12/26/08 Champagne

Welcome to Vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran and on today's program we are continuing our discussion about Champaign. The finest bubbly wines are made in a process by which a very high quality still wine, is put through two fermentations in a sealed bottle. In fact, in its own bottle, the bottle in which it will be sold. This is a process known as bottle fermentation or "methode champenoise". It is the process used to make the best quality sparkling wines. Now the difference comes when we are determining which wine is Champaign and which is sparkling wine. Well technically Champaign is a place - a region in the northeast of France. The wine that is made there is the famous sparkling wine we know as Champaign. It can be made only from the grapes Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meuniere. Most Champaign does not have a vintage on it. This is because the base still wine is made by blending still wines from several different vintages to maintain a definite house style that identifies the producer. If there is a vintage indicated on the bottle then you know that 100% of the grapes came from what was deemed to be an exceptional vintage. All other wines with bubbles are usually called sparkling wines with the acception of a few who disregard the French and believe that if they make the wine employing the "methode champenoise" then they will call it champaign. The term used to describe sparkling wine in Spain is Cava in Italy it is Prosecco or Spumante. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.