Is it better to buy an expensive Cava or Crémant than a cheap Champagne ?
These are three of the best-known names in sparkling wine, the other being Prosecco. Cava comes from Spain, almost exclusively from Catalunya, and Crémant is produced in eight different regions of France. Champagne is a wine and also a region, an hour’s drive east of Paris. Only wine produced from grapes grown in this carefully defined area, using some or all of three grape varieties, can call itself Champagne.
All three wines are made by roughly the same method known as bottle fermented, traditional method, méthode traditionnelle or méthode champenoise. This means that the secondary fermentation (which puts the bubbles into sparkling wines) takes place in the bottle, as opposed to a stainless-steel tank. Traditional method is more expensive, more complicated and more labour-intensive, but it results in finer, more complex wines.
So, if the wines are made in the same way, won’t they taste the same? At times, they can taste very similar, but mostly they are made from different grape varieties grown on very different soils. Champagne is made from one, two or all of three grape varieties: chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier. While Cava can also be made from these three, the traditional local varieties are macabeo, xarel·lo, and parellada. Crémants are usually made from local grape varieties too.
Champagne is the most heavily promoted wine brand of all and has some of the best-known names in wine. These producers also spend large sums of money convincing us that their wines are the only way to celebrate any occasion. Because of its reputation, Champagne is usually more expensive than Cava or Crémant. Typically, prices for well-known names such as Bollinger, Taittinger, Veuve Clicquot or Moët & Chandon start at €50 or more for their basic wine. Top wines such as Dom Perignon or Krug cost €300 or more. Crémant and Cava can cost as little as €15-20 a bottle.
Some of the time, it is worth the premium. Because producers receive more money for their produce, they can afford to spend more making a better wine. There is no doubt that the very best sparkling wines in the world come from Champagne. But there are plenty of average wines there too.
Champagne is large, producing 300 million bottles every year. This is about the same as Cava and Crémant together. Inferior Champagne typically sells for €20-€30 a bottle. At this price, Cava and Crémant can often offer much better value, although the Aldi Monsigny Brut Champagne (€23.99) is an exception. Spend €25-€30 and you will get far better value. Personal Cava favourites include Canals Nadal (€25.99, O’Briens) and Maria Casanovas (€27, independents). Good Crémants include Crémant de Limoux (€29, Mitchell & Son), and Langlois Château L’Extra (€25.99 O’Briens).
[ Will the shape and colour of a wine bottle influence the taste? Opens in new window ]
There are two important things to remember when buying sparkling wine. Dismayed by the masses of very inexpensive inferior Cavas being produced, a group of elite producers broke away to form a body called Corpinnat. They work to far stricter criteria including organic viticulture hand harvesting and longer lees (or sur lie) ageing. The wines are a little bit more expensive (€30-€50) but are usually superior to anything from Champagne at that price.
Remember too that New Zealand, South Africa and Australia all produce very good sparkling wine (usually by the traditional meth…