The basics of bubbles

Sparkling wine has long been a passion of mine; there's just something about the "pop" of a cork leaving a bottle, the bubbles in the glass, that simply makes me happy.

That being said, I know that most people get confused easily with sparkling wine, and can understand that -- the terminology is confusing (and somewhat counterintuitive), for one thing, and for another, most people might drink 2-3 bottles a year; a shame, because bubbles are for all the time.

So, here's a quick guide to the sparkling wine making process, focusing on the methode traditional (sometimes called the Methode Champanois, or champagne method, or fermentation in bottle). There are three other methods of making sparkling wine, the Methode Ancestrelle (a rarely-used method in Champagne where the wine is made as it was in the early part of that appellation's history), the Charmat method (used for Prosecco and inexpensive bubblies), and carbonation (sort of like making soda). Still, most sparkling wine is made using the method outlined below, from inexpensive Cava in Spain, to Cap Classique in South Africa, to the rarest luxe cuvees from Champagne.

Step 1: grapes are picked, crushed, and vinified into wine. Now, this is sometimes called the "mother wine," and it can be pretty... well, sharp is a polite way to put it (it's been described as drinking battery acid). This wine can be stored for years to blend several vintages together to make a nonvintage wine (which is what most sparkling wine is), or one year can be vinified alone to make a millesme, or vintage wine. Nonvintage wine is the bread-and-butter of the sparkling winemaker, while vintage wines are generally what make their names famous (sparkling wine is not unlike Port in that fashion).

Either way, in Step 2: the mother wines are put in a bottle, yeast and sugar are added, and the whole thing is capped with a crown cap (a beer-bottle cap). The yeast eat the sugar, excrete a bit more alcohol and more CO₂, putting the bubbles in the wine. This is the stage where you see old French men in bicycles riding around the cellars, rotating the bottles once per day (called riddling the bottles), forcing the lees, or yeast cells, into the neck of the bottle as the bottles are slowly angled upright (neck-down). Of course, that's mainly for show, or for the prestige cuvees -- most wine now is rotated on a big machine called a gyropallete, that does the work automatically, although some producers do still hand-riddle their bottles (Schramsberg, in Napa, comes to mind). This stage can take literally years (in Champagne, the minimum aging time is 18 months if I recall, and some prestige cuvees can remain at this stage for up to 10 years).

In Step 3: the bottle neck is frozen, the crown cap removed, and the plug of frozen yeast and wine removed (well... it removes itself, due to the gas pressure inside the bottle), and a bit more sugar and wine is added to fill the bottle. That's the dosage. Then the bottle is corked with a Champagne cork, the cage and foil are added, and voila, you have bubbly. Note that the technical name for removing the yeast plug is disgorgement.

Now, for terminology, some wines will be labeled Blanc de Blancs or Blanc de Noirs -- that just means that at step 1, all the grapes were white (chardonnay, pinot blanc, etc), or red (pinot noir, pinot meunier, etc), respectively. White wine from white grapes, or white wine from black grapes.

Some wines will be labeled Brut, or Extra Dry, or Demi-Sec (there are other classifications to be found, but they're rare). That just refers to the amount of sugar in the dosage. Brut is the lowest sugar level, extra dry is slightly sweet, and demi-sec is sweetest still. Cava is also sometimes labeled Semi-Seco, which is roughly the same as Demi-Sec or Extra Dry. Why is extra dry not the driest level, you ask? Because, in the 1800's, when that classification system was created, sparkling wine was consumed much sweeter than it is now (the average dosage for a Champagne for the American market was roughly twice what the sweetest one is now, in terms of grams of sugar per liter), so extra dry really was quite dry.

Sparkling wine trivia:

• There are six twists to the cage on a sparkling wine cap (go ahead, next time you open Champagne, count!).
• A bottle of sparkling wine contains roughly three times more pressure than the tire of a car.
• Although there are nine grapes allowed in Champagne, generally only 3 are used in any significant quantity; pinot noir, pinot meunier, and chardonnay. The other 6 are very rare -- arbanne, petit meslier, and pinot blanc (which together account for 0.02% of the acreage of Champagne), pinot gris (also called fromentau), pinot de julliet, and pinot rose.
• Most rose sparkling wines are made by adding a dash of still red wine between steps 1 and 2. However, some (called saignee roses) are made by leaving the red wine grapes (the pinots) in contact with the wine for a couple of hours.
• To open a bottle of sparkling wine properly, tilt the bottle at a 45 degree angle, pointed away from anything that the cork might hurt (a wall is OK, while a TV, pet, or person... not so much.). Remove the foil, release the cage, put your hand OVER the top of the cork (to keep it from shooting off accidentally), grip tight, and twist the bottle. Ideally, the noise that comes out will not be a resounding "pop," but a more delicate "pffft."
• Sparkling wines are remarkably food-friendly. Try a light blanc de blancs with scallops in butter, or a rich blanc de noirs with Beef Wellington. Sweeter wines go well with salty foods (I once had a semi-seco cava with teriyaki salmon and it completely blew my mind).
• Champagne's association with celebration comes from the fact that the King of France -- starting with Hugh Capet -- was traditionally crowned in the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in Reims. After the coronation, the local wine was featured in celebration.
• Champagne producers are noted for early adoption of the idea of a celebrity spokesperson; they would pay noted entertainers (opera singers, etc) to publicly and conspicuously drink their wines as far back as the 1800's.
• The bubbles in a Champagne glass form on imperfections in the glass itself. Some glassmakers will purposefully etch a small ring into the base, to provide with locations for that to happen.

Bubbles!

Nothing really captures the idea of "celebration," in most people's minds, like sparkling wine.

Note that I didn't say "Champagne," but "sparkling wine."  Champagne is the best-known sparkling wine, but it's only one of many, and only a small proportion of all sparkling wines are Champagnes (to make an analogy, all Ferraris are cars, but not every car is a Ferrari).  Sparkling wines come in generally two familes, "traditional," and "Charmat" method wines.  The former is summed up as taking wine, adding yeast and sugar, capping it off (with a crown cap, like might be found on a beer!), letting it rest for months or years in a rack that is slowly elevated until the bottles are upright, eventually freezing the neck of the bottle and opening it to remove the yeast, then adding a little sugar ("Dosage"), and corking it for sale.  It's called "secondary fermentation in bottle."

The Charmat method is a bit simpler, in that the sugar and yeast and wine go into a big tank that is sealed, the secondary fermentation happens, then the liquid is physically strained and pumped into bottles, where it's corked and sold.  Much less expensive.

A quick guide to the bulk of the sparkling wines you'll see:

• Cava.  Spanish sparkling wine, generally inexpensive, light, and easy to drink.  Most cost around $10, and very few are more than $20.  Made using the traditional Champagne fermentation method, but with different grapes (traditionally, Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada.  Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are now allowed.). 
• Prosecco.  Both the descriptor of, and the name of the grape that make a light, clean Italian sparkling wine.  Often just a hint of sweetness in it.  From around $10 for the inexpensive stuff to about $20-$30 for the upper end (Prosecco di Valdobbiadene DOC). Made using the less expensive Charmat method. 
• Cap Classique.  South African sparkling wine, traditionally made with Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc, although many producers now use two of the "traditional"Champagne grapes -- Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.  Traditional method wine.  Not too common in the US, but the ones I've seen run $15-$20. 
• Cremant.  French sparkling wine from regions other than Champagne.  Alsace and Burgundy make the best examples, Cremant d'Alsace and Cremant de Burgogne, with the Loire right behind.  Grapes vary from place to place, but the quality of the traditional fermentation is generally reasonably high.  $15-$30, depending on the producer and the wine.
• Californian sparkling wine.  Sometimes labeled "California Champagne," quality can vary from the very bad (Cooks, Andre, and Coppola's Sofia come to mind) to the quite good (Schramsberg), and everywhere in between.  Can be made with any method, from Charmat (Cooks and Andre do this), to traditional method (Schramsberg and most of the French-owned houses do this), to literally injecting carbon dioxide into white wine like it was soda (Coppola's Sofia does this)!  Quality varies widely, as does price, from $5 to $50.
• Washington/Oregon sparkling wine.  Surprisingly high quality, often affordable (even Domaine Ste Michelle, at under $15, is quite good, if a bit heavy-handed with the dosage).  Can be either method, but most seem to stick with traditional.
• Champagne.  The sine qua non of bubbles; the one that others want to be (although, that's partly due to good marketing).  Traditional method, only 3 grapes allowed to be planted in the region (Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, although Arbane, Petit Meslier, and Pinot Blanc are allowed for use, but not planting).  Prices start around $30 and go up into "How much do you want to spend?" territory.

That's just a starter -- sparkling wines come in a dizzying variety of types.  Taking it in turns:

• Blanc de Blancs means the wine is made from white grapes only -- Chardonnay in Champagne.
• Blanc de Noirs means there's no white grapes in the blend -- in Champagne, that'd be Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier only.
• Brut means there's very little sugar added during dosage -- officially, in Champagne, that'd be 6-15 grams of sugar per liter.
• Extra Dry means there's a bit more sugar -- 12-20 grams per liter in Champagne.
• Demi Sec means even sweeter wine -- 33-50 grams per liter.
• Nonvintage means the wine is made from a blend of "mother wines," to match a consistant house style -- this is often done in Champagne (indeed, most producers view their nonvintage wine as their bread and butter), as well as in Porto (a post for another day...).  Nonvintage sparkling wine is meant to be consumed rather soon after purchase; within a year or so at most.
• Vintage means all the wine was harvested in a declared vintage year -- recent years that show promise for vintage-dated Champagne include 2002, 1999, 1998, and 1996, although different producers decide to make vintage-dated wines on their own.  Vintage sparkling wine can be cellar-worthy, lasting 5-10 years.

So what is the best?  Ultimately, there is no magic formula to determine it.  However, the Champagne producers (well, all wine producers, but the Champagne houses have done it best) would like to convince you that their wine is the best, hands-down.  They spend tons of money on advertising, paying celebreties to publically endorse their products (something they've done since the 1800's!).

Personally, I'd advocate voting with your tastebuds; blind-tasting sparkling wines can be fun.  However, I'll note something interesting; in the recent book, The Wine Trials, a number of sparkling wines were blind-tasted.  The "winner," was Domaine Ste Michelle Brut.  My tasting note on the wine (tasted non-blind):

A nose of green apple and lemon, with a bit of toast. Flavors to match, with addition of pear. Not quite a true brut, more between a brut and extra-dry, slightly sweet. Not the most complex wine in the world, but quite nice overall.  84 points.

In other words, it was pleasant and a little sweet.  Which is good -- the American palate tends to like sweet wine, even though we're told we should like drier stuff (we're raised on soda, after all).

Oh, and what finished near the bottom of the list of bubblies from The Wine Trials?  Dom Perignon -- Moet's "tete de cuvee," their best (vintage, blanc de blancs) wine.  For what it's worth, I preferred Domane Ste Michelle to Dom as well (alas, I last had Dom several years ago, and have no tasting note for it).  Proof that $15 wine can be better than $150 wine, when the labels are hidden.

So is any one better than the other?  The long and short of it is... none is.