The joy of Christmas is all about the anticipation. It’s about planning the annual return to roots to embrace those you love, looking forward to enjoying the Christmas atmosphere with family and friends, delicious food and bubbly accompanied with the Christmas classic songs – It’s Christmaaaaaas!

Working out what kind of fizz to serve be it for a party or dinner with family and/or  friends or neighbours can be a bit of a balancing act. To help you choose the best bubblies for the festive period we’ve just released the awards and scores for the annual competition 50 Great Sparkling Wines of the World>>

Here’s some inspiration for a very merry Christmas:

Bubbly for gatherings of family and friends

Go for quality and quantity – fizz that tastes great at nices prices. Think about choosing Gold medal winners MARQUÊS DE MARIALVA BLANC DE BLANCS BRUTO – Portugal (@€5,99), JANE SANTACANA RESERVA BRUT-NATURE ETIQUETA ORO – Cava, Spain (@€6,00), or REYMOS BRUT – Spain (@€7,50) Make life easier by matching these great value bubblies with tapas such as goat cheese on toast or jamón ibérico with bread grizzled with olive oil with a rub of tomato on top to seal in the olive oil.

Bubbly for small gatheiings of family and friends

With fewer people you can afford to splash out a bit more. With a price ceiling of €20 there are many Gold medal winners in range such as CHAMPAGNE PHILIZOT ET FILS BRUT NUMÉRO 3 – France (@€15,00), GRAN FUCHS DE VIDAL – Cava, Spain (@€17,85), ZLATA RADGONSKA PENINA 0,75 L “BRUT NATURE” – Slovenia (@€19,99), VALADOS DE MELGAÇO ESPUMANTE ALVARINHO – Portugal (@€18,00) or CUVEE DE PURCARI FETEASCA ALBA WHITE BRUT – Moldova (@€10,00)  Again serve with a selection of tapas such as strips  of smoked salmon served on a bed of mashed avocado on toast or tuna sashimi.

Bubbly for a special family Christmas lunch

Christmas of course is one time when we can justify going to town on spending.a bit more on bubbly. These five bottles may be a little pricey but be assured they are delicious and will match well with Christmas lunch before during and after. Try MARQUÊS DE MARIALVA CUVÉE PRIMITIVO BRUT NATURE 2014 Portugal (@€49,90), BRUT ROSÈ METODO CLASSICO 2017 Italy (@€32,00), BRUT MILLESIMATO D’ANTAN – Italy (@€60,00), QM ESPUMANTE ALVARINHO SUPER RESERVA – Portugal (@€25,00) or SIDEWOOD ISABELLA ROSÈ – Australia (@€22,00)

Make sure your bubblies are properly chilled. Ideally, it should be around 6-8ºC. If possible serve in thin rim flutes with a wide as possible bowl.Standard white wine glasses will work too.

So when you are planning for the festive season look out for any or all of the 50 Great Sparkling Wines of the World by Wine Pleasures –  Champagne, Cava and Prosecco are all well represented as are bubblies from the New World – Australia, Argentina and Chile. You won’t be disappointed.

Have a merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!

Anthony Swift
50 Great Sparkling Wines of the World competition Director.