Taittinger Brut Réserve, and Vilmart et Cie Grande Réserve 1er Cru.

Champagne Economics

In Get That Champagne Feeling on a Sparkling Wine Budget, the New York Times’ Eric Asimov writes about the recent price increase of Champagne, due in part to higher interest rates, pandemic supply chain issues, and increasing labour and business costs.

Champagne is not the only wine region with rising prices. Almost all wines cost more than they did last year, not to mention five years ago. It’s just that, among sparkling wines, Champagne started at a higher price.

Given Champagne-flation, Asimov makes the case for sparkling wine alternatives, including Parés Baltà Cava Brut Nature, an organically farmed Cava made with Xarello, Parellada and Macabeu; another shout out for Ferrari Trento Brut Metodo Classico, described as “sleek and graceful, impeccably balanced and a great value;” and Jo Landron Atmosphères Méthode Traditionelle Extra Brut, made by a biodynamic farmer and winemaker in Muscadet, to name a few of Asimov’s sparkling budget-friendly recommendations (and for his Champagne recommendations, here are the producers he recommends.

Sober Curious Sparkling

In Why it's worth having nonalcoholic bubbly at your New Year's party, Atlanta Magazine’s Henna Bakshi chatted with Mehrnush Saadat, owner of Soberish, a non-alcohol bottle shop in Decatur, Georgia. Bakshi tried Odd Bird’s Sparkling Rosé, made from Chardonnay and Syrah in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France and matured for 12 months before being liberated from alcohol, and said she “could not believe these bubbles had no buzz” (available in Ontario via Clear Sips). No-alcohol wine is made through reverse osmosis (science!) and according to Gallup Trends, Gen-Z’ers are more sober-curious than ever. The no-alcohol share of the total beverage alcohol market grew by 5% in 2023, and the no/low-alcohol category is expected to surpass that of the last 4 years. Other non-alcohol 🥂 options to ring in NYE without a headache include Odd Bird Blanc de Blanc, Kally Golden Sparkler, and Château del ISH Sparkling White, to name a few.