What You Need To Know About Sparkling Wine

Sparkling is not only champagne , moreover, a drink with bubbles does not necessarily have to be sweet or dry. The New Year is a good time to start understanding the different types of this wine . So let's find out how sparkling wines are made , how to distinguish prosecco from crema, how to serve properly and which wine is better to choose for herring under a fur coat or olivier.

How to make sparkling wine

There are several ways to make wine sparkling , i.e. saturated with carbon dioxide.

It is also called the champagne method. True, only those wines produced in the French region of Champagne can be called champagne. Making sparkling wine in this way is expensive: in fact, each bottle is produced separately and differs from the others, since the classic production scheme involves secondary fermentation in the glass. After aging, the remouage process takes place, when the bottles are turned several degrees every day - to the position with the neck down. So the sediment settles in the neck, after which it is taken away - this procedure is called "disgorging".

This method also involves secondary fermentation - but not in a bottle, but in a vat. This is a simpler way of producing sparkling wine : you can make 10-12 thousand liters of wine at a time . In addition, a long exposure is not expected here. This is how prosecco is made, for example.

What is sparkling called in different countries

Sparkling wine is produced in different countries and made in several ways - because of this, it can be of different degrees of acidity and with different amounts of bubbles.

Champagne can only be French - it's a classic. About 320 million bottles are sold in the world every year, and the price rarely goes down. Champagne can be non-vintage (aged for at least 15 months), vintage (aged for at least 36 months) and special cuvee (aged for 6-7 years).

In addition to Champagne, sparkling wine is also made in the classic way in other regions of France or in Belgium and Luxembourg - this wine is called cremant. If you see the word "creman" on the label, be sure that it is a classic production method and aged for at least 9 months.

Coffee is a sparkling wine , also produced in the classic way. But it is still a southern sparkling , so from the point of view of composition it is less acidic. Coffee is significantly cheaper than champagne and creams. In addition, it is more suitable for those who have a delicate stomach.

Franciacorta is an Italian sparkling wine made (again) using the classic champagne method. The name of this species comes from the eponymous DOGG "Franchacorta" wine production area.

Prosecco is a sparkling wine produced by the Charm method (vat fermentation). The result is a sparkling wine with a very bright fruity taste, but without a particular aroma - what you need for an aperitif.

Lambrusco is also produced by the Sharma method, but from Lambrusco grapes, which are considered wild. This wine is made in Lombardy and Piedmont, it is white, pink and even red.

The basic Zect Classic can be produced by the Sharma method, although the classic method is not prohibited. An excellent choice is a sparkling zekt produced using the classic method from Riesling.

In the countries of the New World, the production of sparkling wines is not particularly systematized. In South Africa, there is the "Kap Classic" method - the classic Cape Town method. This wine is made by the champagne method mainly from grape varieties used in South Africa: Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc. True, they are quite difficult to find in our country. Good sparkling wines can also be found in Chile, Australia, New Zealand and California.

What color wine to buy

Sparkling reds are always a question mark. It is a good antidepressant and a way to fall asleep quickly, but from the point of view of aesthetics, this is a very controversial issue. For example, lambrusco can be red, but French champagne can only be white or pink, so it is better to prefer these two colors.

Dry or sweet

• The driest category is "Zero dosage" with sugar content from 0 to 3 g per liter: this wine is produced without adding sugar. Then there is "Extra Brut" - this wine can contain from 6 g of sugar per liter, but sugar is already added to it.

• The following categories: "Brut", "Extra-dry" (from 12 to 17 g of sugar per liter), "Dry" (17-32 g of sugar per liter).

• The sweetest wines are "Demi-sec" (32-50 g of sugar per liter) and doux - the latter contains more than 50 g of sugar per liter.

Should the sparkling wine be cold?

The temperature of sparkling wine is important, as it affects the taste and perception of this drink. In simple terms, the more expensive the sparkling wine , the warmer it should be served. Perfect champagne does not need to be chilled. More simple drinks, such as prosecco, make sense to serve chilled to 8 degrees.

To chill the bottle, put it in the refrigerator 2 hours before serving. The freezer is not the right place for cooling, because the temperature difference in this case will be very sharp, but if there is no other way out, use it.

If a party is planned for a large company, then make a cooler for sparkling water from the bathtub. Firstly, it looks good, secondly - it will allow to cool a large number of bottles at once.

Which glass to choose for serving

Igriste offers a large selection of glasses. Many are now abandoning the use of a standard flute glass. If you have a simple sparkling : prosecco, basic coffee, cream - you can take flute. The more complex the sparkling wine is , the larger the glass is needed, so for expensive champagne , glasses for white and even large spherical glasses for red wine are suitable .

How to open sparkling wine

• Chill the wine - this is the first and most important step, which accounts for 50% of success.

• Hold the bottle at an angle. Immediately before opening, tilt it 40 degrees, with the neck away from you and guests. If you hold the bottle of sparkling wine straight, all the pressure will be concentrated on the cork - in this case, it will not be possible to avoid a fountain of foam.

• Return the bottle. First, remove the foil and muzle - the wire that fixes the cork - from the neck. Firmly clamp the cork with one hand, and with the other, slowly turn the bottle so that the cork begins to roll gently. When you feel that the cork is starting to give way, slightly tilt the bottle - this way carbon dioxide will come out of it. After that, you can safely open the bottle: you will get a characteristic quiet shot, and smoke will come out of the neck.

• Tilt the glass and pour the sparkling wine down the wall as slowly as possible.