Top 15 Classic Sparkling Wines for the Holidays

Simple but precise nose of lime, yeast and white mushroom. A fine mousse greets the palate delivering a lovely version of the nose, rich with sweet lime juice, gentle yeasty notes that hint at white mushroom and some subtle pale honey notes. There’s a nice hint of minerality on the back end that drive the moderately long finish. This is really lovely and precise. 90pts

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Sweet and almost minty on the nose with very fine fennel pollen notes and some butterscotch accents to the core of ripe fig and peach fruit with a hint of guava. With a very fine mousse and notable ripeness on the palate this is rather large scaled in the mouth delivering rich, honey glazed flavors of ripe peach, tart apple and green plummy fruit. Picking up some spice on the finish, this ends with more faint butterscotch and spice notes over a candy apple base. Seductive stuff that is very easy to enjoy. 91pts

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Lovely aromas of heather, orange rind and hazelnut greet the nose followed by dried citrus fruits, caramel and orange pekoe tea. Broad and noticeably leesy early on the palate, this shows fine clarity of texture in a relatively dry style with late arriving fruit flavors of orange, strawberry and pineapple. The finish is a touch short here but it doesn’t detract too much from the palate. This has an elegance and gentleness that is very attractive. 92pts

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Dark golden color. There’s a ton of complexity and oxidative evolution on the nose here with scents of pigskin, dried fruit, a deep meaty note, gentle spice, old wood, smoke, briar and wild herbs all coming together. This has a very fine mousse, and compelling richness in the mouth with a texture that shows a bit of weight but at the same time is very well-balanced and agile. The flavors are as complex as the nose, if fresher with notes of apple butter, a little strawberry and some gentle hazelnut notes over a base of waxy fruit, and light quince jam notes.  Finishing with length and finesse, this is atypical but as compelling a bottle of Franciacorta as I’ve ever come across. 93pts

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Dry, earthy and fairly dense on the nose with notes of white flowers, brie rind, dried citrus fruits and butcher’s wax. Very fine mousse in the mouth, this is elegant and really has a wonderful texture, rich yet delicate with good finesse. The flavors are dense if not fresh with earthy floral, waxy, polleny notes over dried citrus fruit and dried pineapple. Theres a nuttiness that emerges on the finish as well, which shows both the acid backbone of this wine as well as a lovely creamy edge. An old man in a leather chair kind of Sparkler. 93pts

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Intensely aromatic with lovely notes of green nuts, honeycomb, wild flowers, fennel pollen, green anise seed, brie rind and jammy green plum with a hint of gooseberry. Large scaled with a super fine mousse, this is creamy and broad with complex leesy flavors of smoke, nuts, caramel and even a hint of vanilla under rich citrus, quince, green plum, apricot and raw almond flavors. The finish is tense, if a little subtle, and fairly long. Refined and complex, this deserves to be served with dinner. 94pts

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Preserved lemons, pressed flowers honeycomb and toasted almonds appear on the nose over a chalky mineral base. Creamy and seductive, this enters the mouth with rich sweet lemon fruit which is joined by notes of key lime pie, dried honeycomb, earth and sweet almonds all layered over a fine mineral base. Creamily textured yet firmly underpinned with acid and minerality. There is a fine aromatic peachiness here and the finish features long lime zest and mineral flavors. This is a party in the glass. 93pts

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Pick up one of these fantastic, easy-to-find Chardonnays on the way to your next holiday party and you'll be the talk of the evening!