Sparkling Wine

Sparkling wine can be made in several ways, depending on where the grapes were grown and the winemaker’s preferences.

The Traditional Method produces high-quality sparkling wines like Champagne and involves a second fermentation process to create those tingling carbon dioxide bubbles everyone loves.

The Tank Method is faster and more economical than the traditional one, and is used to make Prosecco. It involves the wine being sealed in a pressurized tank for the secondary  fermentation, which creates the bubbles.

Another method is the Ancestral Method—icy temperatures pause fermentation mid-way, which begins again after the wine has been bottled so the bubbles are trapped.

Sparkling wine is produced worldwide in various styles, flavors and types—there’s a bottle for everyone.

• Champagne is a blended sparkling wine produced only in the Champagne region of France. This is the most famous sparkling wine in the world for a good reason. It’s creamy and acidic, with complex white fruit flavors that age beautifully.
• Prosecco is named after the village of Prosecco in Trieste, Italy, and is a dry sparkling wine loved for its refreshing citrus flavors, deceptive sweetness and affordable price tag. Prosecco can be lightly fizzing to fully sparkling, aka “spumante.”
• Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine famous for its smaller bubbles and balance of freshness and creaminess. Light, with tart acidity, and ranging from very dry to sweet, Cava is a refreshing and thirst-quenching sparkling wine with crisp apple, almond and pear flavors.
• Crémant is a sparkling wine produced across France and is held to strict production standards. Its name refers to its characteristic creaminess, highlighted by its delicate dryness and citrus, pear, chamomile and honey flavors.
• Moscato d’Asti is a sparkling wine made from Moscato grapes in the Asti province of Italy. Moscato d’Asti has low alcohol content, natural sweetness and a light frizzante sparkling style, making it one of the most accessible sparkling wines. It’s loved for its peach, sage and elderberry flavors.

For the ultimate refreshing and luxurious drinking experience, you’ll want to serve your sparkling wine between 40-50°F. Chilling your sparkling wine for at least three hours in the fridge or for half an hour on ice should do the trick.

The best glasses in which to serve sparkling wine are flutes—tall and slender, with narrow rims and long stems. The long stem helps keep the sparkling wine cool and away from warm hands, and the slender bowl gives bubbles a long way to travel through the wine, making them livelier. The narrow rim helps concentrate the deliciously delicate and light aromas and flavors.

Sparkling wines can quickly lose their sparkle soon after the cork is popped. Unlike the typical 3-5 day window for red and white wines, sparkling wines only last between 1-3 days once opened.

To get the most out of your sparkling wine once opened, use a sparkling wine stopper to trap the remaining bubbles then store the bottle in the fridge.