A Bubbly For Every Palate, and Budget

Popping a bottle of bubbly is often associated with celebrations or special occasions but with the variety of different styles and price points available, sparkling wine is becoming a drink to choose for any occasion.

Ontario winemakers are producing more of it and getting creative with new styles. You’ll be surprised at just how many different options there are in this growing category.

This Refined Society helps break it down for you with some homegrown picks for each sparkling style.

Traditional Champagne Method  

In this style of sparkling, the second fermentation that creates the bubbles happens inside the bottle – this is how Champagne is made. These wines tend to be rich and creamy with aromas and flavours of baked bread, apples and citrus.

Henry of Pelham’s Cuvée Catharine Brut is one at the top of this category here in Ontario. It’s made with traditional Champagne grape varieties (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) and is brut, or dry. This wine is Champagne-level quality at a much more wallet-friendly price.

Charmat Method

Bubblies made using the Charmat method are light, fresh and fruity and that second fermentation happens inside a sealed tank.  It’s a less complex process to make this style of sparkling and often less expensive because it’s done in a large batch instead of individual bottles.

The best example of this style is the Italian sparkler Prosecco, made from the grape variety Glera.

Ridgepoint Wines has recently released its Bellissima, the first sparkling wine in Ontario made with the Glera (Prosecco) grape.

But wines made in this style can be made from a variety of different grapes. Marynissen Estates Winery produces its Charmed from a blend of grapes that grow well here in Canada — Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Muscat – and are perfect for this aromatic sparkling style.

Sparkling Rose

Rosé all day? Then upgrade from a still to a sparkling Rosé. Rosé has been a hot wine category over the last several years, sky-rocketing each summer season.  Its hues, from deep magenta to pale salmon, can vary and so does the way it is made.

Henry of Pelham makes a Cuvée Catharine Rosé Brut in that traditional method and also, under their Speck Brothers line, Aria Sparkling Rosé in the Charmat style.

Blanc de Blancs

Blanc de Blancs are made entirely from white grapes (most sparklings include both white grapes and red grapes without their skins). These are typically made from 100 percent Chardonnay like the Cave Spring’s Blanc de Blancs Brut Sparkling. Generally speaking, these wines tend to be lighter and dryer.

Unfiltered sparkling wines

There’s a growing demand for funky, cloudy, unfiltered sparkling wines.

The Old Tun makes an unfiltered Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. They are made in the Charmat style, but the wine is not filtered to be perfectly clear before bottling. A little bit of the lees (the leftover yeast) remains in the bottle which makes the wine little cloudy and a little less fizzy. Unfiltered wines tend to have a more complex mouthfeel and aromatic characteristics.

Sparkling in a can

Wine in cans are definitely growing in popularity. These single serve options mean you don’t have to open the entire bottle and risk losing the bubbles before finishing it! Between the Lines Winery was the first to put a sparkling wine in a can in Canada with the Outset Sparkling Wine. It’s made with a little bit of Vidal Icewine resulting in a light, fruit and medium-bodied wine.  

And there you have it, a little bubbly 101 introducing you to a whole range of different styles found here in Ontario. A fizzy wine for every palate and budget.