Choosing the Perfect Sparkling Wine

Whether commemorating a special event such as a wedding or anniversary, celebrating a special birthday or congratulating on a new job, a bottle of champagne is a traditional gift.  But not everyone likes champagne so what other sparkling wines are available?

Understanding the sparkle

Sparkling wine is a wine that has bubbles and is carbonated.  It tends to be named by the region where it is produced – hence Champagne comes only from the Champagne region of France.  Being possessive of their name and brand, the French won’t allow any other sparkling wine to be called champagne, so hence a variety of names have come along as the appeal of sparkling wines spread.

Sparkling wine also comes in four levels of sweetness and the bottle will tell you what level it is.  At the top of the scale is the Extra-Brut – this is the dried kind of wine and is where the yeast in the process has completely consumed the sugar so there no hint of sweetness to the resulting drink.  Next up is Brut, the most commonly encountered and popular level.  This wine is dry with just a hint of sweetness as the yeast was stopped just before it ate all of the sugar.  Champagne is nearly always Brut.  Extra Dry is somewhere between Brut and Extra-Brut and Prosecco is the most well known variety.  Finally, Demi-sec is a sweet sparkling wine, usually drank with dessert as it has a noticeable amount of sugar in it.

Types of sparkling wine

Champagne isn’t the only sparkling wine from France as there is another type called Crement – basically this is champagne that is made in other parts of the country, normally Burgundy, Jura, Alsace and Loire to name a few.  It has near the quality of champagne but a less heavy price tag.

Prosecco has quickly become the popular alternative to champagne and comes from Italy, using the Glera grape.  It has a less complex flavour than champagne often said to have the flavours of white flowers, apple and pear in it.  It has become the favourite sparkling wine for parties and for gifts, with personalised labels being a great way to make a bottle a commemorative present as well as a tasty one.

Lambrusco is the other well known sparkling Italian wine and has become rather trendy in places like New York.  It is an off-dry sparkling red wine from Emilia Romagna that works well with Italian foods such as prosciutto and parmigiana reggiano.

Franciacorta is another sparkling wine from Italy, specifically from the Lombardy region.  It is very tasty though does tend to be expensive and is made with chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot blanc grapes.  The resulting wine tends to lack the zesty acid of champagne.

Cava is the Spanish sparkling wine, though at one time had a reputation of being less than the best.  Modern versions however, have changed this and are a good quality product that is widely available.  They also use the same methods as in champagne and some are aged even longer.  The main grapes used are Xarella, Parellada and Macabeo.

Sekt is any of Germany’s sparkling wines and some of these have come on a lot in recent years to be a good quality product, with Riesling Sekt being noted as one such variety.  It has the green apple and nectarine flavours of a Riesling with a sparkle as well.