All terms

Crémant

Crémant is the term for French sparkling wine made by the traditional method, but outside Champagne. The traditional method (also called méthode traditionnelle) means that the second fermentation, which creates the bubbles, takes place inside the bottle itself. This is exactly the same basic principle as in Champagne, and the wine therefore often gets fine, persistent bubbles and a creamy character with discreet notes of bread and brioche from the time the wine rests on its lees. The difference lies first and foremost in geography: if the wine does not come from the delimited Champagne region, it cannot be called Champagne, and Crémant is then often the name.

The term was introduced in 1995 precisely to gather French sparkling wine made by the traditional method under a single, recognisable name. You will encounter it from several French regions, for example Crémant de Limoux from Languedoc and versions from Jura, and each region uses its own local grapes. That is why a Crémant does not taste the same from place to place, but you can expect a wine with genuine bottle bubbles rather than the fresh, fruity style you find in tank-method wines like Prosecco.

A widespread misunderstanding is that Crémant is a lesser version of Champagne. It is not. It is a category in its own right made by the same method, simply from other parts of France, and it is worth getting to know if you would like to discover bottle-fermented bubbles beyond Champagne.