In 2015, Americans consumed over 21 million cases of wine, according to the Wine Institute. For winemakers, this means two things: First of all, there’s a much bigger reward in focusing on producing excellent sparkling wine, since consumers are clamoring for it. But it also means there’s much more knowledge to share from producer to producer and region to region when it comes to making the best bubbly. As prices rise for classic sparklers like Champagne, Cava, Prosecco, and sparkling wine from California, other regions and countries are emerging as new and unusual producers of high-quality bubbles. No longer is sparkling wine solely for special occasions; pop a bottle from one of these regions any day of the week!

NEW YORK 

New York has not one but two regions to seek out for tasty sparkling wine! Is there a regional face-off tasting in your future? We think so.

FINGER LAKES

Having developed a reputation for high-quality, cool-climate grape varieties like Riesling, it’s only natural for the Finger Lakes to look to sparkling wine for new frontiers. In fact, the history of the Finger Lakes is tied to sparkling wine, as one of the largest and oldest commercial wineries, Pleasant Valley Wine Company, specialized in sparkling wine and earned the surrounding area the nickname “the Reims of America”  (though it wasn’t necessarily focused on quality as much as quantity). Winemakers today are experimenting with both the traditional and ancestral methods (a.k.a. pet-nat) to make a host of different grapes into clean, acid-driven sparklers. Nancy Irelan’s just-released 2012 Riesling Sekt from Red Tail Ridge places a definite emphasis on the acidity that the region’s cool climate offers, producing a tart, lemony wine with potential to age.

LONG ISLAND

While the reputation of Long Island wines has been more tied to tasting rooms and weekend tours by city dwellers than noble, high-end cuvées, in recent years the winemakers on Long Island have been experimenting further and further outside the boundaries of what’s expected. And while risk-taking like this can produce wines that are, well, risky, they can also result in some delicious bottles. Made in the traditional and other methods, Long Island sparkling wines can be made from a plethora of varieties, from classics like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir to odd bubbly bases like Cabernet Franc or, in the case of the NV Lieb Cellars Blanc de Blancs, Pinot Blanc. It somehow manages to be tart, clean, toasty, and textured all at once, keeping things interesting but unpretentious.

PS: If you think that New York is the only new state making interesting sparkling wine, think again; Michigan’s Mauby has been lauded for decades, and La Garagista in Vermont (yes, Vermont!) is becoming a cult favorite.

Read more at source: VINEPAIR