3 Tips for Buying Great-Value Sparkling Wine

As a non-expert wine lover, I have an almost formulaic process for buying a bottle of bubbly.

Many people might be familiar with the same situation: In anticipation of a brunch, birthday, or special occasion, you head to your nearest wine store in search of sparkling wine. Once there, all the bubbly options look strikingly similar. Faced with indecision, I inevitably choose the same thing every time: a bottle of Prosecco in an accessible price range, typically between $15 and $20.

But the result of always opting for the familiar is that you miss out on the vast world of beautiful, bubbly wines, and you may not be getting the best value for your money. Ahead of his upcoming seminar on sparkling wine at the 2025 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, sommelier and wine director for the American Express Global Centurion Lounge, as well as Food & Wine contributing editor, Anthony Giglio, shared some of his top tips for finding a great new bottle to try, the delicious opportunities you might be overlooking, and some of the mistakes you could be making when selecting sparkling wine.

It doesn’t have to be Champagne to be high quality

The word “Champagne” refers to the region in France where its namesake wines must be produced, but it also denotes the specific production process required to classify a bottle of bubbly as Champagne. Consequently, a wine could be created in the style of Champagne in another location, yielding a drink with similar qualities but not bearing the same name.

Giglio explains that this means you can find Champagne-quality wines from other regions in France at more affordable prices. “You could buy sparkling Bordeaux, sparkling Burgundy, sparkling Alsace, you name it, but they're not allowed to say champagne, so they call them ‘crémant…' So when you talk about crémant, that opens up a whole window of champagne-quality from France,” he says.

“If people want to impress with a gift and you bring a bottle of something with a French label, it looks a little fancier for some people… Crémant is a great, great value… I could buy great crémant d’Alsaces for $16, $18, and if you get crémant de Bourgogne, it could be $40. It's champagne quality without the address.”

Don’t be afraid to try something a little sweet

I’m more than culpable of this crime myself, assuming that when asked what I want in a bubbly wine, I should always say “dry.” But as Giglio points out, the quality of sweetness in wines is often misunderstood. He tells Food & Wine, “What's really funny is we Americans think we like [wines that are] dry, but we don't mind a little sweetness in our wines.

“I mean, there's a reason why moscato is trending again. But we buy Champagne brut, and then we're shocked when we taste an off-dry and it's delicious and it's not sweet. It's just richer and more inviting…” 

To find an off-dry wine that isn’t too sweet, Giglio simply recommends that you “Go to your retailer and ask for one ‘click’ up from dry and they’ll know what to do…” And if you’re browsing for a bottle of sparkling wine, look for the words “demi sec,” which translates to “half dry.”

Not every sparkling wine is made for mimosas

Giglio explains that when many people try Champagne for the first time, they are often surprised. Unlike the very crisp, clean, and light flavors of Prosecco, Champagne tends to have a fuller body and a much more complex flavor, including distinctive bready notes. Put more simply, Champagnes have significantly more character.

This doesn’t mean one wine is better than the other — they both have their time and place — but it does suggest that Prosecco may be a more suitable option for mixing with other ingredients in a cocktail. Giglio says that when it comes to “the role of sparkling wine in cocktails and in breakfast drinks like mimosas, [these] should not be expensive wines. I mean, it's ridiculous to put Champagne into orange juice unless you're a bazillionaire… There's no reason to do that. So that's where Prosecco's value comes in.”

The refreshing, citrusy flavor of Prosecco pairs well with ingredients like amaros and aperitifs in many classic spritzes and sparkling cocktails. (If you had a mimosa or Aperol spritz made with Champagne instead, you’d likely wonder why it tasted so different.) Of course, Giglio also notes that Champagne is “meant to be paired with food,” so if it's within your budget, you might want to buy several types of bubbly before hosting your next brunch.