Six alternative Champagnes for National Bubbly Day
What sparkling wine are you sipping on National Bubbly Day, taking place this weekend on June 6? This much-deserved observance, held on the first Saturday of every June, was established in 2017 by the US branch of Freixnet to celebrate effervescent wines from around the world.
Offering the opportunity to explore the best sparkling wines, we take a look at the world’s most popular in our bubbly wine guide, and present six alternative Champagnes to inspire your next glass.
Sparkling wines of the world
Champagne
From the Champagne region of France, this bubbly is the granddaddy of effervescent wines, produced through a method that accounts for its complexity, depth, and hallmark brioche notes.
How is it produced?
- Made with the traditional method (also known as méthode traditionnelle, méthode champenoise, bottle, méthode Classique)
- Grapes are fermented into a still base wine
- Bottled with yeast and sugar to create bubbles with signature second fermentation
- Aged on lees, then disgorged, dosed, and corked
Which grapes are used?
- Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier are the key grapes but, in total, nine varietals are permitted
What are the styles?
- Brut Nature / Zero Dosage: 0–3 g/L sugar (very dry)
- Extra Brut: 0–6 g/L (very dry)
- Brut: up to 12 g/L (dry and most common style)
- Extra Dry: 12–17 g/L (slightly off-dry despite name)
- Sec: 17–32 g/L (off-dry)
- Demi-Sec: 32–50 g/L (sweet)
- Doux: 50+ g/L (very sweet)
- Blanc de Blancs (from 100% white grapes)
- Blanc de Noirs (from 100% black grapes)
- Rosé
Crémant
A regional wine in France (in areas like Alsace, Loire, Burgundy, and Jura), Crémant is a quality sparkling wine made using the Champagne method.
How is it produced?
- Made with the traditional method
- Grapes are fermented into a still base wine
- Bottled with yeast and sugar to create bubbles through secondary fermentation
- Aged on lees, then disgorged, dosed, and corked
Which grapes are used?
- Regional variations
- Each appellation has its own permitted grape varieties
What are the styles?
- Brut nature
- Extra-Brut
- Brut
- Demi-sec
- Rosé
Cava, Sekt, Franciacorta, Cap Classique, Australian Sparkling Wine, English Sparkling Wine
A group of high-quality sparkling wines made outside Champagne, all produced using the traditional bottle-fermentation method. Each reflects its own terroir, climate, and grape styles.
How are they produced?
- Traditional method
Which grapes are used?
- Franciacorta (Italy): Chardonnay, Pinot Nero (Noir), Pinot Bianco
- Cap Classique (South Africa): Chardonnay, Pinot Noir (sometimes Chenin Blanc and others)
- Australian Sparkling: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and regional varieties depending on style
- English Sparkling Wine: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Meunier
- Sekt (Germany & Austria): Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
- Cava (Spain): Macabeo, Xarel·lo, Parellada (plus Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in modern styles)
What are the styles?
- Brut Nature / Zero Dosage: 0–3 g/L sugar (very dry)
- Extra Brut: 0–6 g/L (very dry)
- Brut: up to 12 g/L (dry and most common style)
- Extra Dry: 12–17 g/L (slightly off-dry despite name)
- Sec: 17–32 g/L (off-dry)
- Demi-Sec: 32–50 g/L (sweet)
- Doux: 50+ g/L (very sweet)
Sparkling Shiraz
One of the finest things to come out of Australia is surely the sparkling red wine made from Shiraz. Dark fruity concentration meets fine effervescence in red bubbly produced in dry and delicately sweet styles.
How is it produced?
- Traditional method
Which grapes are used?
- 100% Shiraz
What are the styles?
- Off-dry to dry
Prosecco
A light, fresh, fruity, and, globally, very popular sparkling wine mainly from the Veneto and Friuli areas of northeastern Italy. Easy-drinking with floral aromatics, it appears in DOC and superior DOCG styles, the former being fresh and dry, the latter with a fruity core balanced by vibrant acidity.
How is it produced?
- The tank method (also known as Charmat or Martinotti method)
- Grapes are fermented into a still base wine
- Secondary fermentation occurs in pressurized tanks to create bubbles
- Filtered under pressure and bottled
Which grapes are used?
- Primarily Glera (up to 15% other local varieties allowed)
What are the styles?
- Brut
- Extra Dry
- Dry
- Rosé (made with Glera and Pinot Nero/ Noir)
Brachetto d’Acqui
A gently sparkling, fragrant red wine from Piedmont, enjoyed for its delicately sweet, red fruit, floral, low alcohol profile.
How is it produced?
- Tank method
Which grapes are used?
- 100% Brachetto
Moscato d’Asti
A softly bubbly, low-alcohol, subtly sweet white wine from Piedmont, admired for its aromatic intensity.
How is it produced?
- Tank method
Which grapes are used?
- 100% Moscato Bianco (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains)
What are the styles?
- White and rosé (made with addition of Brachetto)
Lambrusco
A frizzante to spumante red, white, or rosé wine from Emilia-Romagna and Lombardy in Italy enjoyed for its lively acidity and rich core of fruit. While getting a bad rap for years, recently, innovative producers have been crafting quality expressions, ranging from dry and savory to sweet and fruity styles.
How is it produced?
- Tank method
Which grapes are used?
- Lambrusco grape family (including varieties like Lambrusco Salamino, Grasparossa, Sorbara)
What are the styles?
- Dry, tannic, and savory to lush, fruity, and sweet.
Pét-Nat (Pétillant Naturel)
A naturally bubbly wine made using the ancestral method, celebrated for its rustic character, soft bubbles, cloudy appearance, and lively, unfiltered fruit profile.
How is it produced?
- Ancestral method (bottled before primary fermentation finishes)
- Minimal intervention, often bottled dry or slightly off-dry
Which grapes are used?
- Any local or regional varieties
What are the styles?
- Lightly sparkling
- Dry to gently sweet
- Fresh, fruity, sometimes with an appealing funky, wild character
This list of bubbly wine recommendations is by no means exhaustive – but it’s a start! There’s a sparkling style for every mood, occasion, and dish. Do you have a tried-and-tested favorite to sip this weekend, or will you reach for a new label?
If it just has to be Champagne (an all-time go-to sparkling among our readers), Dom Pérignon routinely tops the list of our best sellers. While we also love a glass of this famous bubbly, we’re featuring Champagne alternatives that deserve the spotlight too. Read on for some inspiration as we celebrate National Bubbly Day!
Six Champagnes to celebrate sparkling wine
Dating to 1858, Pierre Peters is a family estate located in the Côte des Blancs, Champagne’s Chardonnay country. Covering around 19 hectares of chalky soils, the house farms sustainably and vinifies with a meticulous approach to allow the terroir to shine through, in each sip.
Les Chetillons is the single-vineyard flagship wine, crafted from old vines grown in a "lieu-dit" cultivated in the Grand Cru village of le Mesnil sur Oger. Each of the three parcels owned by the estate undergoes separate vinification for precise expression, blended to produce a powerful, mineral-rich Champagne with complex notes of exotic fruit, subtle walnut, and touches of caramel.
A rising star in the grower Champagne producer, is Pierric Brochet, of Jules Brochet. Inheriting his father’s vines and working in Taissy in the Montagne de Reims sub-region (Pinot Noir dominant, followed by Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay), before the phylloxera crisis, this historic area was classified as Grand Cru. Pierre worked alongside legend, Anselme Selosse, before branching out on his own, following a non-interventionist philosophy in the house’s grazing-sheep-peppered vineyards as well as in the winery.
The 2019 Eole is a beautiful Blanc de Blancs, crafted from low-yield vines with ambient yeasts and aged in large oak casks rather than stainless steel for complexity. Pithy fruit, a touch of salinity, and electric freshness create a tension between linear flavors and a rich fruit core in a pristine expression of local terroir.
Egly-Ouriet is one of the leading grower estates in Ambonnay, with an identity influenced by four generations of the family, after which the house is named. The house tends exceptional old-vine Grand Cru Pinot Noir sites and, since 1980, has been synonymous with low-intervention, organic viticulture, strict control of yields control, and extended lees aging, sometimes exceeding four years.
An outstanding vintage, the 2008 Brut Millésime showcases exceptional energy and maturity, with complex orchard fruit, citrus oil, signature brioche, praline, iodine, plum, and honey. The mouth is full and layered, blending deep concentration with lively acidity in an elegant structure, closing in a long, intense, expressive finish, all reflecting the modern grower Champagne movement.
With a family vigneron history rooted in the 17th century, the Laval family has cultivated the vines of Champagne for centuries. Today, the estate practices organic viticulture across its 3.5 hectares and low-intervention winemaking for precise aromas and flavors.
The 2013 vintage of Les Longues Violes hails from an extraordinary single-vineyard in the historic Premier Cru village of Cumières, a short drive from Épernay. Planted with old-vine Meunier and Pinot Noir, this sparkling wine sees meticulous vinification and several years of lees aging before riddling and disgorgement, resulting in a pure yet creamy Brut Nature expression with fresh white fruit, pastry hints, good minerality, and a beautiful tension.
Boerl & Kroff is an estate with its Champagne production centered around Aube in the Côte des Bar, an area known for its Pinot Noir. The house has its headquarters in Burgundy, from where much of its Pinot Noir originated in the 12th century, brought to the area by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (abbot and founder of the Knights Templar). Generations later, the variety is flourishing, thanks to centuries of careful cultivation.
The 1995 Brut displays aromas of warm bread, iodine, beeswax, and nuts in a full, chalky, satiny body of citrus peel, white florals, a touch of pleasing oxidation adding complexity, and a vibrant, youthful freshness that belies the vintage. Closing in a long, vinous finish, this champagne has the potential for another ten years of cellaring.
Champagne Philipponnat is a historic family estate dating to the 16th century and based at Château de Mareuil in Marne. Pinot Noir is the house’s dominant grape, supported by smaller quantities of Chardonnay and Meunier, with precise terroir expression driving every step of its winemaking.
From the iconic 5.5-hectare, namesake vineyard, the 1992 Clos des Goisses, benefits from a steep, sun-soaked slope found in the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage site and famed for some of Champagne’s richest and ripest expressions. Driven by Pinot Noir depth, this sparkling wine features layers of exotic fruit intensity in a muscular, concentrated mouth balanced by fresh acidity and defined by pure terroir expression of its legendary vineyard.
So, as National Bubbly Day approaches on the June 6 wine holiday, raise a glass to the sparkling wine styles we love!
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Chemos Jovan
June 02, 2026
So interesting, how can I get some offers