Cava Brut
Start here when you want the safest lane.
Bottle answer
Best Sparkling Wine That Is Not Champagne
You can get bubbles, freshness, and celebration without paying Champagne prices, but not every serious sparkling wine is Champagne.
Fast answer
You can get bubbles, freshness, and celebration without paying Champagne prices, but not every serious sparkling wine is Champagne.
Traditional-method sparkling wines, Prosecco, and sparkling rosé picks when Champagne is too expensive.
Crémant d'Alsace
Use this when the meal, budget, or mood points this way.
Crémant de Bourgogne
Use this when the meal, budget, or mood points this way.
English sparkling wine
Use this when the meal, budget, or mood points this way.
What to avoid
Avoid calling every traditional-method sparkling wine Champagne. Champagne is a protected place name, not a generic word for bubbles.
Food lane
Fried chicken, salty snacks, oysters, sushi, brunch, and party appetizers.
Traditional-method alternatives
Champagne is only Champagne when it comes from the delimited Champagne region of France and follows the appellation rules. If a sparkling wine is made with the second fermentation in bottle somewhere else, call it traditional-method sparkling wine, not Champagne.
Names to look for
Cava from Spain, Crémant from French regions outside Champagne, Franciacorta or Trento DOC from Italy, English sparkling wine, Cap Classique from South Africa, and traditional-method bottles from California or Oregon can all sit in the Champagne-method lane without using the protected name.
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