Here’s a terrific sparkling wine from France that will make your palate and your pocketbook happy. It’s the Marcel Martin Tête de Cuvée Crémant de Loire Brut. The requirements for the Crémant de Loire appellation include originating in the regions of Anjou-Saumur or Touraine, lower grape yields than go into the Loire’s other sparkling wines and a higher percentage of free-run juice, as well as one-year’s aging, as opposed to nine months for other local sparklers. Grapes tend to be chenin blanc and cabernet franc, though chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and some indigenous grapes are allowed. “Tête de Cuvée” on a label implies that the product is top (or “head”) of the line, but the term is not regulated in France, so consumers must depend on the honesty of the producer. These wines are made in the champagne method of second fermentation in the bottle.

Marcel Martin Tête de Cuvée Crémant de Loire Brut presents a medium straw-gold color such as Rapunzel’s hair might be; a tremendous fountain of tiny bubbles erupts from the bottom of the glass and surges upward to the surface. This is all roasted lemon, steel and limestone, with hints of winsome acacia and almond, straw and bracing sea-salt. This sparkling wine truly is full-bodied and creamy, though cleanly cut with rapier-like acidity and scintillating limestone and flint minerality. The finish is long, fervent, steely and spicy. 12.5 percent alcohol. Very Good+ (with a couple more +s if I could; it’s that close to Excellent). I paid $23, but I have seen prices as low as $17 around the country.

Imported by The Stacole Co., Boca Raton, Fla.