Crémant On

Ugh, I love my bubbles made in many forms as much as I love all forms of cats...I mean, obviously, my black-haired medium domestic kitty is a Champagne, but clearly, there are lots of other traditional methods, um, cats, and lots of other traditional method bubblies, and ESPECIALLY Crémants. Right now, for the new year, it’s worth exploring. There are a lot of cool cool cats and Crémants. Now, if, for some goddess-forsaken (or lucky?) reason, you get your hands on a Crémant made before 1985, well, then the term refers to semi-sparkling wine from Champagne. But going forward from that, these are details you may wish to know: Crémants must be made in the traditional method—that is, a still wine is produced and bottled, then the liqueur de tirage, a combo of wine and/or must, yeast, sugar, and perhaps nutrients and clarifying agents, is added to create the secondary fermentation. The secondary fermentation, much like the initial, produces CO2, which has nowhere to escape this time! It’s like my cat when he gets on my kitchen counter and so gets time out in the bedroom. Once confined, he settles down and snoozes until the door opens, and he can get the zoomies all over the condo, much like the CO2 remains calm and dissolved in the closed wine until the cork is popped, and it can literally bubble up. After that secondary fermentation, and before the wine can be opened, there is an aging sur lie: on the dead yeast cells. The cat metaphors stop here. The dead yeast cells infuse the wine with those toasty, nutty notes traditional method wines are known for. Then there is riddling, the process of consolidating the dead yeast cells in the neck of the bottle before disgorgement—wherein that stuff gets popped out, the wine possibly gets a liqueur de expedition, aka the dosage, a mixture of wine and sugar or RCGM (rectified concentrated grape must), which bring the wine up the producer’s preferred sweetness. And that’s the basics, folks! Of traditional method wine. Which Champagne is—and that’s where all the attention to detail can show up in the price tag—but to a much lesser extent in a Crémant wine! France has eight Crémant regions: Bourgogne , Alsace , Loire , Jura , Savoie , Limoux , Bordeaux and Die . Also, I hear there is a Crémant de Luxembourg? Definitely haven’t encountered that one in the wild. Most (but not all) have similar base grapes to Champagne—Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, mainly, but in varying amounts with a selection of other more local varieties in each Crémant region. In terms of aging, all Crémants must spend at least nine months sur lie and not be released until at least 12 months after adding the liqueur de tirage. Amongst these crémant designations, sadly, I didn’t get my hands on all, especially the elusive Clairette-based Crémant de Die. Which makes me especially sad as it sounds delightfully goth-y. I guess I’ll Die another day. I also never nabbed a Crémant do Bordeaux, which would buck the Champagne varieties trend with Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Cab and Merlot bubbles. But I garnered one representative from six Crémant designations, also selfishly making sure I nabbed some of the rosé versions. Here are my findings! CRÉMANT DE LIMOUX Based in the Languedoc in the south of France! It can be made blanc or rosé. The grape configurations are a tad confusing here: minimum 50% Chardonnay, minimum 10-40% Chenin Blanc, but no more than 90% combined total of the two, with a maximum 20% combined Pinot Noir and Mauzac—but Pinot can be at the most 15%. Yoiks. More interestingly, Limoux is known as the birthplace of sparkling wine, beginning with La Blanquette de Limoux (that’s another story). 2020 Gérard Bertrand Crémant de Limoux 60% Chardonnay/25% Chenin Blanc/15% Pinot Noir Honey and red berries drip off the nose, coursing over granite and a bit of grass. The palate is textured, alternating between creamy bubbles and zips of acid and light. Similar palate to nose with a wonk of white chocolate. Both savorable (I want to) and swillable (I will), it utterly deserves a place in the glass of even a Champagne snob (not that there’s anything wrong with that). CRÉMANT DE BOURGOGNE Blanc or rosé! Made in Burgundy, yea south of Champagne, these Burg-bubbles are made with many of the same grapes: it must be a minimum of 30% Chardonnay/Pinot Blanc/Pinot Gris/Pinot Noir and a maximum of 20% Gamay. There are also “Eminent” classifications, but honestly, don’t worry about it; not now, sweet Bourgogne babes. Henri Champliau Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Rosé Pale peachy salmon, very crisp with greenery on the nose. Very wet-chalk-in-a-church, a little just-ripe raspberry. The palate is plush but prickly, again with raspberries and rocks, and then an interesting brown butter and honeysuckle whisper is under it all. It is velvety as can be, with maybe a little citrus zing seeping in towards the end. Gosh, it is good. CRÉMANT DU JURA Blanc or rosé! Ah, the Jura, just ever so close to Burgundy but maybe even colder? Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Poulsard, Trousseau, Chardonnay, and Savagnin are the allowed grapes ALTHOUGH! A blanc must have a minimum combined 70% Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and/or Trousseau. Savagnin can also be in there. A rosé must have a minimum of 50% combined Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Poulsard, and/or Trousseau. Xavier Reverchon Crémant du Jura Brut Rosé 100% Pinot Noir! Pungent nose speaking of underbrush and raspberries scarcely graspable through the thorns. Raspberries on seashells. Yeast and, honestly, some savory stank. In a good way; so juicy, lemon juice and peel and pith. Lush texture. Love it. CRÉMANT DE LOIRE It can be blanc or rosé, containing Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Orbois, Cabernet Franc, Grolleau, Grolleau Gris, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pineau d'Aunis and a Cabernet Sauvignon and Pineau d’Aunis (max 30% the latter two). I could go on about the Mousseux wines of Saumur and Vouvray, other venerable bubbles, but this is a Crémant piece. Gratien & Meyer Crémant de Loire Brut 40% Chardonnay, 40% Chenin Blanc, 15% Cabernet Franc, 15% Pinot Noir Punchy on the nose, full of citrus verve, a kick of minerals, and maybe even white pepper? That sort of spicy floral kick. More on the palate, made smoother via the lively, bubbly mousse. So elegant. The bread-y flavors, but almost like a Hawaiian bread vibe, creep in towards the finish and carry on. Lovely. CRÉMANT DE SAVOIE Most unique in terms of valid varieties! Blancs only! What a rebel. It must have a minimum of 40% Jacquère, and then there is a list of other “principal” and “accessory” varieties, but I won’t get into the weeds of too much. Taste and learn. André et Michel Quenard Brut Nature Crémant de Savoie Geez, Louise, this is a bracing. It makes you clench your teeth and bare your fangs (you don’t have fangs?) like you had a shot of vodka, but that is the acidity and brut nature of it all. No softening sugars here! And that’s okay. The nose is super fun—herbal, lemon balm, lime zest, lanolin and linen. The palate, as I said, zip-a-dee-acidic-dah with slightly jarring bubbles—this wine is rough in a way that pleases me in both hedonistic and masochistic ways. CRÉMANT D’ALSACE The whites can contain Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir—but Pinot Blanc tends to be the mainstay. Rosés must be 100% Pinot noir. Fun (ish?) fact: this is the only Alsace appellation (I like to call ‘em All Apps) to allow Chardonnay! Making it my hero. That said, I ended up reviewing one of those 100% Pinot rosés… Wolfberger Crémant d’Alsace Brut Rosé The ripe openness, omg. Plug in florals, red fruits, and exceptional balance. It is the brightness and lightness with the just amount of oomph—you’d maybe imagine this was a Champagne or at least…well, a really great crémant. The high acid. The ruddiest red fruit. The earth and stones the sneak of citrus sneaking in. But mainly the balance of fruit and rock, youth and wisdom. You go, you almost Champagne. SHOWER CRÉMANT But what bubbles would most compliment my frothing body wash? It has to be the Limoux. Original. The OG (same thing) but also fresh, new, and unfettered. No one wants to think in the shower—the wine does the thinking for you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Want to read more from Ellen? 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