The Absolute Best Champagne To Choose For Your New Year's Eve Party

Certain beverages are de rigueur for certain occasions — the first day of fall should be marked with a PSL, while Derby Day means you need to start learning how to make a mint julep. New Year's Eve is a lot simpler, since all you need to do is crack open a bottle of Champagne. If it's something you only drink once a year, though, you might be unsure what bottle to pick. Anthony Giglio, a sommelier and wine expert-turned-author, exclusively told The Takeout, "When choosing a Champagne for New Year's Eve, think about freshness, energy, and versatility. A great party bottle should feel festive from the first sip, but still refreshing enough to carry you through midnight. [...] The key is choosing a bottle that adds celebration without demanding too much attention — New Year's Eve should be joyful, not academic."

Giglio dropped a few names, including the non-vintage Champagnes Ayala Brut Majeur, Henriot Brut Souverain, and Laurent-Perrier La Cuvée. He said all of these "offer crisp acidity, fine bubbles, and a universally appealing style that works with any crowd." Other sparkling wines, including Gloria Ferrer Royal Cuvée Rosé and Gratien & Meyer Crémant de Loire Brut, "deliver brightness and lift." If pressed to name his absolute favorite, though, he'd go with Frédéric Savart Les Noues' Extra Brut, which he described as "a deeply expressive grower Champagne that feels simultaneously electric and elegant. It has tension, texture, and just enough swagger to make midnight feel momentous. [...] It's the kind of Champagne that doesn't just mark the new year, it anchors the memory of it."

Anthony Giglio's top pick costs about $200 per bottle, which may be fine if your pockets are deep and your party is small. (If you had 100 guests, you might need 65 bottles, and spending $13,000 on champagne is certainly a flex.) If price is no object, he shared a few more top-tier recommendations, including Armand de Brignac Brut Gold (around $250), Nicolas Feuillatte Palmes d'Or ($150 to $200), Gosset Celebris (a little more than $200), or Bruno Paillard N.P.U. (about $250). "These wines are deep, expressive, and luxurious, with the kind of complexity that evolves beautifully over the course of the night. When the goal is celebration at its most indulgent, a prestige Champagne delivers without compromise," Giglio opined.

If your funds aren't unlimited, however, Giglio recommends going with these types of sparkling wines, some of which are made outside the Champagne region. He says you can't go wrong with Freixenet Cava (just $13 or so per bottle), Mionetto Prosecco (also around $13 at Target), Lanson Black Label Brut (somewhat pricier at around $50), and Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut (also in the $50 range). According to Giglio, "What unites all these options is balance: clean fruit, snappy acidity, and the kind of bubbles you can pour generously without blowing the budget before the ball drops."

One way to stretch your Champagne so you need fewer bottles is to serve it in cocktails; that way, you're not filling the whole glass with big-bucks bubbles. In a mimosa, a two-ingredient cocktail simple enough for anyone to memorize, half the drink consists of inexpensive orange juice, while the other half is Champagne. You could also make a black velvet, which is 50% dark beer (typically Guinness Stout) and 50% Champagne. For a mimosa margarita, you only need a little bit of the bubbly to create somewhat of a Champagne float. To make these Champagne cocktails, you don't need to use top-shelf ingredients. According to Anthony Giglio, "Affordable sparkling wines shine in cocktails because their acidity and bubbles provide lift, allowing added flavors to stay bright and refreshing." 

Giglio recommends the aforementioned Mionetto Prosecco for cocktails like the Bellini, aperol spritz, or French 75, because it has a "crisp fruit and a clean finish that anchors cocktails beautifully." With a Kir royale or sparkling Negroni, however, he'd go with Freixenet Cordon Negro Brut, calling it "a classic choice: dry, zesty, and sturdy enough to hold its own against bitters and liqueurs." As to why he'd pick these under-$20 bottles, he explained, "These wines work because they bring energy and lift without demanding to be the star, and because they're so affordable, you never feel guilty mixing them. Save the prestige Champagne for sipping; let the everyday sparklers do the heavy lifting behind the bar."