A case full of choices for New Year's bubbly

4) A fizz-filled world: Spanish cava, Italian prosecco, German sekt — name a wine region and you’ll find bubbly there.  These are go-to wines for celebrations like New Year’s, bottles to uncork in the hours before the big toast.

As for Spain, my favorite cava of 2005 remains the Avinyó brut (De Maison Selections, $15), though great options abound $8 and under.

But what’s been truly impressive this year is the quality of French sparklers made elsewhere than Champagne — something I’ve been tracking closely since our tasting last December of non-Champagne French bubbly.

Two in particular are worthy of note from recent months: The Allimant-Laugner crémant d’Alsace rosé (Vigneron Imports, $19), an all-pinot noir Alsatian effort, and the Francois Pinon Vouvray brut (Louis/Dressner, $13), a bone-dry sparkling Loire Valley chenin blanc that’s my own personal pick for pre-midnight New Year’s bubbles this year.

5) Staying at home: Domestic sparklers remain a great option too, especially if the true Champagne price tags scare you away. If you're seeking to impress your hosts, skip the Korbel and seek out some smaller labels.

From California, the best picks remain the Roederer Estate Anderson Valley brut ($17) and Gloria Ferrer Carneros brut ($18), while Schramsberg has been showing well lately and Sonoma’s J Vineyards continues its roll.

In the Northwest, there's Oregon’s Argyle Winery and Washington’s Mountain Dome. And though I’m a perennial fan of their blanc de noirs, New Mexico’s Gruet Winery offered up a dazzling brut rosé ($14) this year that’s both delicate and vibrant, a sheer pleasure.

6) Decoding the lingo:  Finally, how about a quick refresher on Champagne terminology?

• Brut: The driest (least sweet) of sparkling wine styles. Very little, or no, extra sugar is added during the winemaking process.
• Extra dry: Actually not dry at all. Sweeter than brut because more sugar's added.
• Blanc de blancs: White wine grapes (usually chardonnay) made into white sparkling wine.
• Blanc de noirs: Sparkling wine made entirely from red grapes, almost always pinot noir or pinot meunier, or some combo of the two. Despite the name, blanc de noirs are often white in color — and aren’t the same as rosé sparklers, which are usually made from red grapes whose juice is allowed to soak up more color from the grape skins.
• Champagne: New trade regulations will require any European wine labeled “Champagne” to come from that region of France.  It’s a guarantee of authenticity, though not necessarily of quality. Some domestic producers have retained use of the word, though they must list where it comes from (hence “California Champagne”) and most quality wineries have long since dropped the practice.
• Méthode Champenoise: Also known as “Méthode Traditionelle” or “Champagne Method,” it signifies that a wine was made using the multiple fermentations and lengthy handling that are decreed by law in Champagne. (The bubbles come from a second fermentation in the bottle.) Cheaper wines might be made using the Charmat method, used to carbonate wine in bulk tanks.
• Non-Vintage (NV): Indicates that the wine was made using grapes from several vintages. The vast majority of sparkling wine is made by blending lots from multiple years to create a style that’s pleasing and consistent. Wine from a single vintage isn't always better, simply rarer.

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