A light dip into the differences between the two and weeding out the crappy stuff
If you have ever met me or been with me you know I love sparkling wine. People ask me all the time what I would drink every day if I could only choose one thing. I always have the same answer…Champagne. For me it is the perfect drink and can be good for any occasion, not just the celebratory dinner with your soon to be significant other.
So you’re going to ask…why champagne? Well I believe it’s a perfect mix of acid, sweetness, tang, salt and zip that everyone loves to have before and with food. It is so dry that it almost dries your whole mouth out and begs for something salty to go with it. It’s perfect in a fancy hotel bar or on your backyard patio served crispy cold.
Now let me be clear…Champagne can only be made in a small place in France and therefore can only be called such if it is grown and made in this region. Everything else is a Sparkling wine of some sort. People sometimes ask me if there really is a difference between Champagne and other Sparkling wines. My answer is of course...well Yes.
Now you say, well I love Champagne as well, but I just don’t have the budget to afford that stuff all the time. My response is well yes of course I get that shit too. I don’t make millions of dollars and I can’t afford to be drinking Crystal all the time. I wish I could, but honey I just can’t.
There are so many great sparkling wines on the market now that rival a great Champagne and cost sometimes half the price.
With all of this being said, I have come to you today with a list of 3 bottles and 2 styles that you have maybe not heard of or breezed past the last time you were looking for something to celebrate with. All 3 of these wines are different, but all 3 have similarities in climate and in style.
Before I get into the wines I have chosen as examples, I wanted to give you all a little crash course on the differences in the 2 styles of making sparkling wine in the world.
There are basically 2 ways of making sparkling wine in the world; Tank and Bottle Fermented Method’s. Each style is completely different and each style has examples from all over the world.
They also fall into 2 broad styles: wines that express the character of the grape and wines that express the character and complexity of the wine making and ageing.
And now you’re going to ask, what is traditional and what is tank fermented and what are the differences?
1. Tank Fermented Sparkling’s, Tank Method and Charmat method
These are some of the words that you might see on a label of sparkling wine. This method is the quickest and most efficient way of making sparkling. These wines are made in a large batch and are usually less expensive than traditional method wines. A base wine is made and sugar and yeast are added again to create fermentation. When the 2nd fermentation happens, the tank is sealed, therefore trapping the carbon dioxide and keeping the bubbles inside the wine at a cold temperature. The wine is filtered and some sweetness may be added before it goes into the bottle. *Asti and Prosecco
2. Bottle fermentation, Traditional method or Cremant method
Traditional method is something that is about 300 years old. This style is the base for the best sparkling wines of the world and the wines that can age for years after they are produced. Fermentation takes place in every single individual bottle and the wine is corked and sold in those very same bottles. Each bottle is filled with base wine and a sugar, yeast solution, closed securely and laid down to rest in a dark cellar. The second fermentation slowly occurs over the course of time and produces carbon dioxide and lees (leftover yeast particles). As the bottles rest, the wine and the lees interact with one another and changes the wine’s texture and flavour occur. The bottles may rest for a year to several years depending on the winemaker and winery style. The tops of the bottles are flash frozen and the lees that have come to the bottom of the neck shoot out, leaving a clear sparkling wine behind. Sometimes a sweetening solution will be added to adjust the flavour of the finished wine depending on what the winemaker wants. Traditional method sparkling wines cost more to produce, so they will most likely come with a higher price tag. *Champagne, Cremant, Cava, Sparkling wines from North America and South Africa
So now when you are in the store, you will remember that one is fermented in a bottle and the other is fermented in a tank, both creating carbon dioxide and bubbly wine.
Here are 3 example’s of good sparkling from all over the world and none of them are from Champagne.
1. Prosecco from Treviso: light and crispy with good acid and good bubbles. Made from 100% Glera grapes, high in the mountains, fermented and then put into a large tank and fermented again to create carbon dioxide with large bubbles in your glass. Prosecco from this region will be bone dry and also slightly floral, with apple and apricot notes. It is best served chilled with some light food to start a meal
2. Cremant from the Loire Valley: Sparkling from here are floral and fruity, dry with slight toasty characters that will get your taste buds going. It is made using the Traditional Method with Chenin Blanc, Cabernet and Chardonnay. It is fermented first to make a base wine then bottled with a bit of yeast and sugar added again to create the second fermentation. This creates more natural bubbles in the bottle and toasty nose. This is my go to when I don’t want to break the bank for Champagne. These wines are usually made in the same style but don’t come with the big price tag.
3. Traditional Method Sparkling from Beamsville: fermented first in a batch and then bottled and fermented again in the bottle until it’s ready to be corked and sold off the shelf. This is a great wine for this time of year and is a wonderful starter to any meal or to have with someone special. It is the wine with the highest price tag, but it is the wine with the lowest production amounts. You can see the care a smaller winery gives to their wine and what the quality difference is between this and another sparkling from a larger Canadian producer. It is made with 100% Gamay grapes, not something that very common to have with sparkling, which I found very interesting. *I got this bottle from the winery and I'm not sure if they have it in the LCBO
It is very important to drink all these fine things, when they cold. They don’t have to come straight from the freezer, but they do have to be chilled. Most of the time they become better once they have sat out at room temperature.
I would also advise you to drink these babies out of a larger wine glass instead of the traditional champagne flute. You get more scents off the wine and the bubbles will last just as long. It allows for more aeration of the wine, so you get a better picture of the wine as a whole.
The point of me writing this was not to confuse you, but to hopefully guide you on your wine journey. Many people are looking for alternatives to choosing a Champagne for every special occasion. There are so many sparkling wines that are out there and are a good price, most of them coming in under $25.They come from all over the world and represent different countries and the regions of which they are grown. You don’t have to always go for the Moet or Veuve, you can get something for a good price that is excellent quality. Try something new and enjoy something nice before dinner or the next time you have something special planned. For me it doesn’t even have to be something special. I could drink sparkling wine any day of the week. Cheers!
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