At a recent tasting, we discovered the value and quality of Bouvet Ladubay sparklers

If your pocket doesn’t run to crates of champagne, what can you serve with Christmas canapés to still charm your guests ?

At Noize restaurant, Bouvet Labubay showed off some of their most appealing sparkling wines and paired them with some classy canapes.

Based in St. Hilaire St. Florent in the Loire, the winery collaborates with over 80 winegrowers and sticks strictly to traditional wine-making techniques, but uses the latest technology where appropriate. Miles of underground cellars originally  quarried for tuffeau limestone, are perfect for ‘methode traditionelle’ ageing, where each bottle is regularly hand-turned – the ‘rémuage’.

First off their least expensive wine, Bouvet Saumur AOP Brut

As everyone knows, Champagne is made from primarily Pinot noir, Pinot meunier, and Chardonnay grapes but Bouvet Saumur’s sparkling wine is made with 85% Chenin Blanc and 15% Chardonnay grapes grown on clay-limestone Tuffeau soils in the Loire region.

The Chenin Blanc gives this wine a real freshness and zing that pairs well with fish, or in this case, choux pastries oozing with cheddar cheese. At just £14 from Majestic you really can’t knock this for real party appeal and you can afford to get a few crates.

At £17 from MajesticBouvet Saphir Saumur AOP Brut Vintage is only a bit more expensive but you get a fair bit more for your money. One of the first designated appellations in the Loire Valley, it’s a pale golden colour with fine crisp bubbles, it tastes of peaches and apricots and then flowers. Bouvet Ladubay call it the ‘high definition’ Saumur Brut and it’s hard to argue with that. Cured mackerel on toast went down well here.

Moving on there is Bouvet ‘Trésor’ Saumur AOP Brut Vintage.  This is aged in oak barrels to give a vanilla note and, as it spends a minimum of twenty four months on the lees, you get the typical brioche flavours. Although great with canapes such as the white bean hummus on tapioca toast we enjoyed,  as it’s £20 a bottle you might want to reserve this treasure for drinking with a meal.

Christmas is a time when pink is perhaps more acceptable, and Bouvet Saumur AOP Rose Brut has a very festive colour. The Cabernet Franc grape is used to give the salmon colour and there are notes of raspberry. I’d serve this as an aperitif only, and not with the main courses,  although getting it out to serve with a dessert such as cheesecake would be a suitably cheerful end to a good meal.

Bouvet Ladubay ‘Blanc de Blancs’ Crémant de Loire is 100% chardonnay is, as you’d expect from a cremant, beautifully buttery smooth with sharp refreshing acidity and a gentle mousse. Just  £19 at Majestic.

And as a grand finale, a magnum of  Bouvet-Ladubay Saumur Brut Ogmius 2015. This was first produced in 2007 to mark the passing of Etienne Bouvet, the house’s founder.

This 2015 bottle will cost you around £70-£90, but for a big occasion you won’t regret it. Oak barrel ageing results in citrus notes combined with a buttered toast taste and mouth feel. The aroma is a joy all in itself. We ate chicken liver parfait, a perfect match.

So there you have it, you can sparkle with style this Xmas and still have a bit of spare change for the new year. You may even have a bottle or two still left over, but it’s unlikely.