Have a Sparkling New Year!

As I prepare for my annual round of TV and Radio news shows, touting sparkling wine for New Years celebrations, it occurred to me that most of you will never have the benefit of my pearls of wisdom.

Champagne is from a small region in France, nowhere else, no matter what a few diehard US producers would have you believe. That said, sparkling wine from other parts of the world can be great bargains, and offer a wonderful opportunity to explore.

A lightning fast primer on what makes sparkling wines, well, sparkle. The first step is to make regular wine (although usually a little tart). The next step is to add yeast and sugar, and seal tightly. The yeast eat the sugar, and expel carbon dioxide, which has nowhere to go in the sealed bottle, and so makes the wine bubbly. The next step is to remove the old yeast to make the sparkling wine nice and clear. In most cases a bit of wine, sugar, and sometimes brandy, are added just before corking, and it is this step that determines how sweet or dry the wine will be.

The best sparkling wines are made in the "champagne method" and usually say so, if they do not originate in the Champagne region of France. There are other processes, mostly for bulk sparkling wines, but the champagne method is preferred for quality.

Sparkling wine is made around the world. In Spain, the relatively inexpensive sparkling wines are known as "Cava." In Germany, they are called Sekt (pronounced zect). In most of the new world, when they are not stealing the name Champagne, sparkling wines are called, sparkling wine.

France too has other bubblies than the revered Champagne. In the Loire region a great deal of inexpensive sparkling wine is made, and south of Champagne in Burgundy there is the rare, but wonderful Cremant de Bourgogne. (Cremant is a name used for sparkling wine in various regions of France, and should not be confused by the sweet style Champagne).

Italy is known for the cloyingly sweet Asti Spumanti, but their best sparklers are bone dry and worth looking for. Proseco is a popular sparkler, also from Italy (although to me it tastes like dirty socks and is not a favorite). While the delightfully sweet Moscato d'Asti is only slightly sparkling, it is a favorite, and I like to mention it whenever I can.

The French terms for sparkling wine, often used through out the world, refer to how sweet or dry the wine is.

• Demi-Sec – The sweetest.


• Extra Dry – The next driest, but still slightly sweet.


• Brut – Traditionally the driest, but natural with no added sweetness is sometimes found.


• Rosé &ndash Like Rosé Wine, slightly red to pink. Very fun and easy to enjoy. The best are dry and serious with just a taste of the red wine (which is often added at the end.)


• Vintage vs. Non-Vintage – Almost every Champagne producer releases a vintage wine when conditions merit. These vintage dated offerings represent a higher quality than the house style, but the non-vintage wines have the advantage of consistency.


• Crémant – A dessert style Champagne with less bubbles and usually a sweet style. It's becoming rare.

I am going to leave you with a bit of trivia, and a safety tip.

The word Champagne means "white chalky plain" and there is another one in the Cognac region, which is why some Cognacs confusingly have the word Champagne on the label.

And the safety tip? Remember when you are opening a bottle of sparkling wine, never take your hand off the cork and the wire cage that surrounds it. Many experts, and pros remove the wire cage, allowing the cork to remain unattended for a few seconds. The cage gives you grip, and taking your hand off the cork means it could fly off, and actually injure someone.

Ok, one last bit of trivia: When you first start to open the sparkling wine, and you are unwinding the wire closure, there are exactly 6 twists, every time.