Sparkling Wines

Typical Flavors

Citrus

Apple

Pear

Strawberry

Fermentation Flavors

Vanilla

Bread

Nuts

Citrus, Apple, Pear, and Strawberry are typical flavors.

Fermentation notes of Vanilla, Yeast and Nuts.

French Sparkling

Champagne

Méthode Champenoise

Méthode Traditionelle

Italian Sparkling

Greco di Tufo Spumante

Glera

Other

Red Sparkling

Sparkling Barbera (Italy)

Lambrusco (Italy)

Sparkling Shiraz (Australia)

Sugar Levels

Regulation EC 607/2009	Sugar gram/litre	Calories /glass
Brut Nature (Brut Zero)	0-3	3
Extra Brut	0-6	5
Brut	0-12	7
Extra Dry (Extra Sec, Extra Seco)	12-17	10
Dry (Sec, Seco)	17-32	20
Demi (Semi)	32-50	30
Doux (Sweet, Dulce)	50+	30+

Food Pairing

Aperitif

Salads

Tapas

Sandwitch

Seafood

Oysters

Salmon

Sushi

Fries

Chicken

Turkey

Pork

Egg Dishes

Pasta

Risotto

Soft Cheese

You can drink sparkling wines to almost everything:

Fried Fish. Smoked Salmon. Sushi.
Serrano or Prosciutto Ham.
Potato Chips. Pancakes.

Méthode Champenoise

Méthode Champenoise is the method used to produce French Champagne.

With Méthode Champenoise (the production method of Champagne), the first fermentation takes place in a tank, and a second fermentation takes place in the bottle.

Adding CO₂ (Carbon Dioxide) is not allowed.

The second fermentation starts by adding yeast (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae) and sugar to the bottle, and after about 1 year, the bubbles are completely developed.

The legend credit a Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon (1639-1715), for inventing sparkling wine when he bottled a wine before fermentation, but the oldest recorded sparkling wine is Blanquette de Limoux from 1531.

The method is used for:

French Champagne
French Crémant
Spanish Cava
Italian Franciacorta
German Sekt
Portuguese Espumante

Méthode Champenoise is now reserved (by EU) for wines produced in Champagne:

Country	Must Use
England	Traditional Method
France	Méthode Traditionnelle
Spain	Método Tradicional
Portugal	Método Tradicional
Italy	Metodo Classico Metodo Tradizionale
Germany	Klassische Flaschengärung

French Sparkling

Champagne

Champagne is associated with nobility, royalty, parties, money, and victories.

According to EU restrictions, Champagne is reserved for French wines from the Champagne region.

"The King of Bubbles" is made from the grapes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, and comes in both white and rosé styles.

Crémant

The production method of Crémant is he same as Champagne, but often with other grapes.

These are the AOCs (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée):

Mousseux

Mousseux is a sparkling wine, made either by the Charmant metod (Secondary Fermentation in a tank), or by adding Carbon Dioxide - CO₂.

These are some AOCs:

AOC Blanquette de Limoux. (Languedoc)
AOC Bourgogne Mousseux. (Burgundy)
AOC Bugey Mousseux. (Savoie)
AOC Saumur Mousseux (Loire).
AOC Vouvray Mousseux (Loire).

Spanish Sparkling

In Spain, Sparkling wine is called Cava, which means "Cellar".

Cava used to be called "Spanish Champagne", but this is no longer permitted in EU, since Champagne is a protected French name.

The production method is the same as for Champagne, but with other grapes:

Macabeu
Parellada
Xarel-lo.

Cava is an important part of the Catalan and Spanish tradition. It is consumed at any celebration (baptisms, marriages, banquets, dinners, and parties).

Cava DO (Denominación de Origen) is not region based. Cava can be made anywhere in Spain, as long as it follows the production rules.

Anyway, 95 percent of all Cava is made in the Penedès wine region in Catalonia.

Cava has 3 aging styles:

Cava
Cava Riserva
Cava Gran Riserva

Italian Sparkling

In Italy, Sparkling wines are called Frizzante or Spumante.

Frizzante

Frizzante wines have light bubbles (2.5 - 3.5 bars of pressure).

The most famous Italian Frizzante wines are:

Prosecco
Moscato d'Asti
Pignoletto Frizzante

Most Frizzante wines are made using the "Charmat" method.

Charmat

The Charmat method is quicker and cheaper than the Champagne method.

With this method, wine, yeast, and sugar are mixed into a steel tank. The tank is sealed, and when the yeast consumes sugar, it releases bubbles in the wine.

Spumante

Spumante wines are fully sparkling (4 - 6 bars of pressure).

The most famous Italian Spumante wines are:

Asti Spumante
Pignoletto Spumante
Prosecco Spumante

Italian Spumante wines are produced either with the Charmat method or Metodo Classico.

Metodo Classico

Metodo Classico is the Italian name for wines produced the same way as Champagne.

Alta Langa DOCG
Franciacorta DOCG
Greco di Tufo DOCGG
Oltrepò Pavese DOCG
Trentodoc DOC

Sparkling Sekt

In Germany and Austria Sparkling wines are called Sekt.

Sekt is a sparkling wine that is primarily produced in Germany and Austria, where it has the role as an alternative to expensive Champagne and Spanish Cava.

Normally, Sekt is made using the "Charmat" method, like Prosecco, but some producers also use the "Champagne" method to produce high quality Sekt.

German Quality Grades

German Sekt	Lowest quality Sekt using German grapes
Sekt A	Medium quality Sekt using grapes from one of 13 named regions
Winzersekt	High quality Made with the "Champagne" method Sekt made with single origin Riesling Aged in the bottle on the yeast for minimum 9 months

The most common grape is Riesling.

Austrian Quality Grades

Austrian Sekt	Lowest quality Sekt using Austrian grapes
Klassic	Good quality Sekt using grapes from a major wine region Aged in the bottle on the yeast for minimum 9 months
Reserve	High quality Made with the "Champagne" method Harvested and pressed in a single wine region Aged in the bottle on the yeast for minimum 18 months
Grosse Reserve	Best quality Made with the "Champagne" method Harvested and pressed in a single municipality Aged in the bottle on the yeast for minimum 30 months

The most common grapes are Gruner Veltliner and and Blaufrankisch.

Portuguese Sparkling

In Portugal, Sparkling wine is called Espumante. It has 3 quality levels:

VEQPRD

(Vinho Espumante de Qualidade Produzido em Região Determinada).

Método Tradicional wines, marked with the year of harvest, and stamped as VEQPRD. These wines are only produced in Bairrada DOC, south of Vinho Verde.

VFQPRD

(Vinho Frisante de Qualidade Produzido em Região Determinada).

Regional sparkling wines made with the Traditional, Charmat, or Transfer Method, in Douro, Ribatejo, Minho, Alentejo or Estremadura.

VQPRD

(Vinho de Qualidade Produzido em Região Determinada).

Sparkling wines made by the Traditional, Charmat, or Transfer method, anywhere in Portugal.

Espumoso

Espomoso is a low level sparkling wine, made by adding Carbon Dioxide - CO₂.