Oh, sparkling wine…the bubbly drink of celebrations everywhere. An easy drinking bottle can be cut with orange juice to kick off a sunny vacation day or a bottle that’s been waiting in the refrigerator for its moment to shine can be popped on a milestone anniversary or birthday. There’s something truly magical about the bubbles incessantly rising to the surface and the inevitable joy that comes with events that merit sparkling wine. Those are the reasons it’s known and loved all over the world. It can be easy to hear “Champagne” or “Prosecco” once and think those terms are generic and can be used as a blanket designator for any bottle in which bubbly wine resides. I used to do the same. However, these terms have intricate processes and regions of the world tied to them. For many, that fact is neither here nor there and I will never be one to correct someone who uses these terms incorrectly because wine snob culture irks me as much as the next person. As long as we’re all happily sipping something delicious together, it doesn’t make a difference to me. However, if you’re at all interested in knowing more about the how and why behind the nomenclature of sparkling wine, I’m here to fill you in. 

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Let’s start with the crème de la crème: Champagne. This is a region of the world that I’ve become enamored with since learning about the history and intricacies of the processes. First and foremost, Champagne is the name of a place. It’s a wine producing region in France and technically, if a wine is not produced there, it cannot be called Champagne. The requirements for producing wine here are stringent and incredibly time consuming. There’s no big-box, poor quality stuff coming out of this region and that’s why you will always be spending more on wine from here than from almost anywhere else that produces sparkling wine. I could write pages about Champagne winemaking and the intricate blending process, the years-long aging process, or the riddling process where bottles are turned ever so slightly (sometimes by hand) every day for weeks on end, but I’m not here to write a textbook. Mainly, you should know Champagne is of the highest quality and full of complex flavors because of the way that it’s made. The time and effort that goes into each bottle merits the price tag. Because of this, it’s really not comparable to the Prosecco that you know and love. That Prosecco is still a wonderful option, but it is not “Champagne”. 

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For a little more background, Champagne is made using what’s called the Traditional method. You may also see it referred to as the Classic or Champagne method. As already mentioned, this method is highly revered and takes significant time and effort to complete. These wines undergo two fermentations, with the second taking place in the bottle the wine is sold in. The first fermentation is to create the desired base wine. The second creates the carbonation and is when other techniques that give sparkling wine its unique array of flavors come into play. Savory flavors are developed and take center stage while the fruitiness in the wine takes a backseat. These qualities are unique to this method of winemaking. I rarely have the opportunity to drink a high-quality bottle of bubbly made this way, but when I do, I savor every sip. It’s truly a remarkable experience.

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Believe it or not, Champagne, France is not the only place in the world that makes wine using the Traditional method. Some other popular options that you will see while perusing your local wine shop are Cava (made in Penedès, Spain) and bottles that simply say “Sparkling Wine”, but also note Traditional method on the bottle in one way or another. When looking for something in this style made stateside, a couple good places to start are Anderson Valley in California or the Finger Lakes in New York. You may also see bottles of sparkling wine called “Crémant de Bourgogne” or “Crémant de Loire”. Crémant is the name used for French Sparkling wine made outside of Champagne. The label then calls out the region (Bourgogne = Burgundy, Loire = Loire Valley). There are many others we could delve into, but these are where I would start when looking to experiment with some accessible options that will deliver similar quality to what you would expect from a bottle of Champagne.

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Now, let’s head over to Italy to discuss the sparkling wine that’s taken the world by storm. It’s affordable and full of fresh, fruity flavor. Prosecco is an area in northeastern Italy and here, sparkling wine is made using the Tank or Charmat method. This method also puts wine through two fermentations, but the second takes place in a large stainless-steel tank rather than in the bottle, which takes a few expensive and time-consuming steps out of production. These omissions contribute to the lower price tag you see when buying Prosecco. There are other wines made in this method across the world. A classic example is Sekt from Germany. Many sparkling wines in the United States are made in this way as well. These wines normally have the Tank/Charmat Method called out on the bottle in some way. Prosecco and all wine made similarly are wonderful options for bubbly wine that don’t break the bank and can be seen as easy drinking in comparison to the complex and unique qualities that belong to Champagne or other Traditional method wines.

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I can’t cover one spectrum of sparkling wine without bringing up the other. If you find yourself flashing back to that bottle of sparkling wine that you used to pick up in college on the way to a mimosa filled morning, you may be wondering how that bottom shelf bottle fits in here. Wines made at lower price points always have some corners cut. These were likely made using the Carbonation method. This method takes simple and often low-quality wine and, you guessed it, carbonates it. The same way that a soda is carbonated. No magical second fermentations happening here.  With this technique, you will find the bubbles fade much quicker than some of the pricier options, but who even notices when cut with some orange juice anyways, right?

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I wish I could say that we covered it all but truthfully, we have barely scratched the surface of the complex world of sparkling wine. I hope that this high-level overview of a few of the methods (yes, there are more!) has piqued your interest the way it piqued mine when first diving into this world of bubbly goodness. I encourage you to explore and discover all that this type of wine has to offer now that you’re armed with a better understanding of what you’re drinking, how it was made and why it may have a particular price tag. Now, go forth and share your newfound knowledge with the other sparkling wine drinkers of the world.