Champagne, and the fizz from the rest of France
French sparkling wine
French sparkling wine comes in three main kinds. Champagne, from one region only, is the benchmark. Crémant is made the same way in other regions such as Alsace, Burgundy, the Loire and Limoux, often for less than half the price. Pét-nat is the rustic one, gently fizzy and often cloudy.
Barello is a home cellar and bar app that tells you what to open tonight, what to keep, and what you can mix from what you have. It's free, and it tells you when each bottle you keep is at its best.
The three kinds
Champagne is made mostly from three grapes: pinot noir, meunier and chardonnay. One with no year on the label (non-vintage, or NV) can't be sold until 15 months after bottling. One with a year can't be sold until 36.
Crémant means creamy. The grapes are picked by hand, and the wine spends at least 9 months on its yeast in the bottle. Alsace, Burgundy, the Loire, Limoux, the Jura and the town of Die all make it, each with its own grapes. Limoux also makes Blanquette, its older local fizz, mostly from the mauzac grape.
Pét-nat is bottled while it's still fermenting, usually under a crown cap like a beer. It isn't a legal term, so most is sold under France's plainest label, Vin de France.
Reading the label
Brut nature has under 3 g of sugar a litre. Brut has under 12 g. Extra dry is sweeter than brut, at 12 to 17 g. Sec is 17 to 32 g, and demi-sec is sweet, at 32 to 50 g.
Producers worth knowing
| Moët & Chandon (Champagne) | Impérial Brut NV, A$68.95 at Dan Murphy's, £46 at Waitrose. |
|---|---|
| Pol Roger (Champagne) | Brut Réserve NV, A$104.95 at Dan Murphy's, £57 at Waitrose. |
| Cave de Turckheim (Alsace) | Organic Crémant d'Alsace, £15 at Waitrose. |
| Cave de Lugny (Burgundy) | Crémant de Bourgogne, £17 at Waitrose, A$30 at Liquorland. |
| Sieur d'Arques (Limoux) | Crémant de Limoux, A$26.99 at Dan Murphy's. |
| Saint-Hilaire (Limoux) | Blanquette de Limoux Brut, A$25.99 at Dan Murphy's. |
Prices in Australian dollars and pounds from each retailer's own website, 22 October 2026.
How long to keep it
Non-vintage Champagne and crémant are ready when you buy them. Vintage Champagne has waited at least three years and is built to keep longer.
For a bottle with a year on the label, these are the years Barello gives it, counted from that year. It brings the dates forward if the bottle is kept somewhere warm. A bottle with no year gets no dates.
| Vintage Champagne | from 1 year after the vintage, best around year 4, until about year 12 |
|---|---|
| Crémant | from its vintage year, best around year 2, until about year 6 |
How cold to serve it
8 to 10°C (46 to 50°F), as the Champagne makers recommend. A kitchen fridge is about 4°C (39°F), so let a good bottle warm a little before you pour.
Questions people ask
Is crémant the same as Champagne?
Not quite. It's made the same way, fermented a second time in the bottle from hand-picked grapes. But it comes from other French regions and needs only 9 months on its yeast, where Champagne needs 12. At Waitrose in October 2026 crémants cost £13.50 to £20, and Moët £46.
What cocktails can I make with French sparkling wine?
Any cocktail that calls for sparkling wine: the Bellini, Champagne Cocktail, French 75, Hugo, Kir Royale, Mimosa, Negroni Sbagliato, Pornstar Martini and Spritz. A crémant is the one to mix, and the Champagne is for the glass.
How long does it keep once it's open?
About two days, kept cold with a proper sparkling stopper. A resealed bottle keeps 90% of its fizz over two days, and an open one loses half. The last glass or two make a good cocktail.
Keep track of what's in the fridge and when to open it. Barello holds the wine and the bar in one place the whole house shares.
Join freeSparkling wine from elsewhere: English sparkling wine, Australian sparkling wine, American sparkling wine and Italian sparkling wine.
More for an open bottle: wine cocktails, by the bottle they take.
Sources: INAO, Champagne specification · Comité Champagne FAQ · Comité Champagne on dosage · INAO, Crémant d'Alsace · Crémant de Limoux decree · VinePair, what is crémant · INAO, Limoux · PUNCH, what is pét-nat · BKWine on pét-nat · Dan Murphy's · Waitrose · Liquorland · The Conversation on keeping it fizzy.