Everyone needs a bit of sparkle at Christmas and there’s no better way to celebrate than with a nice bottle of bubbly. LFW checks out some affordable brands and prices—and a couple not so affordable! By Aine Dowling

In a past life and in another country I used to work for a wine merchant so I could be a tad biased (read spoilt) when it comes to bubbles. Every Christmas and birthday we could choose a bottle from the warehouse as our gift, and I have to admit that my choices were mostly Moet, Veuve Clicquot, Piper Heidsieck, or Dom Perignon. If you were to buy Dom now you would pay around $195 a bottle!

Seriously though, after you’ve bought the presents, bought the food, and shopped ‘til you dropped, who has the money to spare; not to mention the energy to scour out the specials, so we’ve scoured a few for you!

Plus a few quirky wine gifts just because …

Australian and New Zealand Sparkling Wines

Chandon is a popular Aussie sparkling; never to be confused with Moet & Chandon … the only similarity is in the name. Lindauer is a reasonably priced NZ bubbly, but I personally prefer Oyster Bay over both the others.

French and German Sparklings

Not many people associate Germany with a sparkling wine but Henkell Trocken is surprisingly good—though a bit on the sweet side for some, and comes out well on price and quality against these two French sparklings.

French Champagnes

It’s only Champagne if it’s from the Champagne region, and these two are long-time favourites, and a good price for the real deal.

Take-out-a-mortgage French Champagnes

A quiet word with your bank manager might in order before you buy a few cases of either of these! Ab Fab spent a long time sipping Bolli, and that was just the Brut! Go up a couple of levels to Bolli Spectre Vintage 2009 and it will make hole in your wallet—though nowhere near the size of the hole this 1996 Dom Perignon Vintage will make!

Quirky Wine Things

Seriously serious thongs (or flip-flops depending where you’re from). Make a statement every time you walk on the beach—you never know—you might get a few surprises at your door.

How many times have we put our glass down and forgotten about it … well, you’ll never lose your glass again with this gift!

Christmas Party? Awesome! Give the gift of Christmas with a Santa Pants bottle carrier.

An extra USB always comes in handy!

And don’t forget … Have a Sparkling Christmas!