If you are looking for some bubblies to celebrate the New Year, there are many deliciously frugal alternatives. Local Seattle wine shops offer a great selection of sparkling wine offering good value and quality at very affordable prices. The selection includes local and domestic wines, as well as sparkling wines from Spain, Italy, Argentina, and elsewhere. We suggest stopping by any local wine shop (see suggested list below) and perusing their selection for a bottle of bubbly to ring in the New Year and send out the old one in grand style. Before you go, read our glossary below to educate yourself about some of the terminology you will find on the labels of sparkling wines.
About champagne and sparkling wines
- Sparkling wine is produced in just about every country that makes wine, and comes in a wide range of styles and prices. Sparkling wines contain bubbles (carbon dioxide). However, most countries also stipulate that the bubbles must be a natural by-product of fermentation in order for the wine to be officially considered a sparkling wine rather than added, like a can of soda.
- Champagne is a sparkling wine that comes from the region of Champagne in the Loire Valley in France using six specific grape varieties (primarily chardonnay and pinot noir). Period. The technique “methode champenoise” for producing sparkling wine was originally perfected here. All sparkling wines produced anywhere else should be called sparkling wine and never “Champagne”. However, the term is not regulated outside of the European Union. Suffice to say that a sparkling wine made anywhere else but France, but carrying the term “Champagne” on it’s label, is not a true champagne. However, there are a few other famous regions throughout the world where sparkling wine is produced, that also carry a special designation, which you can read about below.
- Crémant are sparkling wines made in France, but outside of Champagne, usually with regional grapes.
- Prosecco is a white sparkling wine made from Glera grapes and produced near Venice, Italy. Prosecco can be a relatively dry to slightly sweet.
- Spumante and Frizzante are Italian words to describe sparkling wines. The frizzante style is less fizzy. So, you might find a Prosecco Frizzante as well as a Prosecco Spumante.
- Lambrusco is traditionally a dry red, sparkling wine from the Emilia Romagna and Lombardy regions in Italy. Red Lambrusco is usually dry, but sweeter white and rosé versions also exist.
- Asti is a sweet white sparkling dessert wine from Piedmont, Italy, the same region as red Barolo. Moscato d’Asti is a frizzante that is sweeter than an Asti Spumante.
- Cava is a sparkler produced in Spain from several local grape varieties. Cava DO (Denominación de Origen) denote Spanish sparkling wines made by the traditional French method.
- In addition, California, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa are a few place that also produce very good sparkling wines.
Styles of sparkling wine
- Brut Nature or Extra Brut is bone-dry wine with little or no residual sugar. Brut means “raw” or “rough” in French.
- Brut is dry sparking wine. The vast majority of sparkling wine and Champagne is made in the Brut style.
- Extra Dry or Dry or Seco contrary to logic is less dry wine, meaning it is dry but slightly sweeter wine than Brut.
- Demi-sec (“half dry”) or Doux (“sweet”) is decidedly sweet, intended as a dessert wine.
Other descriptive terms on the sparkling wine label
- Still wine is regular wine, i.e. without bubbles.
- Blanc de Blancs are white sparkling wines made primarily from white grape varieties such as chardonnay, chenin blanc, and reisling.
- Blanc de Noirs are white or blush sparkling wines made from red grape varieties such as pinot noir.
- Rosé (row-ZAY) wines have a slight pink tint that comes from the skins of red grapes. Roses can be found both still and sparkling.
- Cuvée (kew-VAY) is a blend of several still wines into a sparkling wine.
- Cuvée de prestige is a blend that a winery feels is their best sparkling wine, like a Reserve still wine would be.
- Non-vintage or NV is a cuvée containing wine from several years.
- Vintage refers to the year all of the grapes in the wine were harvested.
Wine stores north of Seattle
Arranged roughly from north to south
- Compass Wines, 1405 Commercial Ave, Anacortes, WA 98221
- Central Market, 15605 Main St., Mill Creek WA 98012
- Cost Plus World Market, 18205 Alderwood Mall Parkway, Lynnwood, WA 98037
- Total Wine & More, 2701 184th ST SW, Lynnwood, WA 98037
- Rain City Wines, 10129 Main Street, Bothell WA 98011
- Liquor & Liquor (Proper & Ernest), 13317 NE 175th St, Woodinville, WA 98072
- Cost Plus World Market, 13990 NE Mill Place, Woodinville, WA 98072
- Arista Wine Cellars, 320 5th Ave S, Edmonds, WA 98020
- Central Market, 15505 Westminster Way N., Shoreline WA 98133
Seattle wine stores
Arranged roughly from north to south
- Total Wine & More, 525 NE Northgate Way, Seattle, WA 98125
- Champion Wine Cellars, 8503 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103
- Portalis Wine Shop, 6754 15th Ave NW, Seattle WA 98117
- Ballard Town & Country Market, 1400 NW 56th St, Seattle, WA 98107
- Total Wine & More, Interbay, 1550 West Armory Way, Seattle, WA 98119
- Pete’s Wine Shop, 58 E Lynn Seattle, WA 98102
- Wine Outlet, 946 Elliott Ave W, Seattle, WA 98119
- Cost Plus World Market, 2103 Western Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
- Pike & Western Wine Shop, 1934 Pike Place, Seattle, WA 98101
- Wines of Washington in The Tasting Room at Pike Place Market, 1924 Post Alley, Seattle, WA 98101
- DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine at Pike Place Market, 1435 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98101
- Downtown Spirits, 2300 7th Ave, Seattle, WA 98121
- The Shop Agora, 346 15th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112
- Bottlehouse Wine Bar, 1416 34th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
- Leschi Market, 103 Lakeside Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
- Esquin Wine & Spirits (Mad Wine), 2700 4th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98134
- Vino Verité in Columbia City, 4908 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118
Eastside wine stores (Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond)
Arranged roughly from north to south
- The Grape Choice, 9 Lakeshore Plaza Kirkland, WA 98033
- Cost Plus World Market, 7214 170th Street Northeast, Redmond, WA 98052
- Seattle Wine Co, 1950 130th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98005
- Total Wine & More, 699 120th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98005
- Cost Plus World Market, 15600 NE 8th Street, Bellevue, WA 98008
- Lakemont Town & Country Market, 4989 Lakemont Blvd. SE, Bellevue, WA 98006
Wine stores south and west of Seattle
Arranged roughly from north to south
- Cost Plus World Market, 10315 Silverdale Way NW, Silverdale, WA 98383
- Total Wine & More, 11066 Pacific Crest Place NW, Silverdale, WA 98383
- Central Market, 20148 10th Ave. N.E., Poulsbo WA 98370
- Bainbridge Town & Country Market, 343 Winslow Way E., Bainbridge Island, WA 9811
- All Things Wine, 4605 NE 4th St, Renton, WA 98059
- The Wine Alley, 14276 SE 176th Street, Renton, WA 98058
- Cost Plus World Market, 721 N Landing Way, Renton, WA 98056
- Total Wine & More, 300 Andover Park West, Tukwila, WA, 98188
- Cost Plus World Market, 17680 Southcenter Parkway, Tukwila, WA 98188
- Cost Plus World Market, 4036 Tacoma Mall Blvd, Tacoma, WA 98409
- Tacoma Wine Merchants, 23A North Tacoma Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98403
- Black Door Wine Company, 1215 Earnest S. Brazill Street (aka S. 12th St.), Tacoma, WA 98405
Toasting with champagne – iStockPhoto.com
