White: Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with occasional use of Gamay, Pinot Blanc, Sacy, Pinot Gris, Aligoté, and/or Melon de Bourgogne It has been elegantly debated with a great deal of historic rigor that Limoux – not Champagne – was the first region in France to produce sparkling wine. That said, if you ask an English person who invented bubbly, they’ll tell you, with equally convincing fervor, that is was them. If you ask us, we say “Thank you!” and “Salut!” to all three!

The predominant use of Chenin Blanc lends these high-quality wines unique flavors of lemon, quince, pear, honey, and chamomile. Although many grapes are allowed in Crémant production here, the star of the Central Vineyards of the Loire, Sauvignon Blanc, is not. If you want to try a Sauvignon Blanc-based Crémant, you’ll have to look to Bordeaux, the only appellation that permits its use in the mix. Alsace plain occupies the south part of the Upper Rhine Plain, which formed from a collapse during the Oligocene and is followed since the Miocene by the river Rhine.Grapes come from varieties grown within the AOC Alsace area. The allowed varieties are limited to riesling, pinot blanc, pinot noir, pinot gris, auxerrois blanc and chardonnay. Our wine experts recommend opting for one with wings that clips over the side of the bottle to keep it in place. Unsecured wine stoppers which aren’t designed for fizz can be potentially dangerous as the high pressure in the bottle may cause them to fly off unexpectedly and cause injury. A Sparkling wine can only be called Champagne if it is made in the Champagne wine region. Cremant is sparkling wine made outside of the Champagne region. There are eight different regions in France making Cremant. Our panel of four independent wine experts blind-tasted nine sparkling wines for our taste test, conducted in September 2023. The lower part of the slopes consists of layers of limestones or marls covered by loess where the slope is rather smooth.

Wines designated Crémant d'Alsace must be bottled in the production area. The bottles have the same shape as Champagne bottles. Peter McCombie – Master of Wine, speaker, consultant and co-chair of the International Wine Challenge Champagne is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grape varieties. Cremant is made from grapes which are synonymous to the regions they are being produced. These can be different to the three used to make Champagne. Crémant regulations are only slightly less stringent than those in Champagne. The quality found in these wines comes in part from France’s rigorous wine laws. Although regional rules can vary, all Crémant wines must adhere to specific requirements. These include manual harvesting of grapes, whole bunch pressing with limited must extraction (100 liters of juice from 150 kg grapes–think of it as extra virgin olive oil), and a minimum of nine months lees aging. The Alsatian vineyard is one of the oldest ones of France. Gregory of Tours praised Marlenheim's vineyard in 589. There were 108 wine-producing villages in 800, 160 in 900 and 430 in 1400. By this time, Alsatian wine, red or white, was one of the most famous wines of Europe and one of the most expensive.The reason why Cremant is becoming popular is due to its versatility. The rules and regulations for making Cremant allow winemakers to use a wider variety of grapes. As an example, Cremant​​​​​ d’Alsace is made from six different grape varieties including Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, and Chardonnay. Champagne on the other hand is made from only three. So, if you’re asking What is Cremant? It could be a lot of things! On 24 August 1976, the AOC Crémant d'Alsace was defined by a decree too. [1] On 21 June 1996, the European Parliament consolidated the denomination Crémant, then used in France and Luxembourg, making clear that it must be a quality sparkling wine following strict production rules and having been named Crémant before July 1986. Cava is made in the same way as champagne, undergoing secondary fermentation in the bottle, but is produced in Spain. Most people know that champagne is a protected appellation, but did you know that prosecco is, too? Any other sparkling wines made from glera grapes (which were formerly called prosecco grapes) that come from outside the designated Prosecco region in the northeast of Italy can’t use the word ‘prosecco’ on the label.

It’s usually made from three Catalan grapes: macabeo, xarel-lo and parellada, although some of the large cava producers have started to use chardonnay and pinot noir as well. Champagne will always be the king of sparkling wine. However, Cremant is slowly becoming more and more popular as consumers are finding it similar to Champagne in style and quality but half the price. Next time you are looking for some sparkling wine give it a try. It is half the price of Non-vintage Champagne and just as good. Savage Vines source wine direct from small, family run vineyards. Try one of our certified organic Cremant’s and see what you think. While it doesn’t have the same name recognition, it uses many of the same techniques. And with similar grapes and vineyards, it has a distinguished taste and aroma in its own right making it a favorite among wine makers and wine-lovers. In 2005, it represented 273,733 hectolitres, a new rise of 27.3% in one year and about 36.5 million bottles. If you’re looking for the champagne experience for less, a good crémant usually fits the bill. ProseccoFranciacorta is made from grapes from Franciacorta in Lombardy. It’s dryer than prosecco, but fruitier and softer than champagne, and has distinctive lemony notes. Screw-top sparkling wine