Sparkling Wine Basics
(by Raymond R. Wells, EdD, CSW)
Regions: Up until a few years ago when the U.S. agreed to restrict the use of established place names for wines (such as Burgundy, Chablis, etc.), some California sparkling houses called their products Champagne. The U.S. was not part of the European Economic Community which had restricted place names for many years; and some California producers didn’t care if they annoyed a few Frenchmen. But in the interest of world harmony, only sparkling wines from the Champagne region of France can now be called Champagne; though any region can use the Traditional Champagne Method. Some countries have different terms for their sparklers: Germany = Sekt, Italy = Spumante, and Spain = Cava.
Methods: Traditional Method or Méthode Champenoise produces the smallest bubbles (or finest mousse), the richest flavors, and most complex sparklers. The second alcoholic fermentation (that produces the bubbles) takes place in the same bottle in which the finished wine is later served.
The Transfer Method can produce excellent sparklers, often indistinguishable from wines produced by the Traditional Method, and is the same as the Traditional Method except that instead of riddling (an expensive, labor intensive, and time consuming process) to remove the dead yeast cells from the secondary alcoholic fermentation, the wine is emptied into a special, pressurized transfer machine, blended together, and filtered. The bottles are washed and then refilled with the sparkling wine and dosage. The label may read “fermented in THE bottle”, which is different from the “fermented in THIS bottle” that is used in the Traditional Method.
The Charmot Process or bulk process is used to produce most of the inexpensive sparklers because the entire process can be completed in as little as 3 weeks. After the primary fermentation in large tanks, the still wine is put in cold, large pressure-sealed tanks where yeast and sugar are added to start the secondary alcoholic fermentation to create the bubbles. Then it’s filtered, adjusted for sweetness, bottled, and shipped. This method creates larger bubbles and less Champagne character, but is much less expensive.
The Injection Method is just like it sounds. The still wine is adjusted for sweetness and the carbon dioxide is injected to produce the bubbles. This is the cheapest method and produces the largest, shortest-lasting bubbles. Fortunately, it is rarely used.
Vintage / Non-Vintage: A vintage Champagne / sparkling wine has to have a certain percentage (95% in most regions) of the grapes from the year stated on the bottle. Although some of the finest, most expensive sparklers are vintage dated, there is no reason to shun non-vintage sparklers. In fact, because the wine is blended from different vintages, the product is more consistent and is more representative of the house style.
Sugar Levels: This is the most confusing part of buying sparkling wines because there are overlaps between the different designations as well as the fact that there can be a 3 gram/liter residual sugar (RS) variance allowed. When Champagnes first started being produced, they were fairly sweet. When a slightly less sweet wine was made, it was designated “Dry”, although it was still rather sweet. When an even less sweet wine was produced, it was called “Extra Dry”, though it still had discernable residual sugar. A sparkler with little or no RS may be termed “Brut”. Here are the residual sugar levels, in percent and grams per liter for different designations:
· Brut Nature (no added sugar): 0%-0.6%, (0-3 g/L)
· Extra Brut: 0%-0.9%, (0-6 g/L)
· Brut: .0%-1.5%, (0-12 g/L)
· Extra Dry: 1.2%-2%, (12-17 g/L)
· Sec: 1.7%-3.5%, (17-32 g/L)
· Demi-Sec: 3.5%-5%, (32-50 g/L)
· Doux: over 5%, (50+ g/L)
In wine, truth and health!