Top Champagne & fizz to bring in the New Year 

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Top Champagne & Fizz for NYE

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Champagne and New Year’s Eve –a marriage made in heaven

For the ultimate in elegance and luxury, Champagne is the fizz of choice.No mixing required… just chill, pour and serve.

Laithwaites Blancs de Blanc NV is a superb Premier Cru using all Chardonnay, with 30 months ageing on lees lending a lovely biscuity character. A Champagne to rivalsome of the biggest named houses for quality and elegance. 

For Gold-medal richness, opt for the Nicolo & Paradis Brut NV with savoury notes from the Pinot Noir or Decelle Brut NV, another fine fizz with Pinot Noir complexity.

Finally, if you have a large gathering, the best bottle to choose is a magnum – this sized bottle (150cl) always looks impressive. You can’t go wrong with the Château de Bligny NV magnum – another pure Chardonnay Champagne with bright apple fruit and toasty complexity.

Pairs well with: Seafood platters, smoked salmon canapés and creamy cheeses.

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Champagne alternatives

For a good value alternative to Champagne, look for France’s delicious crémant, which gets its bubbles in the same way as France’s most famous fizz, with the secondary fermentation in bottle. You’ll find them from the Loire, Burgundy, Bordeaux even. 

Our favoured one is Roche Lacour, a superb, Gold-medal-winning vintage fizz from the high hills of Limoux. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir rich like Champagne, almost half the wine is oak fermented (like the biggest name of all …Krug!) to lend real depth and biscuity richness. Definitely one that may fool the wine buffs in your party.

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Home from home – Aussie fizz delivers

If you prefer to be more patriotic and sustainable,Australia does a great line in quality sparkling winein all hues – white, pink and even red. The best quality comes from cooler regions. Tasmania has a worldwide reputation, but for something different why not try our two from Adelaide Hills? 

There’s the beautifully presented Howard Vineyard, combining the vibrant cherry and raspberry notes of Pinot Noir with Chardonnay’s apple and peach freshness, with its long biscuity finish, or for a pink fizz, choose Deviation Road Altair – a delightful 92-point rosé sparkler described by Halliday as “among Australia’s best”. 

Or for an exclusive from the Eden Valley, offer your guests the delicious Corryton Versus from the renowned Burge family with its fresh strawberry and shortbread aromas, rich palate and crisp finish. 

And from the hugely popular McPherson’s,there’s the delicious and very well-priced Bubbly Personality Sparkling – a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend from Victoria’s premium Goulburn Valley and Strathbogie Ranges. Bright, bubbly and irresistible.

If you prefer your fizz premixed, pick out some of the terrific spritz on the list –Zing Thing Blood Orange or from Spain, Hola! Mediterráneo Orange Spritz in its beautiful embossed bottle. Lots of fruity bubble in both.

Fizz for those cheeky, ice-breaking cocktails

Cocktails are always a great wayto start a party and cocktails with fizz perfectly fit the bill on New Year’s Eve. If you feel like splashing out and treating your guests, you could use Champagne to provide the bubbles in your cocktails. However, with additions such as cassis, orange juice, gin and Angostura’s bitters, the most sophisticated nuances of any fancy fizz will undoubtedly be lost, so you may like to opt for something cheaper like Italy’s reliable Prosecco ora fruity fizz from Oz.

There is a broad repertoire of cocktails to choose from. Top of the list is the Classic Champagne cocktail– a sugar cube with a dash of Angostura’s topped up slowly with Champagne (orcrémant if you prefer). Or an oh-so-moreish fruity Kir Royale– a dash of cassis liqueur topped up with your fizz of choice. Or a Citrus Champagne Spritz– orange juice, a dash of orange liqueur with the glass filled to the top with fizz, which can be Prosecco, crémant or most appropriately perhaps, a fruity Aussie sparkler. 

That’s just a handful of ideas. Discover more on jazzing up Prosecco here with our guide to making prosecco cocktails.

Insider Tips for Serving and Storing Your Bubbly

Whichever fizz you choose,it’s best to serve it in tall, thin flutes. These hold onto the bubbles for the longest time, as well as being the most elegant. 

Apart from the finest, most subtly nuanced Champagne, sparkling wines need to be very well chilled – at least a few hours in the fridge or an ice bucket. 

Remember, there is a lot of pressure inside a bottle of fizz, so you need to take cake when opening it. Never point the cork towards anyone or anything precious. Twist the bottle, not the cork as you open it and keep your hand in place, over the cork, as your slowly release the cork. If you wish to look ‘pro’ when opening your fizz, do it slowly, so there’s a sigh as the cork is released, rather than a pop. 

And only the most practiced can open their fizz with the flourish of a sword or sabre... NOT to be tried at home.