Splurge on a Champagne toast for the New Year

There are some occasions that deserve a splurge, including ringing in the New Year with a real French Champagne instead of an inexpensive imitation. Champagne is one of a handful of blue chip wines that are synonymous with luxury and quality, in part because there are none offered in our usual under $20 price range. And while there are oceans of more affordable bubbles available, Champagne has been successful in retaining its cachet.

» READ MORE: Drinks These 8 sparkling wines will brighten your new year.

One reason for Champagne’s continued success is that it’s easier to discern quality in sparkling wines than in any other style; you know it the moment you taste it. The delicate translucence of flavor found in sparkling wines provide winemakers with nowhere to hide any lapses in craftsmanship or suboptimal fruit. And if any corners have been cut in the winemaking process, the tactile impact of their carbonation is a dead giveaway.

Well-made sparklers that are produced in the laborious méthode Champenoise feature a lavish creaminess of texture that puts the prickliness of less-careful carbonation to shame. More than any other facet of the experience, this tactile sensation of drinking tiny pearls has helped Champagne retain its status. This effect cannot be achieved without expensive interventions in the normal winemaking procedure, namely a second fermentation in each individual bottle, followed by years of patient aging. It’s hard to find great Champagnes for less than $40, but this producer makes reliably affordable wines. This delicious reserve cuvée sees a minimum of three years of maturation before release. In addition to coiffing the wine’s bubbles, this aging imparts a key flavor accent, a seductive taste of yeasty baked goods. It’s as if someone had distilled the heady scent of a French bakery into a magical croissant liqueur and added just a drop to enrich the bright apple and lemon flavors of your glass of impeccable bubbles.

$34.99; 12.5% alcohol

PLCB Item #8568

Sale price through Jan. 2 — regularly $39.99.

Also available at:

Gloucester City Bottlestop in Gloucester City — $31.09, www.bottlestopnj.com/

Joe Canal’s Hammonton Discount Liquor Outlet in Hammonton, NJ — $35.99, www.joecanalshammonton.com/

Joe Canal’s in Lawrenceville, NJ — $39.99,lawrenceville.jcanals.com/

Total Wine & More in Claymont, Del. — $38.49, www.totalwine.com/