Connoisseur’s Corner: Champagne vs. Sparkling Wine Champagne is a luxury enjoyable by anyone, for any occasion. James Paxton
Your youngest daughter goes to University in Italy, gets engage with a the son of a magnate of the Italian Industry, would you serve Asti to your future in-laws when they come to visit you? Your eldest daughter, married to a Hidalgo, just had a baby boy, would you celebrate with Cava? You signed a multi-million dollar deal with South Africa, is the Cap Classique going to be pop opened? There is magic in French Champagne, in the drink, in the name.
The official difference. But this magic comes from the soil, the grapes and the craftsmanship. There is no other Champagne than Champagne produced in the Champagne region of France. The name is legally protected by the Treaty of Madrid of 1891, but in wine as in global warming some countries are slower than others in signing protocols É Champagne is made under method champenoise said to have been invented by Dom Perignon (good question for a Trivial Pursuit game, his first name was Pierre) around 1675.
The Bottle vs. The Charmat. Method champenoise is the second step once grape juice as been transformed to still wine. It requires a second fermentation this time in the bottle, which occurs by adding a mixture of sugar and yeast, the liqueur de triage. The bottle is caped not corked for several years. At the end of the process the cap is removed and replaced with a cork with wire cage.
Most sparkling wines are made by doing the secondary fermentation in a large tank, the charmat. Some wines are excellent, such as Prosecco, but most are mediocre.
The Bubble Makes The Bubbly. Sparkling wine can also be made by injection of CO2 in still wine; after all itÕs the carbon dioxide that makes the bubble. Keep away from those industrial wines, unless you would like a taste of Chateau Migraine.
By the way, the bubbles do not come from the glass but from micro-cells that create an air pocket, immediately attacked by carbon dioxide. The bubbles travel toward the surface at a speed of approximately 400 yards an hour. In a glass of champagne there are up to 11 million bubbles that you can watch going up the chimney of your glass at an average of 30 bubbles per second.
The Grapes & The Blend. Is Champagne that <extraordinaire>, compared to other quality sparkling wines? In Champagne there are three grapes used to make wine. They are Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. The first two are black grapes and Chardonnay is of course white. The term Blanc de Blanc indicates Champagne made exclusively with Chardonnay, while Blanc de Noirs are made with Pinot Noir and Meunier. But most Champagnes are made from combining and blending. Some vignerons continue making Champagne with old grape varieties (arbane, petit meslier, fromenteau and pinot blanc ) but in very limited quantities É and at very high prices.
Asti is made with Moscato grape; Cava uses some Chardonnay but mostly macabeo, parellada and subirat. Cap Classique also made by the method champenoise uses Sauvignon blanc and Chenin blanc. American sparkling wines made by method champenoise were produced mostly from Riesling, Muscatel, Traminer and Chasselas. Since the Maisons de Champagne have set up wineries in Napa and Sonoma Valleys, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are increasingly be used in the production.
But the main differences are in the authorized sugar levels and in the wine making. In Champagne no less than 30 wines are blended and some time more than 60, while in California a blend of 20 is the average. The requirements for aging are also very different and it is not uncommon for vintage champagne to age for more than 7 years prior to release.
A drink to longevity? It is common knowledge that the human body absorbs alcohol drank with carbonated water more quickly and therefore that Champagne makes the head of beautiful women spin. So if you drink Champagne drink carefully. Especially if you are going to drive. Dan Gurney sprayed everybody with Moet et Chandon Champagne after his 1967 victory at Le Mans, not before driving his Ford GT 40 !
Beware of the sugar in alcoholic drinks, but be comforted by the fact that there is less than 3 grams of sugar in a liter (bit over a bottle) of Brut Naturel or Brut Zero, less than 6 grams in Brut Extra and not more than 15 grams in Brut.
Another interesting point, is that it seems that Champagne helps the human brain cope with the trauma of a stroke, AlzheimerÕs and Parkinson disease. Mice fed with Blanc de Blanc or Blanc de Noir have a higher level of brain cell restoration than teetotaler mice.
During most of his life, Winston Churchill drank a bottle of Pol-Roger Champagne everyday at 11am (some say his first bottle of the day É) while Prince Otho von Bismarck never went to sleep without drinking his last bottle of Champagne Heidsieck of the day.
But the love of Champagne is not restricted to elderly conservative politicians. Elderly liberal economists also share it. It is John Maynard Keynes who said <My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne>. If you replace Champagne by sparkling wine in that sentence, it simply does not sound right.
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