Champagne, Cava and Prosecco
Champagne – perfected in the 1800s – is the name given to sparkling wines produced in the Champagne region of France. A beautiful series of small towns with rolling hills, flowers and of course grapes, Champagne is as charming as it is steeped in the history of wine making. The Father of Champagne – a Benedictine Monk named Dom Pérignon – perfected the process of the second fermentation in a bottle and through legend became a master in producing high quality champagne labeling the method Méthode Champenoise. It was the Widow Madame Clicquot who created the champagne that we drink today using a process of riddling (turning the bottles upside down after the second fermentation) to remove the yeast thus producing a dry, crisp offering. Go back farther to the 1600’s and the English scientist Christopher Merret detailed how adding sugar to wine before bottling would create the heat for sparkling bubbles. The 3 grapes used for producing champagne are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier.
Cava is a sparkling wine that is created in the Catalonia region of Spain. Using grapes native to this region, Spainards took Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada varietals and with the Méthode Traditionelle developed a crisp dry sparkling wine. Cava is generally less expensive than champagne and is aged for at least 9 months before serving.
Prosecco rounds out the top 3 and originated in Veneto, Italy. The predominant grape is Glera and this sparkler is produced in stainless steel tanks. Prosecco is the most cost effective of the well known sparklers since the labor of fermenting in a bottle and riddling is not required.