Whether you’re looking for the perfect bubbly to ring in the new year or toast a special occasion, these sparkling wines are top picks.
Champagne is well and good (ok, it’s great), but there’s nothing like celebrating with a stellar glass of Hudson Valley-made wine. So, whether it’s for holiday celebrations, the new year, a birthday party, an anniversary, or any other special occasion, skip the standard bubbly and pour a local glass of sparkling wine instead. How’s that for sweet sipping?
2013 The Loic
Tousey Winery, Germantown
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Tousey Winery treats sparkling wine lovers to a beauty of a bottle made from 100-percent estate-grown chardonnay grapes. Crafted using the méthode champenoise, this wine remained on lees for more than three years prior to disgorgement. The care and attention delivered to this vintage result in a flavor profile that delights with notes of apple, brioche, and honeydew melon.
2024 Proceedo Rosé
Milea Estate Vineyard, Staatsburg
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If you love a good bubbly, but you also love a good rosé, this 2024 beauty from Milea Estate Vineyard will do the trick. To craft the vintage, the Milea team used hand-harvested grapes to ensure freshness. After undergoing saignee, the process in which tanks are bled off to concentrate the red wine and craft that signature pink color, the wine was blended, then carbonated in tanks to create the perfect holiday libation. This one is all about notes of orange peel, lemon zest, and strawberries, which means it’s an ideal option to pair with light bites like a snack plate or chocolate-covered strawberries.
Blanc de Blanc, NV
Hudson Chatham Winery, Ghent
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Hudson Chatham produces a delightful sparkling wine made with hybrid grapes from the Finger Lakes region. It smells of lemon and yellow apple, then shifts to tasting notes of tart green apple, ripe grapefruit, and orange. In other words, it’s everything you’d want in a celebratory pour, with a delightfully local touch.
Carpe Diem
Brotherhood Winery, Washingtonville
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For sparkling wine lovers in the Hudson Valley, Brotherhood is a real treat. While the Washingtonville winery produces a number of sparkling vinos, our pick for special occasions is Carpe Diem, a.k.a. Seize the Day. An Asti Spumante, this Italian-style wine is made from Moscato grapes to produce a wine that is naturally fruity and perfectly sweet. If you love champagne but want something sweeter, this is a top pick.
P.S. If you’re in the mood for something on the truly luxe side, splurge on a bottle of Grand Monarque. Crafted from a combination of pinot noir and chardonnay grapes, this vino features a slow release of bubbles that dance on the tongue, with flavors of lemon, fresh biscuits, and toasted bread.
Pet Nat
Whitecliff Vineyard & Winery, Gardiner/Hudson
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Whitecliff bottles a stunner in this Pet Nat, which is so good it won an award for “best sparkling wine” in the Hudson Valley Wine Competition. The vino is a non-intervention wine, meaning that it has no added yeast or sugars and no filtration. It’s made from estate grapes, and those bubbles you taste on the tongue are the result of the natural effervescence that results from production. The resulting pour is unsurprisingly delightful, so you may just want to pick up a second bottle ahead of time so you’re ready to go the next time a celebratory occasion strikes.
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