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Life in France is simply unimaginable without sparkling wines! Often
served at weddings, birthdays and other celebrations, sparkling
wine is synonyme for party wine, celebrating friendship and
joie de vivre!
Winemaking
Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in
it, making it fizzy.
The carbon dioxide may result from natural
fermentation, either in a bottle as with the traditional
method also called méthode champenoise, or in a
vat, or as a result of carbon dioxide injection.
The most
famous example of a sparkling wine is Champagne, but many
other examples are produced in other regions of France and in other
countries, such as Portugal, Spain, Italy, USA, Argentina, Chile, South
Africa, Australia...
The word "champagne" is often used as a synonym
for sparkling wine, but it it should only be used for the sparkling wines
that come from the Champagne region of France. The French terms
"Mousseux" or "Crémant" are used to refer to sparkling
wine not made in the Champagne region. In other countries, sparkling wines
have different names: spumante in Portugal and Spain, Sekt in Germany and
Austria, etc.
Sparkling wine is usually white or
rosé, but there are also examples of red sparkling wines.
The
sweetness of sparkling wine can vary from very dry "brut"
styles to sweeter "doux" varieties. |
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