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Welcome to That Useful Wine Site!
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“Sparkling Wine” is a generic term referring to wines with significant levels of dissolved carbon dioxide gas, which generates a “fizzy” or “bubbly” quality in the wines. The best-known type of sparkling wine is Champagne—which is now, by international law, a term that can only be applied to wines made in certain ways within the Champagne region of France—but there are great numbers of other such wines made in many countries. The dissolved gas can be the result of natural fermentation—either in the bottle, as with the traditional Champagne-style method or in a large tank designed to withstand the pressures involved (as in the Charmat process)—or, in some cheap sparklers, of simple carbon-dioxide injection.
There are also wines referred to as “semi-sparkling”, or often as frizzante; the rules governing such designations are these: bottle internal pressures greater than 3 atmospheres (instead of “atmospheres” you may see the term “bar”: it’s the same thing) are “sparkling”; bottle internal pressures between 1.0 and 2.5 atmospheres are “semi-sparkling”; pressures below 1 atmosphere are not sparkling. (We do not know what they make of pressures between 2.5 and 3.0 atmospheres, “they” being the Mental Giant lawmakers who define such things.)
(The history of sparkling wines is fascinating but too lengthy to recount here; we refer you to the Wikipedia article for that history.)
France produces a great variety of sparkling wines besides Champagne, including eight sorts of Crémant wines, a couple of Blanquettes, and perhaps as many as nine more (there are four AOCs whose wines can be sparkling or still, so it depends on how you count). In virtually all cases, sparkling wines can be spotted by the shape and weight of their bottles, which need to safely contain those high gas pressures.
From outside France, the more notable sparkling wines include:
Cava (Spain)
Franciacorta (Italy)
Asti Spumante (Italy)
Lambrusca (Italy)
Prosecco (Italy)
Espumante (Portugal)
Sekt (Germany)
Cap Classique (South Africa)
Pezsgő (Hungary)
There are many others. In the U.S., the simple designation “sparkling wine” is what is normally used. Worth noting is that several eminent European Champagne houses have established wineries in the U.S. in which wineries some excellent sparkling wines are made.
(Note that the wine laws pertaining to Cava had a major “tightening-up” as of the 2020 vintage; the details are too long to repeat here, but you can find them on this Wine Searcher Cava page.)
Most sparkling wines are whites, but by no means all (as with Lambrusco and most bottlings of Brachetto).
Grapes that are especially well suited for making sparkling wines are typically quite high in acid (and are often harvested rather earlier than such grapes when intended for still wines), and often somewhat neutral in flavor. The process of grape harvesting and processing is too complex to describe fully here (for details, again see the Wikipedia article), but the chief takeaway is that there are two fundamental approaches, which vary by how the secondary fermentation that produces the bubbles is handled: in the bottle (the approach formerly called the méthode champenoise but now called—unless explicitly referring to actual legally titled Champagne—the méthode traditionnelle), or the “bulk” method, called the Charmat method. It is widely believed that only in-bottle fermentation can produce the best sparkling wine, and bulk processing tends to be snooted, perhaps unfairly. But “sparkling wines” made by just injecting carbon dioxide into still wine are indeed to be avoided.
Sparkling wines are made with varying degrees of sweetness, ranging from essentially none to icky-gooey. The driest ones—which are far and away the most preferred—are referred to as Brut, but that category actually has three sub-categories. Here is a table showing what’s what on sweetness (per EU 2009 regulations, but widely followed around the world):
Rating
Sugar content (grams per litre)
Brut Nature (no added sugar)
0 – 3
Extra Brut
0 – 6
Brut
0 – 12
Extra Dry, Extra Sec, Extra seco
12 – 17
Dry, Sec, Seco
17 – 32
Demi-sec, Semi-seco
32 –50
Doux, Sweet, Dulce
50+
Basically, any sparkling wine not labelled as some sort of Brut is going to be to some degree sweet. That may be fine for celebrations where many of the celebrants are not wine fanciers, but most wine regulars would not use anything but a Brut as a table wine. Indeed, most wine fanciers tend to find even Brut wines that are toward the high end of sugars (say 10 – 12 grams/liter) to be a bit too sweet. Of course, YMMV, but that’s the general feeling.
It is worth pointing out here that decent and better sparkling wines are available at prices comparable to still wines, so there is no need to think of sparklers as luxuries to be reserved for rare occasions: drink them with whatever foods they seem to you to go with, or on their own whenever you fancy. Sparklers are especially good at matching up with foods normally thought to be somewhere from difficult to hostile for wine, such as egg dishes (think of a “Champagne brunch”).
A good-quality dry sparkling wine will have aromas of baked bread and usually an overtone of citrus. The palate will be dry, refreshingly acid, and will carry through that vaguely bready, citrus-overtone of its nose. Some sparklers show more fruit than others (American sparklers are typically that bit more fruity than their European counterparts), but the fruit oughtn’t to dominate the characteristic dry toasty quality.
Factoid: One atmosphere of pressure is about 14.7 pounds, meaning that a bottle of Champagne, which is typically at 5 or 6 atmospheres in the bottle (5 is the legal minimum), is at something like 80 pounds, substantially more than the typical automobile tire (which is why Champagne bottles are so thick and heavy—see the image).
“Blending is the hallmark of Champagne wine, with most Champagnes being the assembled product of several vineyards and vintages. In Champagne there are over 19,000 vineyard owners, only 5,000 of which are owned by Champagne producers. The rest sell their grapes to the various Champagne houses, negociants and co-operatives. The grapes, most commonly Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot meunier, are used to make several base wines that are assembled together to make Champagne. Each grape adds its own unique imprint to the result. Chardonnay is prized for its finesse and aging ability. Pinot noir adds body and fruit while Pinot meunier contributes substantially to the aroma, adding fruit and floral notes. The majority of Champagnes produced are non-vintage (or rather, multi-vintage) blends. Vintage Champagne, often a house’s most prestigious and expensive wine, is also produced, but only in years when the producers feel that the grapes have the complexity and richness to warrant it.”
“Complex and Traditional Sparkling Wines: Intricate flavor profile with refined character. From buttery brioche to baked apple and toast, this style encapsulates vintage Champagnes and other aged sparkling wines from around the world. Characteristics: Brioche, Yeasty, Hazelnut, Fine bead, Baked apple, Butter, Vanilla. Key Wines: Champagne, Cremant, Franciacorta, Vintage Cava, Methode Traditionnelle, Cap Classique.”
“The only way you can find the sparkling wine you like is to taste them all! You’ll find some of them taste bready, some citrusy, some fruity. Watch for the classification of sweetness. You’ll most commonly see sparkling wine labelled ‘brut’ or ‘extra dry’. Brut should taste dry, with no perception of sweetness. Extra dry tastes slightly sweet.”
“Zesty REDUCTIVE sparkling wines: Sparkling wine made with this style come out tasting lean with flavors of flowers, fresh apple, tropical fruit, lime and lemon zest. Wines tend to be light and zippy in the palate. The technique is called reductive winemaking and the ideology behind this method is to preserve as much of the floral and fruit character of the wine as possible. This means less oxygen is introduced during the winemaking process—this is where the term reductive comes from…To be dry, they have the least amount of sweetness added during dosage and are typically labeled as Brut…Dry and zesty wines are made with non-aromatic grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They also typically come from the coolest climate wine regions…Light, Dry, Fruity, & Floral…wines have more floral and fruit notes typically from the grapes that have been blended into the wine. For example, the region of Franciacorta in Italy blends Pinot Grigio into their wine resulting in a fruitier (like white peaches!) flavor. You’ll also tend to find this style made in warmer climate growing regions, such as Sonoma, California.”
“If you’re watching your budget, you will find that there is a range of lower-priced sparkling wine options like Cava (from Spain) or Prosecco (from Italy’s Veneto region) that may be a better option for you. Cava is made in the traditional method just like true Champagne, but from native Spanish grapes like Macabeo, Xarel.lo, and Parellada (and the Cava production area is much bigger…so more supply means lower pricing). Italian Prosecco is made from the Glera grape, and instead of the precious second fermentation happening in bottle, it’s fermented in a huge tank and then bottled under pressure (less handcrafted, and more simple in flavor because there’s no grape blending or barrel aging). There are other options like Crémant (made in the traditional method, and also in France—but not in Champagne; you see these from Alsace, Burgundy, and the Loire), and also traditional method sparklers from the US, Chile, Argentina, Germany—all over the world!”
“If you compare the sparkling wines from historic wine-producing areas, however, you will see an important difference. Wines like cava from Spain, sekt from Germany, the crémants from France, Prosecco and Lambrusco from Italy—all of these are traditionally made from local grapes rather than from the dominant trio of Champagne grapes, pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier. In the United States, a country without longstanding viticultural traditions, sparkling wine producers in the 20th century made the entrepreneurial decision to take Champagne as their model.”
“Among the various techniques for getting bubbles to materialize in a wine, the one used to make Champagne (and Cava, Franciacorta and French crémant, among others) is by far the most costly and time-consuming, requiring the winemaker to enact a secondary fermentation within each individual bottle. The payoff is that the practice typically yields the most complex and refined results.”
“Cava, or Spanish sparkling wine, follows the same artisanal production method used for champagne and California sparklers. The best Spanish sparkling wines…can fool even the pros [into] thinking they are from France, Glancy said. Xarel.lo [sic & correct], macabeo and parellada are the three grapes found in cava. According to Tom Stevenson, regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts on champagne, cava is the greatest value in the sparkling wine world.”
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Some Descriptions of Sparkling Wines
“Blending is the hallmark of Champagne wine, with most Champagnes being the assembled product of several vineyards and vintages. In Champagne there are over 19,000 vineyard owners, only 5,000 of which are owned by Champagne producers. The rest sell their grapes to the various Champagne houses, negociants and co-operatives. The grapes, most commonly Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot meunier, are used to make several base wines that are assembled together to make Champagne. Each grape adds its own unique imprint to the result. Chardonnay is prized for its finesse and aging ability. Pinot noir adds body and fruit while Pinot meunier contributes substantially to the aroma, adding fruit and floral notes. The majority of Champagnes produced are non-vintage (or rather, multi-vintage) blends. Vintage Champagne, often a house’s most prestigious and expensive wine, is also produced, but only in years when the producers feel that the grapes have the complexity and richness to warrant it.”
“Complex and Traditional Sparkling Wines: Intricate flavor profile with refined character. From buttery brioche to baked apple and toast, this style encapsulates vintage Champagnes and other aged sparkling wines from around the world. Characteristics: Brioche, Yeasty, Hazelnut, Fine bead, Baked apple, Butter, Vanilla. Key Wines: Champagne, Cremant, Franciacorta, Vintage Cava, Methode Traditionnelle, Cap Classique.”
“The only way you can find the sparkling wine you like is to taste them all! You’ll find some of them taste bready, some citrusy, some fruity. Watch for the classification of sweetness. You’ll most commonly see sparkling wine labelled ‘brut’ or ‘extra dry’. Brut should taste dry, with no perception of sweetness. Extra dry tastes slightly sweet.”
“Zesty REDUCTIVE sparkling wines: Sparkling wine made with this style come out tasting lean with flavors of flowers, fresh apple, tropical fruit, lime and lemon zest. Wines tend to be light and zippy in the palate. The technique is called reductive winemaking and the ideology behind this method is to preserve as much of the floral and fruit character of the wine as possible. This means less oxygen is introduced during the winemaking process—this is where the term reductive comes from…To be dry, they have the least amount of sweetness added during dosage and are typically labeled as Brut…Dry and zesty wines are made with non-aromatic grapes like Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. They also typically come from the coolest climate wine regions…Light, Dry, Fruity, & Floral…wines have more floral and fruit notes typically from the grapes that have been blended into the wine. For example, the region of Franciacorta in Italy blends Pinot Grigio into their wine resulting in a fruitier (like white peaches!) flavor. You’ll also tend to find this style made in warmer climate growing regions, such as Sonoma, California.”
“If you’re watching your budget, you will find that there is a range of lower-priced sparkling wine options like Cava (from Spain) or Prosecco (from Italy’s Veneto region) that may be a better option for you. Cava is made in the traditional method just like true Champagne, but from native Spanish grapes like Macabeo, Xarel.lo, and Parellada (and the Cava production area is much bigger…so more supply means lower pricing). Italian Prosecco is made from the Glera grape, and instead of the precious second fermentation happening in bottle, it’s fermented in a huge tank and then bottled under pressure (less handcrafted, and more simple in flavor because there’s no grape blending or barrel aging). There are other options like Crémant (made in the traditional method, and also in France—but not in Champagne; you see these from Alsace, Burgundy, and the Loire), and also traditional method sparklers from the US, Chile, Argentina, Germany—all over the world!”
“If you compare the sparkling wines from historic wine-producing areas, however, you will see an important difference. Wines like cava from Spain, sekt from Germany, the crémants from France, Prosecco and Lambrusco from Italy—all of these are traditionally made from local grapes rather than from the dominant trio of Champagne grapes, pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier. In the United States, a country without longstanding viticultural traditions, sparkling wine producers in the 20th century made the entrepreneurial decision to take Champagne as their model.”
“Among the various techniques for getting bubbles to materialize in a wine, the one used to make Champagne (and Cava, Franciacorta and French crémant, among others) is by far the most costly and time-consuming, requiring the winemaker to enact a secondary fermentation within each individual bottle. The payoff is that the practice typically yields the most complex and refined results.”
“Cava, or Spanish sparkling wine, follows the same artisanal production method used for champagne and California sparklers. The best Spanish sparkling wines…can fool even the pros [into] thinking they are from France, Glancy said. Xarel.lo [sic & correct], macabeo and parellada are the three grapes found in cava. According to Tom Stevenson, regarded as one of the world’s foremost experts on champagne, cava is the greatest value in the sparkling wine world.”