Sparkling Wine

The subject of Sparkling Wine is a lot more than the most common question it gets, ie ‘what is the difference between sparkling wine and Champagne‘?

Wines are made globally and cover many different styles from still to sparkling, fortified to organic. It is quoted in varied articles that global wine production is around 35 billion bottles with Italy, France and Spain leading the production list.

Sparkling wines form a big percentage of global wine production and though it maybe the most famous name within this sector, Champagne is responsible for only around 8% of the total worldwide amount. Sparkling wine is most common to be white along with rosé, both these a popular choice for many, you can also see an increasing demand and supply of red sparkling wines.

Key factors to know about sparkling wine:

• It is the carbon dioxide that makes it fizzy
• There are three main ways to make sparkling wine being the traditional (Champenoise) method, Charmat and the carbonation method.

Traditional (Champenoise) method:

The bubbles are produced in bottle

Charmat Method:

A method which takes less time whereas the bubbles are produced in a vat or tank

Carbonation:

The bubbles are produced by adding CO2 which gives less quality results, larger bubbles though is very productive re profits in that production time and methods are not adhered too.

A topic which many will debate is where, when and whom founded the process of making wine with bubbles? The factual answer is that it was discovered in 1662 in England by the scientist Christopher Merret who recorded on paper the details of the presence of sugar in wine would led to the formation of bubbles. The more popular, romantic and famous answer to this question is that bubbles were discovered in France by Dom Pierre Pérignon whose quote many of us will know “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!“*

Sparkling wine is produced across the world from a variety of grapes and in an array of styles. Methods vary from region to region and country to country, qualities and prices will differ. Some countries have a long history in making sparkling wine whereas some have only just entered the market.

* The quote “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!” is also said to be fake and only appeared within a print advertisement in the late 19th century