Sparkling Wines at Oryana

Happy Holidays to our bubbly Oryana shoppers!

Popping a sparkling wine is quintessential this time of year. One holiday headache we’d like to help you avoid is the task of narrowing down all your options! At Oryana, we have made sure to offer a refined and iconic selection choose from. Additionally, you’ll find a bubbly for all budgets, with bottles ranging from $9.99 to $99. As always, we are also featuring Northern Michigan options at both locations, such as the locally loved Mawby Sparkling. Before you pick your sparkling toast, I’m going to help you learn a little bit about bubbles, what different styles they come in, and how to pick your perfect pour!

Champagne vs Sparkling

What makes a wine a champagne? Why can’t I call all bubbly wines champagne? Well, it’s actually a pretty straightforward answer: Champagne is not only the name of a wine, but also a region in France. Sparkling wines made in this small area are the only ones that hold the ability to gain the honorable title of ‘Champagne.’ Any wine made outside this region could possibly fit into the traditional champagne method of winemaking (methode champenoise, which requires a secondary fermentation in the bottle and produces the incredibly tiny bubbles that dance on your taste buds), but cannot take the reserved name. These wines fall under the general category of ‘sparkling wine,’ or ‘cremant.’ All Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne! 

What do you pair sparkling with?

A general rule of thumb is that sparkling wine goes good with EVERYTHING. Seriously, everything! Fried chicken, salad, sushi, whatever; there is no bad time for bubbles! While a lot of us enjoy a ‘no rules’ mentality when enjoying this wine, we’re still happy to help you find where this wine fits best in your pairing dinner plans.

Some cork-popping worthy pairings:

• Triple cream brie, mascarpone, or any other soft spreadable cheese (great to smear on fruit!)
• Anything with butter; buttercream sauce, buttered popcorn, shortbread butter rich cookies, or butter dipping sauce for our next bullet item…
• Shellfish! Additional seafood pairings are smoked salmon, caviar, friend calamari, and oysters
• Fruit-based desserts such as tarts, crepes, and any buttered or honeyed dessert

What’s your flavor?

Sparkling wines come in a wide variety of flavor profiles. Different methods of wine making, grape varieties, and aging create different notes in your wines. There are three big players in creating the tastes in a sparkling wine: sweetness level (regulated by the wine’s dosage, or sugar content), grape variety (some grapes offer earthy flavors, while others offer acidic flavors, or even floral notes), and yeast content (ever smelled a sparkling that smelled like fresh baked bread? Yum!) We have options for you that fall into all of these categories, and more! Take a look below to see some of our favorites.

Sparkling Wines at Oryana West

Gran Passione – Prosecco Doc

Notes of citrus and spring blossom, white peach, and candied fruit. It offers bright acidity and a fresh tone, paired with an easygoing palate.

Moutard Champagne Pere & Fils – Grand Cuvee

Smelling notes of butter, almond, and brioche (there’s that bread!) The palate is balanced and elegant, with a rich and mineral driven taste. 

Pascal Ponson Brut Champagne

Ponson’s “Prestige” is a blend of 80% Pinot Meunier, 10% Pinot Noir, and 10% Chardonnay. This wine has a rich texture with creamy aromas of apple, quince, and lemon blossom. It has a creaminess that’s been added by lees contact, which is when a wine sits with the yeast after fermentation. 

Albert Bichot – Cremant

This crémant is made with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The dynamic blend of a red and white grape offers tension, with notes of white flowers, minerality, and light red fruit. 

Piper-Heidsieck Champagne

This is a champagne that offers spice and maturity on the palate, with notes of apple and pear. It’s also got great zest that really adds another level to the experience!

De Vonage Champagne

This beautifully golden wine has aromas of green apple, honey, and lemon. It’s mouthfeel is complex and well rounded, with notes of apple, honey, and ginger.

Besserat Champagne

This champagne offers toasty notes of brioche and nuts, and hints of lime and citrus, amongst a creamy full mouth feel of baked apple and pears.

Wishing you and yours a holiday as delightful as a fresh glass of crémant.

Lisa Perrine Brown, Beer and Wine Coordinator at Oryana