I’ve been telling anyone who will listen this week about my new favorite wine in the store: the M. Bonnamy Crémant de Loire at $14.99.
I don’t like comparing non-Champs bubbles to Champagne because there’s really no comparison, but let’s say this: the least expensive good Champagne in the store is $29.99—the fantastic Paul Laurent. But is it twice as good as the M. Bonnamy? That’s up for you to decide.
Made from 100% Cabernet Franc, this wine is also 100% methode traditionelle meaning the second fermentation to create the bubbles occurred in the bottle, like true Champagne, not in a stainless steel tank with a CO2 gun. Hence, you get refined bubbles, a creamy mousse, and serious elegance.
What you don’t get is the brioche and minerality of a true Champagne, but for $14.99 I ain’t complaining. This wine is clean, fresh, tasty, and it tastes way more expensive than it is.
With mask rules back in effect, crowded bars seemingly less enticing, and my backyard patio looking more and more like my future office, I’m in for a case of the M. Bonnamy. As my late colleague Jim Barr liked to say: “This will be my house wine for the month.”
-David Driscoll