Organic Sparkling Wines You Must Try
When it comes to celebrations, there is nothing better to help you get in a party mood than a bottle of organic fizzy wine. Whether it’s Champagne, Prosecco, or any other sparkling wine, they bring the zing, with bubbles, freshness, and flavour that is instantly appealing. When served chilled, it’s the perfect way to enjoy your celebration the right way.
You’d be amazed by how many different types of organic sparkling wine there are! Not only is a sparkling wine produced in most wine regions around the world, but it is also made from dozens of different types of grapes. If you’re looking for the best types of sparkling wine to try, here are a few organic fizzy wines to consider.
Organic Champagne
Arguably the finest and most famous sparkling wine in the world, French Champagne is produced only in the Champagne region of France. Most commonly, Champagne is made using Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier, and Pinot Noir grapes, and all champagne producers must follow specific appellation rules for the growing, harvesting, and vinification process.
There are more than 300 Champagne houses, with more than 15,000 vine-growing producers in the region. Most of the big Champagne brands (known as Grandes Marques) do not own their own vineyards but buy grapes from many growers. Organic Champagne producers, such as Fleury, are unusual in owning and managing all their own vines, which gives them greater control over the methods used (they are completely biodynamic) and the quality produced.
To read more about organic Champagne, head to the website for the Association des Champagnes Biologiques. As AOC Champagne requires a minimum of two years of vinification, it takes at least six years to produce AB organic certified champagnes for a wine estate that is starting the conversion process.
Roughly 337 million bottles of Champagne are produced every year – most of which is exported outside France every year.
Pinot Noir grapes infuse the wine with red-berry flavours, adding structure and body. Chardonnay grapes make the wine crisp and fresh, with tropical and citrus flavours. Pinot Meunier grapes deliver herbaceous, earthy flavours and give the wine a well-rounded, rich taste. Those made entirely from Pinot Noir are known as ‘Blanc de Noirs’, while those made from Chardonnay are called ‘Blanc de Blancs’.
Recommened organic champagne from Vintage Roots
£43.00
Is Prosecco Sparkling Wine?
Yes! Prosecco’s global dominance in the world of sparkling wine shows no sign of faltering. In 2021, global Prosecco sales grew by a remarkable 25.4% which, in bottles, is a whopping 627.5 million!
Prosecco is now the most popular sparkling wine in the UK, overtaking Champagne. This affordable fizzy has become beloved for its off-dry fruitiness and gentle bubbles. The vinification process is less time and cost-intensive than champagne, so the wines tend to be cheaper – though no less enjoyable!
The Glera grape is used to produce this Italian sparkling wine and it gives the wine a slightly sweet, fruity flavour. The wines are meant to be enjoyed young, so they don’t need to spend as much time aging (in the cask and bottle) as champagne and other sparkling wines.
The flavours of organic Prosecco sparkling wine tend to be flowery, with heavy nuances of peach and stone fruits. Some people detect hints of vanilla bean on the palate, and the wine will be slightly sweeter than most Champagne. There is even an organic Prosecco rosé, made using Pinot Noir grapes in the mixture.
Organic Prosecco Rosé has played a considerable part in Prosecco’s continued popularity but now that there are different types of Prosecco.
Prosecco DOCG
Found in Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry and Dry versions, Prosecco DOCG is made uniquely from Glera, planted across 15 different communes in the hills of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene. It is the level of residual sugar that will differentiate between the different styles, Extra Brut being the driest of the four.
Prosecco DOCG Rive
To be classified a Rive wines, the Prosecco must be made from grapes harvested from vines on the high-altitude, steep slopes of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene. Unlike other Prosecco wines, a vintage always appears on the label and the grapes must be hand-harvested.
Prosecco DOCG Cartizze
Considered to be the best sub-zone of Prosecco, Cartizze covers just 107 hectares of vineyard. The soils here are sandstone and clay and this, combined with a unique microclimate, gives the wines a very distinctive flavour and level of complexity.
Prosecco DOCG Sui Lieviti
Lieviti is the Italian word for lees (lie in French). A presence of lieviti in the second fermentation generates a cloudier wine, with very fine bubbles Yeasty and complex, these Prosecco wines are steadily becoming more popular. You will only find them as
Brut Nature.
Our favourite organic prosecco from Vintage Roots
£13.99
Other Prosecco Styles
Frizzante
Not just as fizzy as Prosecco, frizzante wines undergo their secondary fermentation at a lower pressure (a maximum of 2.5 bars, versus a minimum of 3 bars). These ever-so-lightly sparkling wines are immensely popular, giving a lightly bubbly experience at a fraction of the cost.
Tranquillo
You won’t find much Tranquillo Prosecco because it is made from the lowest yielding and scarcest vines. The grapes are harvested when they are extremely ripe, and the flavours are quite unique. Great to try if you can find one!
Two organic fizzy wines from Vintage Roots
£11.50
£11.90
English & Welsh Sparkling Organic Wine
English Sparkling Wine was little known as recently as ten or twenty years ago, but it is truly flourishing now. There are more vineyards and producers, awards are flying in, and they’re even being sold in top Parisian restaurants!
To quote WineGB, “England and Wales are now internationally recognised as producers of top quality wine… Our cool climate is ideally suited for growing grapes to make world-class sparkling wines…”
Most are made the same way as Champagne, using the same grapes, and can even be on the same soil thanks to a seam of chalk that runs from Champagne, under the English Channel to southern England. In general, the wines are a bit lighter, with more citrus and less yeasty character than Champagne, which makes them a great aperitif.
Organic English wine was pioneered by Roy Cook of Sedlescombe from the late 1970s, and today there are an increasing number of organically-certified producers, and they’re making some of the best English sparkling wine around.
Our recommended organic sparkling wine from Vintage Roots
£31.00
Organic Cava
For those who love champagne but want to try something different, Cava is one of the best types of sparkling wine to consider. This wine comes from Spain, and is a dry, fresh option made from several traditional, local grapes, with Chardonnay being a more recent addition:
● Chardonnay
● Parellada
● Macabeo
● Xarel.lo
In recent years Cava’s image has been dominated by the big brands competing on discount pricing in supermarkets. This lowering of price, and quality, has led Albet i Noya to leave the appellation, now labelling their wines as coming from the Denominación de Origen Penedès region. The rules for this appellation are much stricter than those for Cava, resulting in a superior product, but one that still has the classic style of quality Cava.
There are four categories of Cava: Cava; Cava Reserva, Cava Gran Reserva and Cava de Paraje Calificado.
Cava is the youngest and freshest of the styles and aged in bottle for a minimum of nine months.
Cava Reserva is richer in style thanks to a minimum of 18 months of bottle ageing.
A Gran Reserva is the most aromatically intense of this first trio. Aged for no less than 30 months in bottle, these are elegant, world-class sparkling wines.
Cava de Paraje Calificado is made from a specific place, where the location and terroir are synonymous with outstanding quality. The wines must also be aged for a minimum of 36 months, prior to release.
You will find several ‘dryness’ styles of Cava, ranging from Brut Nature to Dulce. The category is determined by the sugar content. Brut Nature for instance, has between zero and 3 g/l. A Brut can have no more than 12 g/l, with a seco registering 17 to 32 g/l.
Spain has an impressive number of organically certified vineyards and the Cava DO has almost 110,000 hectares under organic production. The region is also working on a project that is exploring indigenous varieties that have the qualities to combat climate changes. These are being grown in an experimental vineyard.
You can read more about the Cava region’s approach to organics, biodynamics, and sustainability by clicking this link.
Recommended organic cava from Vintage Roots
A trio of delicious alternative organic fizzy wines you should try
Austrian Pink Frizzante
£14.50
Franciacorta … Another great Italian Sparkling
£29.00
Don’t forget French Crémant!