Misconceptions persist when it comes to sparkling wines. First of all, not all bubbles are champagne. Only wines from the region of the same name, in France, and produced according to very strict specifications can be called champagne.
The Interprofessional Champagne Wine Committee (CIVC) spends millions each year in legal proceedings to protect its brand; for example, Yves Saint Laurent had to give up a perfume called Champagne or even Perrier stopped using the expression “champagne from mineral waters”.
That said, excellent sparkling wines are also produced elsewhere in the world.
Several production methods exist to make a sparkling wine. The simplest, the least expensive, and the one which gives the most ordinary wines, is the simple addition of carbon dioxide to a still wine. Like we make Coca-Cola. And it gives the same type of bubbles, rather coarse.
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The traditional method is that used for champagne.
The method recognized as the best is the traditional method, the one used for champagne. But many less expensive wines are produced using the same method, elsewhere than in Champagne. Made from different grape varieties and terroirs, they have different expressions and often represent very good value for money. This is the case for crémants de France and cavas from Spain, for example, but also many wines elsewhere in Europe and in the New World.
Another method, between the previous two, is the Charmat method, or closed tank, which gives simpler wines, focused on the fruit, and intended for rapid consumption. The best example is Italian prosecco, a wine appreciated for its very fruity character.
As for the pet nat (natural sparkling), very trendy at the moment, it is nothing new. These wines, which are often part of a natural wine approach, are made according to the ancestral method, very probably the oldest method of making sparkling wines. These are generally low alcohol wines, more sparkling than sparkling, which may have residual sugar and sediment. Simpler wines, but often packed with character – for better or for worse!
How to properly appreciate your bubbles
Whatever your choice of wine, forget the flutes! If you want to appreciate a sparkling wine at its true value, choose a tulip-shaped glass: flared enough at the base to allow the wine to fully express itself. A white wine glass will always be more appropriate than a flute, which keeps the wine too cramped. The reverse is not better: the cut, very flared, lets the bubbles and aromas escape too quickly. Reserve it for cocktails.
PHOTO FROM THE VINUM DESIGN WEBSITE
Italesse champagne stopper, $ 18.95 at Vinum Design
As with any wine, taste it before serving it: a sparkling wine sealed with a cork stopper can also be corked! And if you don’t drink the whole bottle, you just need to equip yourself with a suitable stopper to reseal it, which can be found in any good wine accessory store. A good sparkling wine can keep well in the refrigerator for a day or two, or even longer. There is no reason to go without if you only want a drink or two!
If the general rule says that we must serve sparkling wines very fresh (around 8 oC), as with all wines, the richer and more complex they are, the more they will benefit from a slightly higher serving temperature (from 10 to 12 oVS). And as with all good wines, watching their evolution in the glass as they rise in temperature is a great pleasure.
These are also wines that can age very well, especially those from the traditional method. The majority can keep well, and continue to evolve, for at least three or four years. And many others, more complex and deeper, can be kept for 10 to 20 years, or even more. But not in the fridge!
Cold is just as harmful as heat: ideally, keep your good sparkling wines in the cellar or in a cellar, at a temperature of around 12 ovs.
At the bottom of a fridge, they will only deteriorate more quickly.
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Sparkling wines are used on various occasions.
Great versatility
And what about their great versatility at the table? Of course, sparkling wines make excellent aperitifs. Their low alcohol content and generally high acidity are ideal for whetting the appetite. But that’s not the only way to appreciate them!
These same qualities are, among other things, what makes them ideal wines for the table. They will shine with fish and seafood, of course, but also with anything fried, fatty or salty. Fried chicken and champagne? At all times ! They stand up to eggs like no other: think scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, leek quiche, cheese soufflé. As with green vegetables: many wines are crumbling under their bitterness, good sparkling wines are only enhanced.
A sparkling rosé, for its part, slices wonderfully into the fat of the rillettes, and creates a surprising accord with a duck breast with currants or cranberries.