The best way to toast the New Year at midnight on New Year’s Eve is with a glass of bubbly in your hand. The alluring effervescence, fruity aroma and touch of sweetness are hard to resist and urge us to take a sip, and another, and another…
More sparkling wine or champagne is consumed on New Year’s Eve than on any other night of the year. Whether you’re the host of a party or a guest gifting a bottle to the host, you should know a thing or two before you commit to a bottle or a few dozen bottles.
What is champagne?
Champagne is a sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France. Other popular sparkling wines include cava and prosecco. Cava is made in Spain and tends to be lighter and more fruity than champagne. Prosecco, made in Italy, is the lightest of the sparkling wines and the lowest in alcohol. It’s often used in mimosas, spritzes and garnished with fruit.
Flavor
Most bottles of sparkling wine are marked to indicate their level of sweetness or dryness. Sweetness is measured by the amount of sugar per bottle. In a scale from driest to sweetest, nature brut is the most dry, followed by extra brut, brut, extra-dry (or extra-sec), dry (or sec), demi-sec and doux.
Price
The price of sparkling wine varies greatly based on the type of grapes used, aging time, secondary fermentation process, special bottling practices and brand recognition.
To help you choose the bubbly this New Year’s Eve, we’ve compiled a list of popular picks divided into three price categories.
Budget: up to $49
Freixenet Sparkling Cordon Negro Brut Cava
$12
One of the best-selling cavas on the market, this medium-bodied wine has a lingering fresh and fruity flavor with notes of apple, pear, citrus, toasted almond and a touch of ginger.
Bisol Jeio Prosecco Brut
$13-$15
Fruit-driven with notes of green apples, pears, flowers and sweet spices, this lively medium-bodied prosecco delivers notable freshness, vibrancy and crispness.
Ruffino Prosecco
$15
Ruffino has a fragrant bouquet with apples, pears, peaches and citrus, accompanied by slight hints of hawthorn, wisteria and elder.
Vilarnau Brut Reserva Rosé D.O.
$15
The gorgeous bottle design is inspired by the famous mosaic works of Antoni Gaudí, paying homage to the winery’s Barcelona heritage. The wine itself is intensely pink, bright and floral, with notes of fresh raspberries and rose petals plus hints of candied lemon on the nose.
Korbel Organic Brut
$15-$20
Made in California with organically grown grapes, this medium-bodied, dry sparkling wine is crisp and delicate with well-integrated aromas of cinnamon, ginger and citrus, and flavors of apple, pear and white peaches.
Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Réserve
$35-$40
One of the best-selling champagnes in the world, this well-balanced, pale yellow bubbly is elegant and fruity, with floral aromas of pears, apple, almonds and hazelnuts.
G. H. Mumm Grand Cordon
$45
This award-winning champagne blend offers rich peach, apricot, pineapple, vanilla, yeast and honey notes on the nose and a palate of fresh fruit and toasty caramel.
Mid-Range: $50 to $99
Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Rosé
$40-$54
This rosé champagne offers fruit-forward flavors of ripe raspberry and cherry, with fresh ginger and blood orange sorbet accents.
Moët & Chandon Impérial
$50-$53
Moët & Chandon has been around since 1743, and Impérial is the house’s iconic champagne. Created in 1869, this full-bodied champagne distinguishes itself by its bright, fruity, seductive palate and elegant maturity. The aroma reveals fruits such as apple, pear and peach, as well as honey, floral nuances and notes of brioche.
Bollinger Brut Special Cuvée
$50-$72
This champagne features a beautiful aromatic complexity of ripe fruit and spice, with hints of roasted apples and peaches. On the palate, there’s a subtle combination of pear, brioche and notes of fresh walnut.
Veuve Clicquot Brut Rosé
$70
The luminous copper-orange color of this champagne invites you to discover aromas of fresh berries, almonds and freshly baked brioche on the nose. A sip reveals a full-bodied character on the palate with tones of strawberry, ginger and white peach flavors.
Laurent-Perrier Ultra Brut
$70
This truly unique champagne is made without the addition of sugar. Its aroma has citrus and honeysuckle notes and a unique mineral component often compared to sea breeze. The acidity from citrus combines with apples and pears to produce a wine that offers both fruitiness and dryness.
Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé
$80
Known for its distinctive flavor profile of deep berries and its elegant bottle, this rosé has become one of the most recognized rosé champagnes in the world.
Taittinger Prestige Rosé
$80-$85
An aroma of wild raspberries, cherry, blackcurrant and strawberries is offset by elegant, subtle floral and earth nuances in this rosé. On the palate, the ripe, full berry flavors are delicately balanced by a fresh acidity that carries into a crisp, refreshing finish.
Splurge: $100+
Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes D’Or Brut
$120-$130
This perfectly balanced champagne offers aromas of herbs, dried flowers and lemon zest and flavors of poached pear, candied kumquat and dried cherry on a delicate mousse, for a lingering, mineral-tinged finish.
Perrier-Jouët 2012 Belle Époque
$150-$180
Famous for its iconic painted bottle, this translucent gold champagne features distinctive notes of white flowers combined with white peaches, crisp pears and lemon. Excellent climate conditions in 2012 resulted in exceptional grapes that delivered an ideal balance between sugar and acidity, resulting in a wine of exceptional harmony.
Krug Grande Cuvée
$160-$200
Complex aromas with notes of praline, honey, hazelnut, marzipan, gingerbread and nougat lead to a fresh background of peaches, lemons and grapefruit. The palate has finesse and fleshy appeal with light apple, sweet spice, nougat, citrus fruits, brioche, almonds and hazelnut flavors.
Bollinger La Grande Année Brut Rosé 2012
$175-$200
With a special bottling from the historic Bollinger house, this full-bodied, deep salmon pink rosé offers an intense aroma and rich flavor notes of warm raspberry, grilled brioche, ground spice, crushed blackberry, dried apricot and honeycomb.
Dom Pérignon Vintage 2010
$190-$200
Who doesn’t know Dom Pérignon? Only the best grapes from the most exceptional years are used for this champagne, making each vintage distinct. The 2010 vintage is layered with light pineapple, peach, praline, cooked apple and stone aromas and flavors.
Louis Roederer Cristal 2012
$290
This full-bodied champagne offers rich, fresh, complex floral aromas with notes of zesty and candied lemon mingled with pollen (white flowers), roasted hazelnut, fine bread, vanilla and chalky minerals, for a smooth and velvety finish.
Armand de Brignac Demi Sec Champagne
$345-$430
Armand de Brignac Demi-Sec is designed for your favorite sweets, especially cakes and creams. It features scents of compote fruits, buttered brioche and English candies. The palate is abundant with citrus fruits, caramel and brioche with hints of berries.
Sources: Wine.com, Total Wine & More, The Spruce Eats, The Accidental Wine Company, WineEnthusiast, Drizly.