When it comes to celebrations, sparkling wines are not the only way to go.

While it may seem otherwise, nobody is actually bound by international treaty to celebrate the new year with sparkling wine. It’s just that, over time, we have grown to associate the boisterous pop of the cork, the effusive festivity of bubbles, the clink of glasses with occasions great or small. Maybe if history had fallen in gin’s favor, it would be a toast of martinis at midnight.

Yet there is no reason one should limit their celebratory options, particularly when so many exist. For example, Pacific Grove Ciderworks produces a dry saison cider that is crisp and heady.

Owner Tim Calvert starts with fresh juice rather than a concentrate and aims for a low residual sugar level. The result is a sip of ripe apple with an elusive bite – almost tart, but with muted acidity that allows a soft, husky must to counter the fruit. There is enough effervescence for sparkle, alerting the palate for the next round.

Pacific Grove Ciderworks also turns out a perry – cider from pear juice – that is calmer in terms of alcohol, but no less expressive. Lean and reclusive on the nose, the perry finds its voice on the palate with a burst more concentrated than biting into a pear plucked from the tree, with a citrus edge and vague salinity, along with whispers of autumn foliage.

Because another new year will come, the time is now to stock up on PotBelly, a non-vintage port prepared for A Taste of Monterey on Cannery Row. It is a more contemplative sip that is enthusiastic now, but will be mellow and ready to ring in 2024.