Weekly wine update: Champagne and sparkling wine

This week we covered bubbly. We are being trained to be nice to the French and only refer to Champagne if we mean "sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France." Everything else is sparkling wine (or its country's specific term, such as cava or spumante). There are basically three methods for making sparkling wine. The methode champenoise, or the traditional method, is the technique perfected in Champagne. A still wine is made, and then it is bottled with some sugar and yeast to undergo a second fermentation in individual bottles. Then there is a transfer method, which makes removing the dead yeast easier, and then there is the charmat, or tank method. In the charmat method, all the wine is fermented a second time in large vats. These processes affect things like the overall complexity of the wine, the "beads," or bubbles, that form within the wine, and the feel of the wine in your mouth. Generally wines made in the traditional method are the most expensive and also the most complex.

Champagne is special because of the method in which it is made, the grapes used to make it, and the climate in which it grows. The Champagne region is the most northerly wine-producing region in France. It tends to be so cool there that grapes never fully ripen, resulting in wines that would be too acidic to drink as still wines. To add to this, there are only about 18 inches of soil in Champagne, under which lies vast fields of chalk. The grapes used for Champagne are a blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay. If you are thinking to yourself "but pinot noir is a dark grape," you would be correct. Without any skin contact, the wine will be white. Some Champagne is made using only pinot noir. This is called "blanc de noirs," or "white from blacks." Champagne can also be made entirely from chardonnay and is then deemed "blanc de blancs." In other regions, sparkling wines are often made with different grape varieties.

Sparkling wines come in a variety of levels of sweetness. The dryest, naturel, is fermented without the addition of any sugar and is generally too acidic to be enjoyed. Next is brut, followed by extra dry, dry (sec), semi-dry (demi-sec), and sweet (doux). While champagne is a great aperitif and goes well with a variety of dishes, only the sweeter styles should be used to accompany desserts.

Overall, both Jud and I enjoyed the wines we tried today. I thought the most interesting were the Mumm Champagne and the Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto. The Brachetto deserves special mention, because it was actually a red sparkling wine. Ordinarily, it would have been too sweet for me, but I happened to have a little chocolate, and when I tried some chocolate with the wine, both were delicious.

Anyhow, here's what we tried:

• Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Extra Dry, Col di Salici, Italy, 2003 ($16)
• Segura Viudas Aria Brut Reserva, Penedes, Spain ($10)
• G. H. Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut, Champagne, France ($35)
• Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs, Sonoma County, California ($20)
• Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui, Piedmont, Italy, 2003 ($20)

This semester's coming to a close, my mom is having a birthday, mother's day is just around the corner... Do you need any more excuses? Go out and celebrate with a nice sparkling wine sometime soon!