A Quick Guide To Sparkling Wines

The world of sparkling wine is a complex subject full of nuances and technical terms that most people do not understand. For example, can you tell the differences between Champagne, Cava, Prosecco and Franciacorta? Do you know how sparkling wine is made? And what do cuvée, remuage or dosage mean?

This quick guide to sparkling wines will help you clarify your doubts and better understand this topic.

In general, those delicious bubbles that we love so much are the result of a refermentation of the wine. How and where this happens can make a big difference. So let’s look at the main methods of making sparkling wine and everything else will be much clearer.

CHARMAT METHOD

The wines produced with the Charmat or Tank Method undergo a second fermentation in autoclaves, at a controlled temperature and pressure, with the addition of yeast and sugar. During this phase, which lasts from 30 days to 6 months, the yeasts consume the sugars and transform them into alcohol and carbon dioxide, giving life to the characteristic bubbles.

This is the preferred method for aromatic wines such as Prosecco and most of the new world sparkling wines.

TRADITIONAL METHOD

With the Traditional Method (also called Metode Champenoise) refermentation takes place directly in the bottle. The base wine is usually made up of a cuvée that is a blend of different vines and/or vintages, which is bottled with the addition of sugars and yeasts.

Each bottle is then placed in special supports, rotated daily by 1/8, and slightly inclined with the cap down to deposit the fermentation residues in the neck. This process is called remuage. When the bottle reaches an upright position, the neck is frozen, the bottle is uncorked, and the frozen lees are expelled. The last step is the dosage, the addition of a mixture of sugars and wine, to restore the expelled part.

Longer, more expensive, and more complex than the Charmat Method, the Traditional Method produces more structured and full-bodied wines, with richer notes due to the yeasts autolysis, and finer and more persistent bubbles.

This is the method used for the production of the most prestigious sparkling wines: Champagne, the various Cremants from France, Spanish Cava, Italian Franciacorta, and Trento Spumante.

ANCESTRAL METHOD

Although less known, there is a third way of producing bubbles: the Ancestral Method. It starts with a delicate pressing of the grapes, which serves for the extraction of indigenous yeasts that are naturally present on the grape berries. Fermentation takes place at controlled temperatures and it’s blocked at a precise sugar level: this ensures its resumption after bottling, which takes place without the addition of sugars or yeasts.

This method is used, for example, for the Blanquette of Languedoc-Roussillon in France and for some high-level Lambrusco.

That’s it: that’s sparkling wine 101!

Now you can chill your bubbly and enjoy it with friends or your loved one, and show off your knowledge!

And remember you don’t need a special occasion for bubbles!

Cheers!