Champagne can only be called Champagne if made in Champagne, France
By Cindy Adams
Cindy Adams
This time of year is a time of celebration. Weddings, graduations, Father’s Day — lots of great reasons to pop the cork on a delicious sparkling wine. However, when selecting your bottle (or bottles) of bubbly, do you know what to look for on the label to get the type of sparkling wine you want? Let’s take a look at “bubbles” — how they’re made, different names for sparkling wines and the categories you want to be aware of.
First, Champagne is only called Champagne if it’s made in France — more particularly in the Champagne region, which is in the northeast part of the country. The French actually passed a law “copyrighting” this name. Even French sparkling wine that isn’t made in Champagne has to be called something else — in this case, Cremant. If you buy a Spanish sparkling wine, it will be called Cava, and if you purchase a sparkling wine from Italy, it will be labeled Prosecco. Here in the United States, sparkling wine is called … sparkling wine. There are some exceptions to this rule. Some wineries in the U.S. have been making sparkling wine for a long time and have called it Champagne (because we used to name our wines very generically). When the law was passed, some California wineries were grandfathered in and are allowed to still use this name — as long as they called it “California Champagne.”
So now you know what it’s called, how about how it’s made? There are three methods for producing sparkling wine; methode champenoise, charmat method and carbonation. The first, champenoise, is the most traditional. After the grapes (generally Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meuniere) are fermented, this liquid is put into individual champagne bottles, along with a little more yeast and a bit of sugar and a crown cap is put on the bottle. A crown cap is like the cap on beer or soft drink bottles. It then begins its second fermentation in the same bottle in which it will be sold. The cap keeps the carbon dioxide inside the bottle, which is what creates the bubbles. The bottles are then put, neck down, onto a “riddling rack,” which holds them at a 45-degree angle while this second fermentation takes place, usually 15 months to three years. During this time the “lees,” or dead yeast, goes into the neck of the bottle. To make sure that it does, indeed, reach the neck, they are “riddled” by hand. This means that each bottle is rotated ¼ of a turn on a regular basis. After fermentation is complete, the bottle is ready to be disgorged. The neck of the bottle is put in a solution that freezes it and makes a “plug” of all the dead yeast in the neck. The crown cap is then lifted off and the plug shoots out. At this time a “dosage” can be added, which is generally brandy or more of the same wine. A pressure cork is then put in and the cage installed, and it’s ready to drink. These bottles will have the words “Fermented in This Bottle” on it.
The charmat method is more of a “bulk” process. In this case, the secondary fermentation takes place in closed tanks rather than individual bottles. By closing the tank during the fermentation, the carbon dioxide cannot escape. The dead yeast falls to the bottom of the tank and is siphoned off from there. Because there is less “hands on” time with this method, the cost savings is passed on to the consumer, making this the most popular type of sparkling wine. The last method, carbonation, is seldom used as it does not produce as high a quality end product. In this case, carbon dioxide is injected into the finished wine, and it is the least expensive version of sparkling wine.
As far as levels of dryness to sweetness, there are five styles of sparkling wine. If the label says Brut, it will be dry, which means it will not taste sweet at all. Extra Dry, oddly enough, is sweeter than Brut. This is generally the most popular style. The other styles, Sec, Demi-Sec and Doux are very sweet and are more for desserts rather than for a celebratory toast.
Enjoy your celebrations. Cheers!
Cindy Adams, CS, CSW, is the director of retail operations at Guglielmo Winery.
SPARKLING WINES
Names: Champagne, Cremant, Cava, Prosecco and sparkling wine
Methods: Methode champenoise, charmat and carbonation
