The clock strikes midnight and POP goes the champagne.

I can picture all of you running to the liquor store today, frantically scanning the shelves for a bottle of bubbly.

Generally people will go to the LCBO ask for champagne–then after seeing the price of a bottle of Moet, ask about other options. Let’s go over your bubbly options shall we?

Firstly, champagne is always from the Champagne region in France that lies just to the northeast of Paris.

Anything that isn’t from this region in France is considered sparkling.

Champagne can be made from any combination of these three grapes: pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier.

Prosecco is my preferred economic choice is a white sparkling wine from Italy that is primarily made from Glera grapes–but other varieties are used as well.

Cava is from Spain and primarily produced in Catalonia. It is made from native Spanish grape varieties using the traditional method.

Crémant is also from France but outside of the Champagne region and it’s distinct characteristic is a gentler fizz because of it’s bottle fermentation–like champagne.

Levels of Sweetness

If you are shopping at the LCBO, you can see the sweetness levels as (sugar grams/litre) can be seen on the bin tags next to the price.

Here is a chart to levels of sweetness for a quick overview of how to read bin tags. In the example above we can see that the Sauvignon Blanc is XD 3 G/L – So it is Extra Dry at 3 grams of sugar/litre.

Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial $65.55

The most common style of sparkling wine is Brut, with a dry taste, but no apparent sweetness ( Less than 12 grams of sugar per litre–most popular champagnes fall in this category–Moet, Veuve Cliquot, Dom Perignon)

Trapiche Extra Brut Sparking, $12.95

Extra Brut – The driest sparkling wine, no added sugar ( 0-6 grams of sugar/L)

R Pick : Foss Maraï Extra Dry Prosecco, $19.95

Extra Dry – Off dry and slightly sweet (12 – 17 grams of sugar)

Bruce Trail Rosé Sparkling, $9.75

Sec – Translation is “dry” but the taste of noticeably sweet. (17-32 grams of sugar)

Veuve Clicquot Demi Sec Champagne $76.40 

Demi Sec – Sweet (32-50 grams of sugar)

Bottega Petalo Il Vino dell’Amore Moscato $13.95

Doux – Sweetest out there (50+ grams of sugar/litre)

Happy New Year!