Top Wine Picks! Sparkling Wine To Ring In 2016

Is celebrating New Year’s Eve with sparkling wine cliché?

In my opinion, it’s absolutely not calling it in to ring in the New Year with a little bubble. The crying shame is that we relegate sparkling wine to celebratory events, and ignore their food-friendliness and suitability to idle weekdays throughout the year. Today, I’m sharing five of my very favourite sparkling wines available right here on My Wine Canada, and while I’d love our audience to hop to it by putting in an order so these wines arrive on your doorstep before 2016 chimes in, I also encourage wine enthusiasts to keep popping these corks throughout the year.

1) Benjamin Bridge 2008 Méthode Classique Brut, Gaspereau Valley, Nova Scotia - $49.95

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Benjamin Bridge wines a little more intimately over the last year, heading a panel with winemaker Jean-Benoit Deslauriers at Edmonton’s Northern Lands festival, and then hosting the guy and his wines at my own event, Top Drop Vancouver, in September. This nowhere-but-East-Coast-Canada blend of Chardonnay, L'Acadie Blanc, Pinot Noir and Seyval Blanc has salty sea air and citrus in abundance, perfect for shellfish-centred feasts.

2) Elephant Island Orchard Wines 2012 Pink Elephant Sparkling, Naramata, B.C. - $25.39

I’m perennially charmed by the traditional method sparkling crafted from Okanagan apples, finished off with a dosage of the winery’s house-made Cassis. Do away with the hassle of assembling Kir Royales for your company, and simply pop the cork to unleash this bottled celebratory cheer.

3) Sperling Vineyards 2009 Sparkling Brut, Kelowna, B.C. - $39.95

The Sperling family are pioneers when it comes to Okanagan grape-growing, and the 25-year-old Pinot Blanc vines this wine is produced from lend themselves well to three whole years of lees ageing, to result in an elegant, stone fruit-laden pour. Salty snacks are welcome.

4) Summerhill Pyramid Winery N/V Cipes Brut, Kelowna, B.C. - $26.95

Simply put, this is an Okanagan classic that over delivers for the price. Organic Riesling and Chardonnay join forces to unveil notes of peaches, apricots alongside a good dose of marzipan and charm. For pairings, think fish, poultry, wild game and more.

5) Tawse Winery 2013 Spark Riesling – Limestone Ridge, Twenty Mile Bench, Ontario - $19.95

Traditional-method Riesling from one of North America’s most-acclaimed producers of the variety? For twenty bucks? That’s all you need to know. Jump on it!

Kurtis Kolt is a Vancouver-based wine consultant, writer, competition judge and enthusiast. Track him down at KurtisKolt.com, or on Twitter and Instagram @KurtisKolt.