Crémant is French sparkling wine made by the same method as Champagne, in one of eight French wine regions outside Champagne. The traditional method is identical: a still base wine, a second fermentation sealed inside the bottle, months on the lees, then disgorgement and a cork under a wire cage. The place and the grapes change.
Each of the eight crémant appellations uses the grapes its region grows. A Crémant de Loire is led by Chenin Blanc, a Crémant d’Alsace by Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois, and a Crémant de Bourgogne by Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Bourgogne
Alsace
Savoie
The eight crémant appellations
The eight appellations share one method and are spread across France: the Loire in the west, Alsace on the German border, Limoux in the far south, the Jura and Savoie in the mountains.
Scroll the table sideways to see both columns
| Appellation | What it is made from, and what to expect |
|---|---|
| Crémant d’Alsace | Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Riesling for white. Rosé is Pinot Noir only. |
| Crémant de Loire | Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Franc lead, with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Grolleau and a few others permitted. The area runs from Anjou through Saumur and Touraine to Cheverny. |
| Crémant de Bourgogne | Mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, two of the Champagne grapes. Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Gamay, Aligoté, Melon and Sacy are also permitted. |
| Crémant de Bordeaux | Sémillon and Sauvignon Blanc for white, Cabernet and Merlot for rosé. |
| Crémant de Limoux | Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc, with Mauzac and Pinot Noir in smaller shares, in the Aude department of the Languedoc. |
| Crémant du Jura | Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, plus the local Poulsard, Trousseau and Savagnin. |
| Crémant de Die | Clairette, with Aligoté and a little Muscat, in the Drôme valley. White only. It shares its vineyard area with Clairette de Die, a different sparkling wine. |
| Crémant de Savoie | At least 60% Jacquère and Altesse, in the Alps. White only. The newest of the eight, recognized in 2015. |
Crémant outside France
EU law lets any white or rosé quality sparkling wine with a protected designation use the word crémant, if it meets the crémant rules. Luxembourg makes Crémant de Luxembourg along the Moselle, just over the French border.
How crémant differs from Champagne
The method is the same. The differences are place, grapes and time.
Scroll the table sideways to see both columns
| Crémant | Champagne | |
|---|---|---|
| Method | Traditional method, second fermentation in the bottle | Identical |
| Where | Eight French regions, none of them Champagne | One delimited region in northeast France |
| Grapes | Whatever the region grows, so it changes with the appellation | Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier |
| Minimum aging | 9 months on the lees, 12 months before sale | 15 months before sale, 36 for vintage |
| Harvest | Hand-picked, required; pressed as whole or destemmed grapes | Hand-picked, required; pressed as whole bunches |
| Closure | Cork and wire cage | Cork and wire cage |
Time on the lees builds bread and pastry notes, and a producer can age crémant longer than the 9-month minimum.
What crémant tastes like
Eight regions and more than a dozen grapes give crémant no single flavor. These four notes come up often.
Brioche
From the months the wine spends on its lees
Green apple
A crisp, tart note that comes with the acidity
White peach
Orchard fruit, which changes with the grapes of each region
Blossom
White flowers, a note the Savoie producers name for their crémant
- Shorter aging keeps the fruit forward
- The crémant minimum is 9 months on the lees, against 15 months of aging for non-vintage Champagne. Less time means less autolysis, the bready character from the lees breaking down, so fruit and acidity come forward.
- The region tells you more than the word crémant does
- A Chenin Blanc crémant from the Loire and a Pinot Blanc crémant from Alsace taste different, because the grapes differ. The appellation name on the label tells you which grapes to expect.
- The label states the sweetness
- Crémant uses the same sweetness terms as Champagne, from Brut Nature to Demi-Sec. EU rules cap crémant at 50 grams of sugar per liter, so there is no sweeter Doux.
- Six of the eight make rosé
- Crémant de Die and Crémant de Savoie are white only. Elsewhere, rosé comes from the local red grapes: Cabernet Franc in the Loire, Cabernet and Merlot in Bordeaux, Pinot Noir in Alsace, and Pinot Noir and Gamay in Burgundy.
How to open and serve crémant
- Chill it to 43 to 46°F (6 to 8°C). That is the range the Crémant de Loire producers give. A few hours in the fridge or 30 minutes in a bucket of ice and water gets it there.
- Keep a hand on the cork once the cage is loose. Crémant holds at least 3.5 bar of pressure. Untwist the metal loop to loosen the wire cage.
- Turn the bottle and hold the cork. Tilt the bottle to about 45 degrees and ease the cork out without a pop.
- Use a white wine glass. It leaves more room for the aroma than a flute.
- Open it early in the meal. The French producers' federation suggests it as an aperitif, and it can carry on through the meal.
Pour a Loire or Burgundy crémant with oysters and shellfish, an Alsace crémant with charcuterie and soft cheese, and any crémant with fried food.
Common questions about crémant
- Is crémant just cheap Champagne?
- No. Crémant uses the same method in a different region, with its own grapes and a shorter minimum aging time. Its rules also require hand harvesting, as Champagne's do.
- Why can crémant not be called Champagne?
- Champagne is a protected designation of origin, so only wine from that region may use the name. The method itself is open to any region. In the EU, the same technique goes by Crémant in France, Cava in Spain, Franciacorta or Trentodoc in Italy, and traditional method elsewhere.
- Is crémant dry?
- Check the label. The sweetness terms mean the same as on a Champagne label, and Brut Nature and Extra Brut are the driest.
- What is the difference between crémant and Prosecco?
- The method. Crémant ferments a second time inside the bottle and rests on its lees for at least 9 months. Prosecco DOC ferments a second time in a pressurized tank for at least 30 days and is then filtered. The time on the lees gives crémant its bread and pastry notes.
- Which crémant should I start with?
- Bourgogne for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, the grapes it shares with Champagne. Loire for Chenin Blanc. Alsace for Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois.
Sources
- EU Regulation 2019/33, Article 53: traditional method and crémant rules
- EU Regulation 1308/2013, Annex VII: quality sparkling wine
- Fédération Nationale des Producteurs et Élaborateurs de Crémant: le crémant (in French)
- Crémant de Bordeaux (in French)
- Crémant de Bourgogne (in French)
- Crémant de Die (in French)
- Crémant de Die specification (PDF, in French)
- Crémant du Jura (in French)
- Crémant de Limoux (in French)
- Crémant de Loire (in French)
- Crémant de Savoie (in French)
- Vin de Savoie and Crémant de Savoie specification (PDF, in French)
- INAO: Crémant d'Alsace specification (PDF, in French)
- Vins et Crémants de Luxembourg
- Comité Champagne: maturation on lees
- Consorzio Prosecco DOC: how Prosecco DOC is made
Try a crémant
We carry crémant from Alsace, Burgundy and Savoie. Each listing names the appellation, the grapes and the producer, so you can tell which of the eight regions you are drinking before you open it.
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