Let me know if you have any favorite crémants? Turns out I don’t really care if it comes from Champagne. Recently had a NV Tissot Crémant du Jura Brut that had some nice depth, oxidative notes, and ginger. The mousse was a bit lacking but a nice wine. Domaine Overnoy-Crinquand Chardonnay Crémant was had a nice acid spine and was a great food wine.
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Tissot’s Cremant is great. Can’t recall a better one from Jura. Can’t remember price but believe it was under $30 last time I had it in France.
While not a Cremant, and it’s been many years since I had one, I remember liking Schloss Gobelsburg quite a bit for the price. Want to say it was about $20 last I had it ~ 15 years ago.
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If you are looking for alternatives to Champagne I would also suggest Sekt. Had a really nice Peter Jakob Kuhn at Cocodaq that was a steal. I see it available for $25-30.
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Marnes Blanches Réserve (black label) which can be found for <25€ in EU. It is not the best, but it is good, cheap and available.
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I do trust you and think Germany could probably make great sparkling wine. Think I’d still like it to be from the traditional Champagne grape varities though. I specifically am not looking for charmat and anything from Italy or Spain. I don’t think I love the grapes they make Cava with? I also didn’t love Huet’s Vouvray Pétillant as I think Chenin Blanc isn’t what I expected somehow?
I hear you. Raumland is the gold standard for sparkling made from traditional Champagne grapes but it is of course more expensive than the Sekts. You will hear much more about this category in the future.
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I remember really liking Raumland. But last time I had it was from the old Chambers store so it’s been a while.
I think the Schloss G that I mentioned has Pinot Noir plus some Austrian and/or German grapes like Gruner and Riesling but I though it was a pretty nice poor man’s Champagne. Moreso than something like a Loire sparkling.
The only Cava that I’ve had that resembled Champagne was that expensive one. Can’t remember the name. Comes in a bottle or a box or something that kind of looks like a bowling pin IIRC. It was presented to me to import. I liked it but didn’t want to try to sell a Cava that retailed for something like $60 10 years ago. Would take many a bottle of the real thing over that.
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Tissot Indigene is worth seeking out, but it’s bumping up against low priced champagne.
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Came to endorse this one, just bought some more. Another very good one, although I haven’t had it in years, is Jean-Paul Brun’s Crémant de Bourgogne Blanc de Blancs ’Charme’.
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Franciacorta is made from traditional Champagne grapes and by méthode champenoise.
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Edit: I somehow missed @Josh_Grossman’s 2nd comment
Bugey-Cerdon from both Patrick Bottex & Renardat-Fache are personal favorites. Underpriced, probably because demi-sec.
Jacky/JP Blot (Taille aux Loups), and Huet petillants are very good.
Also Jacky & his son Jean-Philippe are the nicest people ever.
The problem here is that most if not all of the ones that are good enough to be a decent substitute for Champagne are priced like Champagne. Generally when comparing bottles priced within say 10-15% of one another, I’ll take Champagne pretty much every time. I think Germany or the Schloss G I mentioned from Austria provide better value
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It’s been years since i had a bottle, but I used to really enjoy Szigeti sparkling gruner veltliner. Looks like its around $25/bottle today. I was in charge of picking out wines for my brother’s wedding and this was a crowd pleaser at the time. In the interest of full disclosure, I probably like gruner more than most.
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Labouré-Gontard Brut Crémant de Bourgogne
Fair, but value wasn’t one of OP’s requirements.
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Labet Cremant from the Jura is fabulous, far more complex than the very good Tissot. Not inexpensive.
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Yes. It was a lot less expensive when I discovered it. I’ve also found it to be really funky sometimes, but the relatively clean bottles are fantastic. I don’t know if the variation is between bottles or between releases.
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I’m yet to try a cremant that is confuse with Champagne.
But Jonas Dostert (which I sell) and Kumpf + Meyer - 48 and 85 months on lees respectively are my favourites this year so far.
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which Kumpf + Meyer?
