Champagne vs Sparkling Wine; what’s the difference?

All sparkling wine is made from good quality still wine. The simple difference between Sparkling Wine and Champagne is location. In order to be called Champagne the wine must come from the Champagne region of France. But what truly separates all sparkling wines is the quality of the juice and the process in which it was made. I will explain each of the methods briefly.

 Rural Method: 

    This ancient way of making sparkling wine involved slowing or stopping fermenting of the wine, bottling and restarting fermentation to create the gas necessary for sparkling wine. Because the wine was not filtered it resulted in a cloudy wine with an inconsistent flavor or taste, but you had sparkling wine. It was these humble beginnings and research that led to the processes we know today that produces a consistent product year after year. 

Methode Champenoise: 

    Traditional or Classical French process, which allows for a second fermentation to occur in the bottle (the creation of natural carbonation) in which the wine will be sold. The most costly of all the methods, it involves the blending of already fermented grape juice often referred to as the cuvee’ or house style, with a sugar, yeast, and wine mixture called triage. The wine is bottled capped and allowed to ferment producing alcohol and carbon-dixoide.

   Once the second fermentation and aging time is complete the wine maker must remove the sediment. How? You ask. Riddling! A slight turning of the wine bottles that are placed at a 45-degree angle in a hole cut into an A-frame rack. This slowly eases the sediment to the neck of the bottle in preparation for disgorgement. Today in some wineries the process is done by machine not by a person. To extract the sediment the necks of the bottles are frozen and the caps are taken off with the dead yeast cells attached then a dosage is added (wine, sugar mixture) for two reasons: 1. to add a level of sweetness 2. Top off the bottle to a proper level. Then the bottle is corked, wired and aged before being shipped.

 Transfer Methode: 

    The steps are the same as Methode Champenoise with the following differences. After the second fermentation the wine does not go through the riddling process, but the wine is transferred into pressurized tanks and filtered to remove any sediment. The dosage is added to the tanks and the wine is rebottled. This method not permitted in the Champagne region is used elsewhere throughout France and the wine world. Wines produced in this method should be labeled “Fermented in bottle” or Transfer Method.

Charmat or Bulk Process: 

    The quickest and least expensive method; the second fermentation takes place in Pressure secured tanks and the Tirage is added (sugar, yeast, wine mixture). The tanks act as one large bottle for the second fermentation to take place. Once complete, the sparkling wine is filtered and bottled with the added dosage.

    Many Sparkling wine making countries and regions throughout use the Methode Champenoise Process to designate a quality product made the traditional way. But a winemaker can only use the designation if the processes are followed. A winemaker using any other method must label as such and is not allowed to label their Sparkling Wines Methode Champenoise. 

Terms and Levels of Sweetness

Brut Natural (Bone Dry) 0.0 – 0.5 % Sugar

                                Brut 0.5 – 1.5% Sugar

                       Extra Dry 1.2 – 2.0% Sugar

                         Sec Dry 1.7 – 3.5% Sugar

                      Demi-Sec 3.3 – 5.0% Sugar

How to Taste

Most Sparkling Wines will fall in one of the two categories:

1. Wines that express the character of the grape.

2. Wines which are complex and flavorful.

 What to look for and how to describe it:

Sparkling Wine Terms:

Cava – Spain

Spumante – Italy

Sekt – Germany

Sparkling – Others

Blanc de Blanc – White Wine from White Grapes

Blanc de Noir – White Wine from dark grapes

Frizzante  Italian – Lite Fizz

Petillant  French – Lite Fizz

Sur Lie – on the lees

Dosage – Sugar  and wine mixture

Tirage – Sugar, Yeast, Wine Mix

Cuve- Close – French Bulk Process

Granvas – Spain Bulk Process

Vintage – Single year wine