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Champagne and Sparkling wineChampagne and Sparkling Wine Many people enjoy a glass of wine in order to unwind and relax. It’s a great accompaniment with food, whether you cook with it or enjoy it with your meal sitting around your table talking to your family or friends. It is also a nice drink to have sitting curled up on the sofa reading a book or watching your favourite TV programme. For an increasing number of people wine is also their first choice of drink, when it comes to going out and socialising, be it down the local pub or in an upmarket wine bar in the city centre. Some people drink both red and white wine with no preference for either, but most of us are strictly red or white wine drinkers only. Many people claim to get headaches after drinking red wine, and white wine is often perceived as being lighter and more refreshing. Sparkling wine is usually white, there are a number of rose varieties too, but the selection of red sparkling wines is more limited to a few Italian and Australian ones. Although the bubbles are not to everyone’s liking, most of us like a glass of bubbly on special occasions. The bubbles in our bubbly are carbon dioxide, which is either caused by the fermentation process or is injected into the fermentation tank. This effervescence had been noted by the ancient Romans and Greeks, though they could not find an explanation. Over the centuries the bubbles were not much liked, and were instead seen as spoiling the wine. Dom Perrignon, a monk, was charged by the superiors of his order with finding a way of getting rid of the bubbles – instead he ended up lending his name to a Champagne. It’s only since the end of the 18th century, once the cause of the bubbles had been identified and developments in technology had been made, that sparkling wine was produced deliberately. So, what makes a sparkling wine being called Champagne? Well, it has to come from the French winemaking region of Champagne, which also means it has to be made using the Champagne method. Any other sparkling wine, produced elsewhere in the world has been produced by a different method. Champagne uses slowly ripened grapes in a surprisingly cool climate, and is a blend of different grapes from different vineyards in the region. It is also a more complex drink with smaller bubbles, than sparkling wine in general. There are, though, many more countries producing sparkling wine – Cava in Spain, Espumante in Portugal or Asti in Italy (in some parts of the world Champagne and spumante are used as synonyms for sparkling wine), though the USA, California in particular is one of the biggest producers of sparkling wines these days. So, whether you like your wine just sparkling or you are after specific Champagne bubbles, if you enjoy your bubbly, why not consider buying it by the case. Share your passion for the sparkling stuff with your family or as a gift with friends. |
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