I'm writing this on Christmas morning before heading to spend the day visiting family and friends. I have a big bag of presents for the kids and a special box for the grownups. It's full of various bottles of bubbly, special sparklers, that fizzy fun called sparkling wine that I like to pop open on the holidays. Looking back I've always loved champagne and sparkling wines. I can remember as a kid getting a tall, thin, glassful during celebrations and holidays; sipping the tart wine as millions of bubbles danced on my tongue. Right from my first taste I had a deep understanding why we use sparkling wines to celebrate. It's because the wine is a celebration in a bottle. As soon as you open it the wine starts to hiss or pop, and then it wants to dance forth and celebrate being released from the bottle; to go forth and make you smile, laugh, dance, and sing. The sparkling wine wants to celebrate with you, whether the reason is big or small, it wants to be part of the party. It's just like that friend we all know, who, as soon as they walk in the door, joyously makes their presence known, and it is understood that the party will now get into full swing.

Champagne is what first comes to mind when the topic is sparkling wine. It's from France, costs a lot, and is oh... so... refined. It's where many people say sparkling wine first came from, and they have tried to keep all the bragging rights. To be called Champagne it has to be a sparkling wine made in a specific province of north east France called Champagne. If sparkling wine is made anywhere else, it can't claim the name Champagne, although if it made in France it is called Cremant. But although it isn't Champagne, the other sparkling wines of the world can be excellent. I've tasted truly great sparklers from the US, Germany, Spain, Italy, Hungary, South Africa, and Australia.

California produces quite a few quality sparkling wines. Many are from vineyards owned by the great Champagne Houses of France, while others are fully home grown. Germany, Hungary, and other European countries have fine sparklers as well. Russia and Georgia were known for the quality of their sparkling wine for ages until they had severe vine disease last century. Now they are slowly getting back on their feet. Lately I've enjoyed many an Aussie fizzy, there are so many nice ones to try. They are also producing something new in the sparkling wine world, red, sparkling, Shiraz. They're hard to find but worth trying if you do run across them. While I traveled through South Africa I made a point of ordering every sparkling wine I encountered because they were exceptionally fine, at a price that was one tenth what the same quality French champagne would have cost. When I visited Japan I had something very unusual, sparkling Junmaishu Sake. It isn't technically a sparkling wine, or a beer, but something in between; and all I can say that it was mighty tasty.

Italy is also known for its sparklers. They come in two broad categories: Spumante which are sparkling wines, and Frizzante which are semi-sparkling wines with only a mild fizz. There are whites, rosé, and reds; and all come in both dry and sweet. You have the dry wines such as Prosecco, and the sweet ones like Moscato d'Asti and Asti Spumante. They have a region called Franciacorta that is fast becoming one of the truly great sparkling wine areas of the world. Keep an eye open for them and if you can get your hands on one grab it quick. Just yesterday on Christmas Eve I enjoyed a sweet, tangy, deep garnet red frizzante that I shared with my parents. It was a Marenco Pinetto Bracchetto D'Aqui 2005 which had just a fine little fizz to it and was so full of red, bold, fruit it practically exploded with flavor. My mom was ecstatic over it and said she had never had anything quite like it. Later today I will pop a prosecco or three that should be dry as the desert, and as crisp as this winter day.

When I was in my late teens I dated a lovely girl from Spain for a few years. Her family took me in gladly, made me feel welcome, and introduced to me the idea that sparkling wines are for drinking any time. They always started dinner with Cava, the Spanish name for their sparkling wine. She was fond of telling me that in Spain cava is drunk all the time and every day as a way to start the evening, or a meal, and just as a way to celebrate the happy hour of finishing the days work. Cava is nowhere near the price of French champagne, but it is made in the same way and can be of just as good quality. I find that it is a bit more approachable, both in the price, and in the flavor. They usually run around $10-$15 a bottle and are just as much fun, and as lively, as their more genteel French cousins. They're fun and tasty, if you happen to have them around they just beg to be opened and enjoyed right away, with no need to save them for a special occasion.

That experience changed my way of looking at sparkling wines, and upped my consumption considerably. From drinking champagne once or twice a year I started having sparkling wines of all types on almost a weekly basis. I love the dryness of most sparkling wines, the sweetness of others, and the small celebration of celebrating nothing at all. Just a few years ago I was invited on a voyage around the world by ship. It was on a floating university and I was offered the position of mental health counselor. I immediately accepted and was paid to eat and drink my way around the world. I decided that I wanted to make every day a celebration and vowed to drink sparkling wine every chance that I could. At the end of 3 ½ months I had managed to keep my vow for 91 of those days, and boy did I have a great time, although I don't remember working that much. I assume because everyone else was enjoying themselves and didn't have that many problems.

I'm sure you have heard the tale of the discovery of sparkling wine in the late 1600's by the Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, the one who the pricey champagne is named after. He is said to have found a wine in the cellar that had become bubbly and exclaimed to his fellows, "Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!" From that point he is said to have spent his life perfecting the star filled wine. Well, that tale isn't true; the quote is from an advertisement in the 1800's. Sparkling wine was known from before his time and Dom Pérignon actually worked on preventing wine from having bubbles because they would cause the poor quality glass bottles to explode. He was known for working systematically and scientifically on improving the quality of wines in general. Some of the latest research seems to show that sparkling wine was first made in, of all places, England, a generation or so before France. It was from wine that came from France and was found to have a little fizz to it. Through some experimenting it was found that if bottles were opened, some sugar added, and resealed; when they were opened later they had become fully sparkling. It's definite that one thing Dom did was create ways to keep the cork in the bottle during the secondary fermentation. First with cords, and then later with metal wire, what came to be called the agrafe. This helped to make sure the wines fully re-fermented and built up nice carbonation levels. He also helped develop thicker glass bottles specifically for champagne that wouldn't explode as easily. Can you imagine what it was like going to open a bottle of wine and having it explode in your hands? That's a little too much excitement for me.

To get the bubbles in the bottle the wine has to under go two fermentations. The first is the normal one where the wine ferments in casks. Then the wine has a mixture made from fresh yeast, and unfermented wine or wine with sugars added and is bottled. The wine undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle, and since it is sealed the carbon dioxide from the process has no way to escape. So it remains trapped within the bottle, carbonating the wine. Near the end of the secondary fermentation the bottles are slowly turned upside down over the course of days or weeks and the yeast settles down and collects in the neck of the bottle. The neck is chilled past the freezing point so that the yeasts and sediment becomes a frozen plug. Then the bottles are up righted, uncorked, and the plug of spent yeast is disgorged. Then the bottle is quickly sealed again to keep the carbonation in. This process to naturally carbonate the wine is called Méthode Champenoise and it produces the smallest size and fizziest of bubbles in the wine. Sparkling wine can also be artificially carbonated like soda is, but as in soda the bubbles are quite big and you don't get the same refined and lively sensation on your palate. Any sparkling wine worth its name is made Méthode Champenoise and will have something in the order of 49 million tiny little bubbles per bottle. Thanks Mother Nature.

There are several styles of champagne and sparkling wine. The French nomenclature is used for wines made in France, parts of Europe, the US, South Africa, Australia, and a few other places. You have the typical Non-Vintage (NV) brut. This is made of a blend (cuvée) of wines from several years that are mixed together in such a way that the wine will taste the same, and have the same quality from year to year. You also have Vintage, which is made from a blend of grapes from a single year and designated with that year on the bottle. These are made a few times each decade as the circumstances and qualities of the grapes make it possible. In special years there may also be a vintage Prestige or Deluxe cuvée. This style was invented in 1921 with Moët creating their Don Pérignon. You have Blanc de Blancs which are made exclusively from chardonnay grapes which are white, Blanc de Noirs which are made from black grapes that are pressed quickly so the wine remains white, and rose which are made by adding a bit of red wine to white or letting red grapes sit just long enough to pick up some color from their skins. Then you have different types of sparkling wines based on their sweetness, or lack thereof, called dryness. From driest to sweetest you have Extra Brut or Brut Naturale which is the driest of the dry, Brut which is very dry to dry, Extra Dry / Extra Sec which is slightly sweeter than Brut, Sec which is slightly sweet, Demi-sec which is sweet, and Doux is the sweetest. The bulk of sparkling wines and champagne are Brut, Extra Dry, and Sec. Brut Naturale is seldom seen, while Demi-sec and Doux are considered sweet, dessert style sparkling wines.

Sparkling wines are best served well chilled. At weddings and in old movies you see it being served in wide, shallow glasses, but this is the worst thing you can do to a sparkling wine. Those glasses release all the bubbles and the wine goes flat immediately. Make sure you use flutes, these are tall, thin glasses whose narrow opening keeps the bubbles in the wine where they belong. The tall shape lets you see the streams of fine bubbles floating from bottom to top. I prefer one that are clear to see the wine to its best advantage, although I do have some with colored stems for a bit of variety. I love champagne flutes and have several different sets as well as dozens of mis-matched antique ones, no two the same.

While it's lots of fun to shoot out the cork with a resounding POP and send it flying across the room, you can also lose some of the sparkling wine and a lot of the carbonation in doing so. It's all about the bubbles and you want to make sure that as many get into the glass as possible. The best way to open a bottle of sparkling wine is to hold the cork in one hand and the bottle in the other. Slowly twist THE BOTTLE while gently allowing the cork to come slowly free. If you do this slowly, while holding the cork IN just as it starts to come all the way out, you will get a nice hiss as the cork comes slowly free. Then some beautiful white vapor will start wafting forth from the bottle. If you pour the wine carefully into tilted flutes it won't bubble over and you can watch the millions of bubbles streaming up the glass to tickle your nose. Have fun and enjoy!


The following lists and information of the best producers were compiled by the Beverage Tasting Institute (BTI.) You can click on the titles and go to the site to find out details on each wine maker.

French Champagne
There are approximately 150 champagne producers in France and another 1500 sparkling wine producers in the country.

Premier Producers

• Bollinger
• Gosset
• Krug
• Moët & Chandon: Dom Pérignon
• Philpponnat:Clos des Goisses; Grand Blanc
• Louis Roederer
• Pol Roger:Cuvée Sir Winston Chuchill
• Ruinart
• Salon
• Jacques Selosse
• Taittinger:Comtes de Champagne

Great Producers

• Henri Abele: Sourire de Reims
• Ayala
• Beaumont de Crayeres
• Billecart Salmon
• Bricout
• Charles de Cazanove
• Rene Collard
• de Meric
• de Saint Gall
• de Venoge
• Delamotte
• Deutz
• Drappier
• Duval Pretot
• Nicolas Feuillatte: Cuvée Palme d'Or
• Pierre Gimonnet
• Alfred Gratien: Cuvée Paradis
• Charles Heidsieck
• Heidsieck Monopole
• J. Lassalle
• Joseph Perrier
• Laurent Perrier
• Serge Mathieu
• Moët & Chandon
• Oudinot
• Bruno Paillard
• Palmer
• Philpponnat
• Ployez Jacquemart
• Pol Roger
• Taittinger
• Veuve Clicquot
• Vilmart

Dependable Producers

• Henri Abele
• Cattier
• Duval Leroy
• Nicolas Feuillatte
• Alfred Gratien
• Henriot
• Lanson
• Guy Larmandier
• Mumm
• Montaudon
• Pannier
• Perrier-Jouët
• Piper-Heidsieck
• Pommery
• Vranken

Spanish Cava

Premier Producers

• Cavas Lavernoya
• Joan Raventos Rosell
• Segura Viudas (Reserva Heredad)
• Sumarroca
• Jané Ventura

Great Producers

• Codorniu
• Freixenet (Brut Rosé)
• Juvé y Camps
• Segura Viudas (Aria & Brut Reserva)

Dependable Producers
"Some producers placed in this third tier are new (or new to us) and may merit a higher placement in subsequent vintages. These producers are offset by an asterik." -From BTI

• Bodegas Sarda*
• Covides (Xenius)
• Jaume Serra (Cristalino)*
• Freixenet
• Llopart*
• Montsarra*

Italian Dry Sparkling Wines
"Italian Sparkling Wine is widely produced and ranges from the cheap and cheerful (Prosecco) to the world class (Franciacorta). Franciacorta is a rapidly emerging superstar that has the right mix of climate, geography, and varietals to give Champagne a run for its money. Located in the foothills of the Alps, near the Swiss border, Franciacorta is a bit of a secret in the Anglo world, but as production and quantities increase, look for it to become more widely known as one of the world's very best sparkling wine zones." -from BTI


Premier Producers

• Bellavista (Vintage Gran Cuvée Franciacorta)
• Ca' del Bosco (Cuvée Annamaria Clementi Franciacorta & Vintage Franciacorta)

Great Producers

• Bellavista (NV Cuvée Brut Franciacorta)
• Ca' del Bosco (NV Franciacorta)
• Carpineto (Farnito Brut)
• Contratto (Vintage Brut Riserva)

Dependable Producers

• Ca' Montini (Prosecco Superiore di Cartizze)
• Canella (Prosecco di Conegliano)
• Castello Gancia (Brut)
• Colonnara (Brut Spumante)
• Contadi Castaldi (NV Brut Franciacorta)
• Costaripa (Lombardy Brut)
• Nino Franco (Rustico, Prosecco di Valdobbiadene)
• Montesel (Prosecco di Conegliano Valdobbiadene)
• Pojer e Sandri (Veneto Extra Brut Cuvée)
• Rotari (Vintage Brut Riserva & NV Brut Arte Italiana)

Italian Sweet Sparkling Wines

Premier Producers

• Oscar Bosio (La Bruciata Moscato)
• Cascinetta (Moscato)
• La Caudrina (La Selvatica Asti, La Galeisa Moscato, La Caudrina Moscato)
• Ceretto (Santo Stefano Moscato)
• Contratto (La Pantalera Moscato & Tenuta Gilardino Moscato)
• Mondoro (Asti)

Great Producers

• Cascina Palazzo/Fratelli Bera (Moscato & Su Reimond Moscato)
• Michele Chiarlo (Nivole Moscato)
• Coppo (Moncalvina Moscato)
• Giacinto Gallina (Farfarello Moscato)
• Saracco (Moscato)
• La Spinetta (Moscato)

Dependable Producers

• Altini (Asti)
• Bompre (Aureum Moscato)
• Braida/Giacomo Bologna (Vigna Senza Nome Moscato)
• Contratto (De Miranda Asti)
• Giribaldi (Moscato)
• Icardi (La Rosa Selvatica Moscato)
• Neirano (Asti)
• Elio Perrone (Sourgal Moscato)

US Sparkling Wines

Premier Producers

• Adelaida
• Domaine Carneros
• Equinox
• Falconer
• Iron Horse
• Robert Hunter (Extended Tirage)
• J. Wine Co.
• L. Mawby (Mille Brut)
• Maxus
• Roederer Estate
• Scharffenberger/Pacific Echo
• Schramsberg

Great Producers

• S. Anderson
• Argyle
• Beaulieu
• Benziger
• Codorniu
• Domaine Chandon
• Edna Valley Vineyard
• Gloria Ferrer
• Gruet (Grand Rosé, Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs)
• Laetitia
• L. Mawby (Talisman Brut)
• Piper Sonoma
• Tabor Hill

Dependable Producers

• Deutz
• Domaine Ste. Michelle (Blanc de Blancs)
• Fenn Valley
• Glenora
• Gruet (Brut)
• Handley
• Robert Hunter (Brut de Noirs)
• L. Mawby (Blanc de Blanc & Dionysis Brut Rosé)
• Mumm Cuvée Napa

Australian Sparkling Wines

Premier Producers

• Green Point
• Heemskerk (Jansz Brut)
• Seaview
• Seppelt (Sparkling Shiraz & Salinger Brut)

Great Producers

• Hardy's (Sparkling Shiraz)
• McGuigan Bros (Lisa Brut)
• Orlando (Trilogy & Carrington brands)
• Yalumba (Angas Brut)

Dependable Producers

• Mount Prior
• Chateau Reynella
• Richmond Grove

New Zealand Sparkling Wines

Premier Producer

• Deutz
  

Great Producer

• Lindauer