A Beginner's Guide to Sparkling Wine

An in-depth look at sparkling wines and Champagne, exploring the essentials of one of the world’s most celebrated wine styles.

Few things are quite as evocative as the pop of a Champagne cork and the sight of fizz being poured into a glass. For many it is an action almost synonymous with celebration, merriment and a certain joie de vivre that there simply is no good substitute for. It is served at receptions to lighten the mood, it is sprayed across jubilant crowds to celebrate a motorsports victory and it has graced the hulls of countless vessels prior to launch as a good-luck rite. Quite simply, it is hard to be sad when there is Champagne on offer. This, and an intimate connection to the image of the ideal luxury lifestyle, is the result of a series of highly effective marketing campaigns that over time have turned even quite ordinary sparkling wine into a category so distinct, that it almost risks being confused for something other than the wine it is. Today, sparkling wine is made all over the world, using many different techniques and varieties to create the wondrous fizz that continues to captivate and delight. These techniques, and what sparkling wines really are, is what we will take a closer look at in what follows.

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

While this beginner’s guide to sparkling wine is intended to stand on its own, it does build on some of the groundwork covered in my previous beginner’s guide to dry, still wines. After all, sparkling wine begins its life in the same way as still wine. Grapes are grown, harvested, pressed and fermented before any bubbles enter the picture. A basic understanding of those earlier steps will make some of what follows easier to grasp, but I will recap the essentials as we go.

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A Beginner's Guide to Wine

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There is also a tremendous amount of history and lore associated with the origins of sparkling wine. This has however been covered at length in numerous articles and publications to the point where I don’t feel I can add particular value. If you’re looking for some helpful starting points to learn about the charming history of fizz, I suggest looking up the region of Limoux in southern France, which is often cited as having the earliest documented sparkling-wine tradition, with Blanquette de Limoux linked to Benedictine monks at Saint-Hilaire in 1531. Champagne’s association with sparkling wines came quite a bit later, and it was not until between roughly 1670 and 1720, when effervescence in Champagne moved from being something governed by chance to something deliberately pursued. In part helped by the development of so called “verre Anglais”, or English glass, which was invented in the early 1600’s by Sir Kenelm Digby and could withstand the necessary pressure to contain the bubbles, and the inspired craftsmanship of a certain Dom Perignon, the Champenois were able to gain dominance in a style of wine that would come to captivate the entire wine drinking world in short order.

What then is so special about these bubbles, and how are they introduced in the first place?

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What is Carbonation?

At its most basic, carbonation is carbon dioxide which is dissolved in a liquid. At the molecular level, any liquid consists of moving molecules with tiny, temporary gaps between them. This relative looseness of structure is part of what makes it a liquid in the first place. As gas is introduced, its molecules can slip in between the liquid molecules and be held there, at least for a while. When CO₂ is introduced into water, wine, beer or any other drink under pressure, many of those CO₂ molecules become dispersed throughout the liquid, not as tiny bubbles, but rather as individual CO₂ molecules.

At atmospheric pressure the liquid and any gas it may contain is at what is known as equilibrium solubility, and is described by Henry’s law (named after the English Chemist William Henry), which states that the amount of gas that dissolves in a liquid is proportional to the pressure of that gas above the liquid. For sparkling wines, when the bottle is sealed, the CO₂ partial pressure in the headspace is high. The wine can therefore hold much more dissolved CO₂ than it would in an open environment. As soon as the bottle is opened and the pressure is released, the equilibrium level drops off towards its much lower equilibrium level at normal atmospheric pressure. As the liquid adjusts to a lower equilibrium pressure, dissolved CO₂ comes out of solution. Nucleation sites, such as small imperfections in the glass or tiny suspended particles, provide places where CO₂ molecules can gather into stable bubbles, which then grow as more CO₂ diffuses into them. If you’ve looked at the scored bottom of a champagne flute or a pint glass, you will likely have seen this in action, as a steady stream of bubbles appear as if it was coming out of the glass itself, before rising to the top of the glass.

As a side note, when you shake a bottle of sparkling wine, the pressure in the bottle does actually not increase, contrary to popular belief. On shaking, what actually happens is that gas from the headspace is mixed with the agitated liquid, creating a very high number of nucleation sites. If the cork is released soon after shaking, the high number of nucleation sites causes a far more rapid release of the dissolved CO₂, and results in the wine spraying everywhere. It is actually quite similar to what happens when you introduce a mentos to Coca Cola.

The natural next question in the context of wine is: where do these bubbles come from? With the exception of wines which in the EU are labelled “aerated sparkling wine”, which rely on forced carbonation, sparkling wines get their carbon dioxide from the process of fermentation. When yeasts consume sugar, one of the key by-products is carbon dioxide, which can be trapped under pressure to create effervescence and sparkling wines in a number of ways. The different methods used to contain this gaseous byproduct is, aside from the normal differences in terroir that separate any two wines from one another, what creates different styles of sparkling wine.

Sparkling Wine Production Methods

Before delving into the many different ways in which sparkling wines are made, it is worth explaining a couple of terms that are bound to crop up. One of the key stylistic levers used to shape the character of a sparkling wine, aside from the bubbles themselves, is the lees. When yeasts run out of sugars to consume, the yeast population crashes, with dead yeast cells settling at the bottom of the fermentation vessel. Over time, these cells break down in an enzyme driven process known as autolysis, during which they release amino acids, proteins, and carbohydrates into the wine. This process provides a creamier texture and adds complex "bready" aromas, such as toast, biscuit, or brioche, and is a key defining characteristic of many sparkling wine styles, champagne included. Often these characteristics are called autolytic, referring to this process, and suggests that the wine has spent a noticeable amount of time in contact with the lees. This can be in a barrel or tank, or in the bottle. In cases where lees have accumulated in the bottle, they can be removed by disgorging the bottle. The bottles may be manipulated by a process known as riddling, which allows the lees to collect in the neck of the bottle. The bottle is then openened, allowing the internal pressure to expel the unwanted lees before the bottle is topped off and resealed. Lastly, there is dosage, which is a small amount of added sugars (usually grape derived) that are introduced to the final wine to lend it balance. This tempers its naturally high acidity, softening any sharp edges, and determines the wine’s ultimate sweetness level.

Champagne bottles in traditional riddling racks - Photo by Lomig on Unsplash

Ancestral Method / Méthode Ancestrale

The ancestral method is one of, if not the earliest intentional methods used to produce controlled effervescence in wine, and is in principle quite simple. It relies on interrupting a single fermentation by bottling the wine before the yeast has finished consuming all the sugars present. As the yeast continue consuming the remaining sugars in the bottle, pressure builds and the CO₂ they produce dissolves into the wine.

Modern examples are often labelled pétillant naturel, or pét-nat, and are often lighter in pressure, lower in alcohol and some might argue more rustic than sparkling wines made by the traditional method that is commonly used in champagne. Some pét-nats are disgorged for clarity, while others are left cloudy with sediment, stemming from the lees that accumulates in the bottle. This is a stylistic decision that can contribute to the flavour and texture profile of the wine.

Because there is less intervention after bottling, the method can feel spontaneous and raw, but it also carries more risk. If fermentation is misjudged, pressure may be too low, too high, unstable or inconsistent. This is why some pét-nats can have a tendency to erupt on opening, dispelling a third or more of the contents of the bottle in the process. Thankfully, most quality producers have learned to properly assess the quantity of sugar left in the wine at the time of bottling, calibrating the resulting pressure well.

Classic regional examples include certain wines from Gaillac, Bugey-Cerdon, Clairette de Die tradition, and Blanquette de Limoux ancestrale, though today the method is used globally by natural and low-intervention producers.

Col Fondo

Most strongly associated with older-style Prosecco, col fondo means “with the bottom” or “with the deposit”, and can overlap significantly with the production of ancestral method sparkling. Both methods rely on a fermentation, or refermentation, happening in the bottle, but where ancestral method wines may be disgorged, col fondo wines always leave the lees in the bottle, creating a cloudy, autolytic and more textured wine.

Traditional Method / Méthode Traditionnelle

Though the ancestral method predates it by quite some time, the traditional method which is now used for Champagne, Cava, Crémant, Franciacorta, Trento DOC, Cap Classique and much of English sparkling wine, was the first to really produce seriously high quality sparkling wines.

It begins with a base wine, usually dry, still, relatively low in alcohol and seriously high in acidity. This base wine is called a vin clair and is often blended with other varieties, sites, press fractions, reserve wines and vintages to produce what is known as a cuvée. A mixture of wine, sugar and yeast, called the liqueur de tirage, is then added before the wine is bottled and sealed, usually with a crown cap for the fermentation stage. This is what kicks off the secondary fermentation. Crucially, this takes place inside the bottle, producing a little extra alcohol as well as the CO₂ which will dissolve into the wine to produce its bubbles. This stage is known in Champagne as the prise de mousse, literally the “capturing of the sparkle”.

Once the second fermentation is complete, the dead yeast cells remain in the bottle as lees. Over time, as the yeast cells break down, they lend autolytic characters to the wine, and is why traditional-method sparkling wines often taste less purely fruity than tank-method wines. Champagne, for example, must spend at least 15 months ageing before release, and vintage Champagne at least three years, although many producers exceed those minimums.

Photo by Colin Watts on Unsplash

Once the bottles have aged sufficiently, they will undergo a process of riddling, or remuage, either by hand or by an automated device called a Gyropalette, until the sediment settles entirely in the neck. The neck is then frozen and the bottle opened, and the internal pressure ejects the frozen plug of sediment. After this disgorgement, the bottle is topped up with the liqueur d’expédition, usually wine with the desired level of dosage added. The bottle is then corked, wired, rested and released to the market.

In terms of sparkling wine production, this is the most labour-intensive method, but also the one most associated with fine bubbles, long ageing potential and savoury/autolytic complexity. In addition to the many steps necessary, which all add to the cost of the final product, the time it takes to produce a good bottle of traditional method wine makes it a highly cash flow intensive venture, requiring patience and the capital to wait for years until the product is ready.

Tank Method, Charmat Method, Martinotti Method, or Cuve Close

The tank method also relies on a second fermentation, but instead of taking place in each bottle, it happens in a large, sealed, pressure-resistant tank. A base wine is placed into the tank with yeast and sugar and the yeast ferments the sugar, producing alcohol and CO₂. Because the tank is sealed, the CO₂ dissolves into the wine. Once the desired pressure, dryness and style are reached, the wine is chilled, clarified or filtered under pressure, dosed if required, and bottled isobarically, meaning without losing the dissolved gas.

This method is strongly associated with Prosecco, many Lambruscos, much German Sekt, some sparkling Shiraz and many inexpensive sparkling wines around the world. The main benefit is that due to the fact that wines made with the tank method usually spend less time on lees than traditional method sparkling wine, it preserves primary fruit and floral aromatics better, with less autolytic characteristics dominating its profile. The result is often fresher, simpler, fruitier and less expensive, which often suits the demands of much of the sparkling wine market well. For aromatic grapes such as Glera, Moscato, Riesling or Lambrusco varieties, the tank method can be ideal because it protects the grape’s own perfume, where the traditional method might mask the fresh fruit and floral aromas that make those wines appealing in the first place.

Asti Method

The Asti method is similar to the tank method, but rather than relying on a second fermentation it involves one controlled fermentation in a pressurised tank. The must is chilled to prevent fermentation until the producer is ready. Fermentation is then started under controlled conditions and at the desired balance of alcohol, sweetness and pressure, fermentation is arrested by chilling and filtration or centrifugation, thus removing the yeasts so fermentation does not restart.

This preserves much of the grape derived aromatic profile, while keeping alcohol relatively low and sweetness relatively high. Moscato d’Asti is usually gentler, lower in alcohol and lower pressure than Asti Spumante. The key concept is that the wine is not made dry and then sweetened, but rather interrupts the fermentation process before the wine goes dry.

Transfer Method

The transfer method is essentially a compromise between the traditional method and the tank method and starts much like the traditional method, with a base wine that is bottled with yeast and sugar, with the second fermentation taking place inside individual bottles. The wine can therefore develop some of the autolytic, bottle-fermented character associated with traditional-method wines.

The difference comes after lees ageing. Instead of riddling and disgorging each bottle individually, the contents of many bottles are transferred under pressure into a tank. The wine is then filtered to remove the lees, adjusted if necessary with dosage, and bottled again under pressure. This is a relatively efficient process and allows the wines to be made with great consistency. You get some bottle-fermentation character, but without the same bottle-by-bottle labour of riddling and disgorgement. It is also useful for unusual bottle sizes, where conducting the whole traditional process in the final bottle may be impractical.

One might argue that this method lacks some of the romance imbued by the bottle fermented traditional method wines, and possibly that the wines lose some of their individuality. This should be taken with a pinch of salt I believe as it remains a bottle-fermented product even though the wine is not necessarily sold in the exact bottle in which it underwent its second fermentation.

Continuous Method / Russian Method

This method is historically associated with large-scale production of sparkling wines in Russia and former soviet states and is in effect an industrial evolution of the tank method. Instead of fermenting one batch at a time, the wine moves through a connected series of pressurised tanks that allow for continuous output. Base wine, sugar and yeast enter the system at one end, while finished sparkling wine comes out the other end and can continue as long as there are raw materials available.

There is no denying that its main purpose is efficiency, volume and consistency over quality. It can produce acceptable sparkling wine at scale, but it is not generally associated with high quality and stylistically tends to sit somewhere within the broader tank-method family.

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There are of course many other techniques and slight variations to the above methods which will also produce effervescence in a wine. As long as CO₂ is introduced to a wine under pressure, it will dissolve into the liquid until the pressure is released. The main benefit, aside from the sensory implications of the bubbles themselves, which we will take a look at in a moment, is of course the extended contact with lees which many of the finest examples of this style of wine offer, which gives the wines a unique character that is hard to replicate.

So What’s the Point of Bubbles?

As we have seen so far, there is no doubt that a tremendous amount of effort goes into making a quality sparkling wine. It is an elaborate and time consuming process that needs to be executed with great skill and finesse to create a refined product with exactly the right level of fizz and balance. But what’s the point? What do the bubbles actually contribute to the experience of a wine? The answer is actually quite a lot. The presence of bubbles changes the wine’s aroma delivery, texture, taste balance, mouthfeel, perceived acidity and even the drinker’s alertness when drinking the wine. It takes an already highly complex drink and turns it into a true multi sensory event.

As bubbles are created at nucleation sites, rise through the liquid, and inevitably burst at the surface, they eject tiny droplets into the air above the glass, creating a light aerosol which can be enriched with volatile aromatic compounds from within the wine and from the gas-liquid interface on the surface. The bubbles effectively help project the wine’s aroma towards the nose and is one reason why a glass of sparkling wine can feel so aromatically expressive.

Once in the mouth, bubbles exert a mechanical effect. Interacting with the surfaces of your tongue, gums, cheeks and palate, new bubbles are created as more CO₂ is released from the liquid. That produces the familiar prickle or dancing sensation one might have when drinking a carbonated beverage. The bubbles physically move against oral surfaces, rupture, and agitate the liquid film in the mouth, and allows us to judge with some accuracy how intense the bubbles, or mousse, in a particular wine is. A coarse mousse can feel aggressive, frothy or even gassy, while a fine mousse feels creamy, persistent and elegant. That is why bubble size, persistence and integration matter so much in fine sparkling wine, with the best examples leading the wine a continuous, delicate texture rather than a mere fizz.

But the sensation of carbonation is not only mechanical. When CO₂ dissolves in water, it forms carbonic acid, although only a small fraction of dissolved CO₂ is present as carbonic acid at any given moment. In the mouth, enzymes called carbonic anhydrases accelerate the conversion of CO₂ and water into bicarbonate and protons which contribute to acid-like stimulation of your sensory receptors, adding to the perceived acidity and freshness of the wine. For a wine that is already highly acidic, to the point where a still wine might be considered sharp or severe, the CO₂ folds that acidity into a broader sensation of brightness, prickle and lift.

Photo by Deleece Cook on Unsplash

This sensation can largely be attributed to what is known as the trigeminal nerve, which is responsible for much of the face and mouth’s touch, temperature and chemesthetic sensation. Broadly speaking, it is the same nerve that gets tells your brain a chilli pepper is hot and that mint feels cool. The tingling sensation of a sparkling wine therefore, unlike so many other descriptors in wine, is not a metaphor, and quite literally stimulates your oral somatosensory pathways. Generally speaking, your brain will interpret and integrate the combined signals of acidic taste, tactile prickle and aromatic lift into a single impression of brightness, tension and refreshment.

The Role of Sugar

As discussed above in the section on traditional method sparkling wines, a small amount of sugar, or dosage, is often included when topping up the bottle after it has been disgorged. With the acid forward influence of the bubbles themselves, and the relatively high acidity of the vin clair or cuvée, sugar plays an important role in ensuring the wine feels balanced.

In Champagne, the amount of residual sugar in a wine is carefully categorised and shown on the label as an indication of the style of the wine in the bottle. One of the more common styles of champagne that many will be familiar with is designated Brut. A wine with this level of dosage will have between 0 and 12 grams per litre of residual sugar, which while quite a broad range, sets an upper limit to the amount of allowable sugar. This lack of exact definition allows for some stylistic overlap in the three driest styles of Champagne which can be quite helpful as the sensory impact of the sugar depends on the acidity and CO₂ profile of the wine.

Below is the different sweetness scales which you might encounter on a label:

• Brut Nature / Zero Dosage / Pas Dosé: 0–3 g/L

  This wine will be bone dry, sharp and uncompromising.

• Extra Brut: 0–6 g/L

  Very dry, but often less severe than Brut Nature.

• Brut: 0–12 g/L

  A dry, balanced wine, and by far the most common style today.

• Extra Dry / Extra Sec: 12–17 g/L

  Lightly sweet, despite the name.

• Sec: 17–32 g/L

  Noticeably sweet.

• Demi-Sec: 32–50 g/L

  Sweet, often suitable with desserts.

• Doux: 50+ g/L

  Very sweet, now quite rare.

As suggested above, sweetness in Champagne is not perceived in isolation and a Champagne with high acidity, strong CO₂ pressure and a lean mineral profile may taste very dry even with 8 or 9 g/L of dosage. Meanwhile, a riper, softer Champagne with lower acidity may seem sweeter at the same sugar level. The dosage is all about balancing acidity, texture, bitterness and aromatic profile for the target style of wine, and is less about absolute sweetness.

Historically, Champagne was often much sweeter than it is today. Where modern Champagne is dominated by Brut, Demi-Sec and especially Doux are now much less common than they were.

The Vin Clair

Now that we have covered the bubbles, and the different styles of champagne in some detail, it is worth stepping back a bit to discuss the wine which underlies it all. As with all wines, what varieties are grown where differ quite a bit depending on the terroir, tradition and what local rules allow. Champagne is overwhelmingly made from three grapes, namely Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. These represent almost all of the planted acreage of Champagne, in a relatively even split, 38% of which is Pinot Noir. Historically, four further varieties were also permitted and are represent in the region in tiny quantities. These are Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris. More recently, Chardonnay Rose has been added to the list, bringing the main authorised vinifera varieties to eight. In addition, Voltis, a disease-resistant hybrid, is permitted on an experimental and tightly limited basis.

These varieties can be blended or made as varietal wines using one variety only. This gives rise to categories of wines such as Blanc de Blancs, which literally translates to white from whites, and refers to wines made exclusively with white grapes. In Champagne this almost always means that the wine is made from 100% Chardonnay. Similarly, Blanc de Noirs refers to white wines made from black grapes, which in Champagne would likely mean the wine is made from 100% Pinot Noir.

Being by far the most emulated sparkling wine producing region, the use of the main three Champagne varieties to make sparkling wine has become a common practice across the globe, from New Zealand to California, and any suitable place in between. The need for sparkling wines to have very high acidity dictates that any growing region with ambitions of making quality sparkling wine are cool climate ones. If Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, or any other variety for that matter, are grown in too warm climates, they will more often than not ripen too early, missing the crucial intersection of high acidity and aromatic ripeness that leads to fine sparkling wine.

The wine before the bubbles

While there really is no limit to the variety of sparkling wines that can be made, other common examples include Prosecco, which is made using the Glera grape, Cava which uses Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada and Sekt which uses Riesling. There will be a complete overview of other examples towards the end of this article.

When producing the base wine for a sparkling wine, the winemaker navigates the same winemaking decisions encountered when making still wine. The stylistic goal being sparkling will however dictate which choices are made and will have a tremendous impact on the final wine. Generally speaking, sparkling wines will tend to be pressed as gently as possible to avoid any extraction of tannins and unwanted compounds from the skins, with careful separation of press fractions. This is particularly important for Blanc de Noir wines where any maceration time will tint the wine red or pink. Then there is the choice of fermentation vessel, whether stainless steel, oak, a combination of both or something else altogether, which will impact the flavour and aroma profile of the wine, and how much exposure to oxygen it has. Once that is done, many wines will undergo malolactic fermentation which will soften the palate, making a broader, more voluptuous base wine, which may then be blended with other varietal wines, from either the same or several different vintages before the second fermentation is initiated.

Vintage and Non-Vintage (NV)

The practice of blending vintages results in what is known as a non-vintage wine, usually labelled NV. This is standard practice for most of champagne and many other regions, and allows the winemaker to create a far more consistent product in a region that can suffer from tremendous vintage variation. When there is an exceptional vintage, or simply when the winemaker decides to showcase some of that vintage variation, wines will be labelled with the vintage of the harvest. For many champagne houses, this also tends to mean longer ageing on lees before release, often well beyond the three year minimum for a required by the appellation for a vintage wine. While it is a declaration of quality by the producer, it generally just means that it is more time specific, reflecting the variations of a single, and often singular, growing season.

Quick Fire Questions

The full breadth and scope of the world of sparkling wine is far too much properly cover in one article. What follows therefore is a series of topics, questions and answers that makes use of what we have covered so far to give further context to the sparkling wines you are likely to encounter. Some of the answers will for the sake of brevity read a bit like a list, but should hopefully serve as a useful reference.

Sparkling wine regions with associated varieties and production methods:

• Champagne, France

  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Meunier; rare authorised varieties include Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and others.

  Production: Traditional method

• Crémant d’Alsace, France

  Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir

  Production: Traditional method

• Crémant de Bourgogne, France

  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Aligoté, Gamay

  Production: Traditional method

• Crémant de Loire / Saumur / Vouvray, France

  Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grolleau, Pineau d’Aunis, Pinot Noir

  Production: Traditional method

• Crémant de Limoux, France

  Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Mauzac, Pinot Noir

  Production: Traditional method

• Blanquette de Limoux / Blanquette Méthode Ancestrale, France

  Mauzac, with possible Chardonnay and Chenin depending on style

  Production: Traditional method or ancestral method

• Clairette de Die, France

  Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, Clairette

  Production: Ancestral method / méthode dioise ancestrale

• Bugey-Cerdon, France

  Gamay, Poulsard

  Production: Ancestral method

• Gaillac Mousseux, France

  Mauzac, Len de l’El, Muscadelle and others

  Production: Ancestral or traditional method

• Prosecco DOC / DOCG, Italy

  Glera, with small amounts of permitted supporting varieties

  Production: Tank method / Martinotti / Charmat; also col fondo for some traditional styles

• Conegliano Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG, Italy

  Glera

  Production: Mostly tank method; some col fondo or traditional experiments

• Franciacorta, Italy

  Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, Pinot Bianco, Erbamat

  Production: Traditional method / metodo classico

• Trento DOC / Trentodoc, Italy

  Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Meunier

  Production: Traditional method / metodo classico

• Alta Langa, Italy

  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir

  Production: Traditional method / metodo classico

• Asti / Moscato d’Asti, Italy

  Moscato Bianco

  Production: Asti method

• Lambrusco, Emilia-Romagna / Lombardy, Italy

  Lambrusco di Sorbara, Salamino, Grasparossa and related Lambrusco varieties

  Production: Mostly tank method; some ancestral or traditional method

• Cava, Spain

  Macabeo, Xarel·lo, Parellada; also Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Garnacha, Monastrell and others

  Production: Traditional method

• Corpinnat / Classic Penedès, Spain

  Often Xarel·lo, Macabeo, Parellada, Malvasia, Garnacha, Monastrell, Sumoll and others

  Production: Traditional method

• Sekt, Germany

  Riesling, Pinot Noir/Spätburgunder, Chardonnay, Pinot varieties, Silvaner and others

  Production: Tank method for many basic wines; traditional method for quality Sekt and Winzersekt

• Austrian Sekt / Sekt Austria

  Grüner Veltliner, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Welschriesling and others

  Production: Tank or traditional method

• English sparkling wine, England / Wales

  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier; also Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir Précoce

  Production: Mostly traditional method for premium wines

• Cap Classique, South Africa

  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier; also Chenin Blanc and sometimes other local varieties

  Production: Traditional method

• Tasmania, Australia

  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier

  Production: Mostly traditional method for premium wines

• California, USA

  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier; also Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chenin, Riesling, Muscat

  Production: Traditional method for premium wines; tank method for some inexpensive wines

• Marlborough / Central Otago, New Zealand

  Chardonnay, Pinot Noir

  Production: Traditional method

• Pét-nat, global

  Almost any variety: Chenin, Gamay, Riesling, Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, local grapes

  Production: Ancestral method

• Aerated sparkling wine, global

  Any suitable base wine

  Production: Forced carbonation.

All sparkling wine is not Champagne:

The global push by the Champenois to prevent any other wine region from calling their sparkling wines Champagne has perhaps made this statement redundant, but in the context of this guide it bears repeating. Champagne refers to wines made within the designated appellation of Champagne. All other sparkling wines are just that, often with appellations of their own. Some wines will still carry the word Champagne on the label, despite coming from somewhere else. Generally speaking this will suggest a lower quality wine, with most serious producers respecting the individuality of Champagne, while championing their particular region in the process.

Can I serve my Champagne in a regular wine glass?:

Yes, and for high quality examples I would encourage you to. The champagne flute does a good job of creating a small surface area from which CO₂ can escape, keeping the wine bubbly in the glass for longer. However, the comparatively narrow opening of a champagne flute creates quite a limited headspace in which the complexities and aromas of the wine can express themselves, and you will in all likelihood get a better appreciation for the aromas of the wine if you serve it in a regular universal style glass. That said, I do personally own some champagne flutes and if that is what you have to hand there is nothing wrong with using them.

Can you cut the top off of a champagne bottle with a sword?:

Yes and no. You can “sabre” a properly prepared champagne bottle with a spoon, or the base of a wine glass should you want to. This relies on the fact that your average champagne bottle keeps the liquid within under around 5-6 bars of pressure and if the bottle is cold enough, a sufficiently large jolt to the top of the neck at the right angle can break the glass, sending the top of the neck, along with the cork, flying. There is no cutting involved, but off course using a sword does look the part.

Word of warning, this can be dangerous if done incorrectly. Please do your research and exercise caution should you decide to try.

Elegance personified

How do I open a bottle of sparkling wine if I don’t have a sabre?:

The relatively high pressure contained within a bottle of sparkling wine can be intimidating. Thankfully however it is, perhaps with the exception of some large format bottles, quite simple. First you remove the foil, and keeping one thumb on the top of the cork, unscrew the wire cage. Angle the bottle away from anything fragile, including pets and humans, and twist the bottle while holding the cork with a firm grip.

The aim is to release the pressure with what resembles a light sigh, rather than the flamboyant pop many have come to expect. That said, sometimes the occasion calls for a bit of a spectacle, and a slightly looser grip on the cork should allow it to escape the bottle with a solid pop should you choose to.

What food should I pair Champagne with?:

Champagne, and most sparkling wines, are the Swiss army knives of food pairing and can go with just about everything. When in doubt, serve sparkling.

Why do the size of bubbles vary from wine to wine?:

The bubble size of a sparkling wine depends largely on the pressure at which it was bottled, the viscosity and surface tension of the wine. Wines that have seen extended time on lees often contain a number of complex proteins that are released during autolysis, and which act as mild surfactants that lower the surface tension between the wine and the CO₂, preventing the CO₂ from coalescing into large pockets.

The nature and number of nucleation sites also matter in how a wines bubbles are perceived, with a rougher texture providing a stable space for more gas to collect than a comparatively smooth surface.

Final Thoughts

That someone new to wine might mistake sparkling wines or champagne as something altogether different is understandable. The tremendous sensory impact which carbonation provides changes the nature of the drink entirely, often shielding the underlying terroir influence behind production techniques and bubbles. After all, regardless of how they are achieved, the dissolved carbon dioxide is exactly the same in every sparkling wine out there. Beneath the bubbles, is a wine that is every bit as complex and terroir driven as any still wine out there, relying on sound farming practices, careful yield management and great skill in the winery.

I hope this introduction to what is a relatively complex sub-genre of wine has been enjoyable, and made sufficiently approachable. If you’re a veteran of the trade you may not have not heard anything new here, but I hope it has been enjoyable nonetheless and that it might serve as a decent reference for anyone looking to untangle what sparkling wines really are.

Part of me would have loved to discuss the multifaceted history of Champagne in particular which as a region has gone through multiple wars and tremendous setbacks, yet have always managed to come back on top. This has been the subject of books, including the brilliant Champagne by Don Kladstrup, and would quite simply have made this already long article rather excessively so.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, and urge you share this with anyone you know that might delight in fizz and is looking to learn a bit more about it. If there are any inaccuracies or glaring omissions, please let me know and I’ll make sure to address them.

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