What is crémant, how is it different from champagne and prosecco, and how many calories are there in a glass?
PROSECCO has reigned supreme as the nation’s favourite fizz for several years, but could crémant be the sparkling wine industry’s best kept secret?
Here’s what you need to know about champagne’s cheaper, very delicious cousin crémant.
What is crémant?
Crémant is a type of sparkling wine from France.
It’s made in the ‘traditional’ method, similar to champagne and cava.
While the end result is delicious and bubbly, the grapes originally get turned into a still wine with low alcohol.
They then get put into bottles to ferment more, which is where the carbon dioxide forms.
It’s then left to sit in the bottle for 9 months (where the yeast breaks down) before it’s filtered in the bottle and released.
How is it different from champagne and prosecco?
Champagne refers to sparkling wines produced in the region of Champagne in France.
There are several other factors which distinguish champagne from other sparkling wines.
These include:
- The grapes used - mainly Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and the red Pinot Menieur
- How the bubbles are formed - for champagne it’s from a secondary fermentation process that takes place inside the bottle
Crémant originally referred to wines that were also from the Champagne region, but had less fizz than regular champagne.
Today, ‘crémant’ refers to sparkling wines made outside of Champagne, that still use the champagne method of fermenting in bottle.
You can find crémant wines from all across France - made with very different grapes from champagne.
These include Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Riesling.
Crémant is often cheaper than champagne but it’s arguably just as delicious.
While champagne and crémant are both French wines, the nation’s favourite fizz - prosecco - is actually Italian.
Prosecco comes from the Veneto region of Italy and is made with prosecco (aka Glera) grapes.
It’s also produced using an entirely different method known as the ‘Tank Method’, which is essentially a bit less fussy.
The simpler fermentation process used in making prosecco is part of the reason it’s cheaper to buy than champagne.
Crémant currently sits between the two more popular sparkling wines price wise, with Waitrose .
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How many calories are there in a glass?
Crémant is French for ‘creamy’, but this doesn't mean it contains more calories than other sparkling wines.
There are 79 calories in a 100ml serving of Loire Crémant.
While the calorie content varies depending on the type of bottle you go for, it doesn’t stray too far from that benchmark.
So, could crémant replace prosecco as the nation’s best-loved bubbly?
Potentially. But why not buy a bottle and keep it your little secret for now.