Champagne is a sparkling wine made exclusively within the Champagne region in France and hence the name. Some countries limit the use of the name to only those wines that come from the Champagne appellation, whereas some other countries allow the use of the name by long time domestic manufacturers of sparkling wine under certain circumstances. Champagne is manufactured by inducing an in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to cause carbonation.

Champagne gained its unrivalled popularity owing to the success of the Champagne producers in marketing the wine. Its image as an aristocratic drink favoured by kings and other noble men has given it an aura of supremacy. At the same time Champagne was also promoted by the producers as a drink enjoyable by anyone, for any occasion. Such a marketing effort succeeded and Champagne became a favourite drink of the middle class as well. They also took efforts to promote Champagne to women, which was in stark contrast to the traditional male image that French wines had.

Champagne comes mainly in two different varieties, those that are made from the grape white Chardonnay and those made from the black Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. At the same time most wines are made from a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Though Champagne is made of red grapes they are not having the red colour as the amount of time that juice spends with the red skin is quite minimal. Champagne is fermented in two sizes of bottle – standard and the magnums. Magnums are traditionally considered to be of high quality as there is less oxygen in the bottle and therefore it provides an opportunity for the creation of appropriately-sized bubbles.

There is a saying in Italy that goes “Vedi Napoli e poi muori” which translates to “See Naples and die!” Well, Realindulgence proclaims that with a glass of ‘Hibiscus Champagne’ – “You will live another life!”

‘Hibiscus Champagne’ is a remarkable concept presented by Realindulgence.com. The idea is simple; you lay a Hibiscus Flower bud into a champagne flute and pour any champagne you desire. Notice as you topple the flower, the millions of effervescent bubbles will assist the tantalizing flower to slowly bloom. Now, should you wish to sweeten this beverage and create a voluptuous cocktail you may add a drizzle of the potion like crimson syrup which will create a graduation in colour from a dark rich crimson to a lavish pink. There you have it – a concoction with kudos! Not only are the Wild Hibiscus Flowers an eye candy, but you actually get two bites of the cherry (or rather two bites of the flower) since these Wild Hibiscus Flowers are also edible. So once you’ve drained your drink – you simply eat the flower. The taste of the flower is a blend of sumptuously fruity sweet flavour from cherries to raspberries which conjures up childhood memories. As well as being full of flavour, Hibiscus flowers confer the same added health benefits as tea and red wine. This has got to be the Rolls Royce of champagne cocktails – very much different from your standard Kir Royal and Bellini. Now, there is no saying that the possibilities of this creation stops here. As the world-renowned Dorchester Bar demonstrates, adding a dash of rose vodka and a touch of mint separates them from the crowd.

The Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup is a product of Australia and has taken the world by storm. The Wild Hibiscus Flowers first came about when inventor Lee Etherington was using the flowers as a garnish for a desert at a garden party, when one of the blooms accidentally fell into a glass of champagne. Everyone was astounded when a guest began to mimic what was seen as an accessory to their champagne. It was at that moment that Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup were created. Each flower is handpicked and undergoes an impressive 18-step process before it reaches its customers.

This edible flower will undoubtedly transform any glass of champagne to a pinnacle of luxury. It is already a hit amongst wedding celebrants and event organisers. Meera Shah, director of Realindulgence.com says, “Gone are the days where people would only pop a bottle of champagne on a milestone birthday or that romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. We are now of a time where our refrigerators have a designated compartment for Champagne. Our Wild Hibiscus Flowers are always the talking point of any occasion. What we have here is that extra touch of opulence – that wow factor!”

According to The Independent, “sales of champagne all around the world are fizzing”. Global demand for champagne is increasing so fast that the French authorities are expanding the areas where it may be produced. Also, Champagne sales in Britain are higher than ever before. It is now only a matter of time before we see this creation of the Hibiscus Champagne cocktail on the cocktail list of our special hangout or at that next wedding reception we RSVP for.

Champagne is regularly served as an aperitif or as a toast at the end of a meal, so it is often overlooked when it comes to food.  However, because Champagne is naturally acidic, it makes a really good food match – and not just for oysters and caviar as you might expect, but for a number of different foods.

Non Vintage Champagne

This is the cheapest and probably most common type of Champagne available.  Non-vintage Champagne is blended from wines from several years and, in doing so, this ensures that a consistent style is achieved.  Non-vintage Champagne is younger and, generally, fruiter than other Champagnes, so is a perfect match for slightly lighter foods, such as egg or mushroom based dishes, hard cheeses, pasta or risotto (particularly with a cream or mushroom based sauce), vegetables, fish and seafood.  Strange as it may seem, non-vintage Champagne also goes really well with fish and chips, as the acidity of the Champagne helps cut through the oiliness.

Vintage Champagne

Vintage Champagne is made from a blend of wines from a particular year, when the quality of the wine is good enough to declare a vintage.  Because it has been aged for a few years, it has as slightly more complex structure than a non-vintage Champagne, so can stand up to stronger, fuller flavours.  For example, all types of fish and seafood, especially when accompanied with a creamy sauce are a perfect match for vintage Champagne, as are lightly smoked foods, cheese, duck, caviar and poultry with a rich sauce.

Blanc de Blancs

Champagne is made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, which are red grapes, along with Chardonnay, which is a white grape.  Blanc de Blancs, however, is Champagne which is made exclusively from the Chardonnay grape.  This is a rare style of Champagne and goes well with lighter style foods and, in particular, sushi, oysters, goat’s cheese, gently flavoured white fish and vegetables.

Blanc de Noirs

This is Champagne made from just the red grapes, Pinot Noir and / or Pinot Meunier.  If you come across a bottle, try teaming it with full flavoured foods such as meat and cheese.

Demi Sec

Demi sec style Champagne is sweeter than traditional brut champagne and is a good match for foie gras or foods that have a slight edge of sweetness to them.  It also goes well with desserts (as long as they aren’t too sweet), as well as red berries – particularly strawberries.

Rosé

Rosé based Champagne goes very well with seafood, including prawns and lobster, or slightly pinker style meats including lamb, ham and game.

There is much misunderstanding about the difference between sparkling wine and champagne. When you taste them, you probably will not notice a great deal of difference and there is a good reason for that. The real truth behind sparkling wine and champagne is that they are basically the same thing. Due to technicalities, though, they get different names.

Sorting out what is in a Name

Technically speaking, champagne is always sparkling wine, but sparkling wine isn’t always champagne. The reason for this is that the only wine that can be labeled as champagne is that which is made in France’s Champagne region.

True champagne from France is considered the most famous type of sparkling wine. However, sparkling wine from regions around the world are selling quickly, too. Many have a taste that is quite comparable with champagne and are frequently sold at lower prices, which makes them more desirable to many people.

Making Sparkling Wine or Champagne

Sparkling wine and Champagne are made the same way. The only difference is where the grapes come from, with those being used in Champagne coming only from vineyards in France.

To make sparkling wine or champagne the process starts out the same way as any other type of wine. The grapes are harvested and the juice is collected. It is then blended, as needed and the wine sits to ferment.

At this point making sparkling wine or champagne starts to differ from other wines. The wine goes into bottles and a mixture is added of sugar and yeast. This helps to produce the bubbles. The wine is then fermented for a second time.

The bottle is capped to trap the carbon dioxide in the bottle. The carbon dioxide is what makes the bubbles. This is the traditional process of making champagne that comes from French champagne makers.

Once the yeast eats up all the sugar, the second fermentation process is finished. A residue is left behind in the bottle. It then goes on to age.

After aging, the bottled wine is shaken as it sits on the racks. This process helps the residue go to the neck of the bottle. The process is called riddling. It is usually done by a machine.

From here the bottles are frozen, the cap removed and the residue pops out. This process is called disgorgement. The bottles are then filled with a dosage that adds sweetness to the wine. The bottle is corked, labeled, and boxed for shipping.

Most sparkling wine and champagne is made in this manner. Cheaper sparkling wines may not go through fermentation in bottles but rather in a large tub and then get bottled afterwards.

As you can see, when you want to choose between sparkling wine and champagne there is not real difference. Many people prefer sparkling wine just due to the fact that it is often more readily available and less expensive. Those with distinguished tastes, though, may find champagne has a more refined flavor and prefer it. For the average wine drinker, though, either variety will work for whatever special occasion they are celebrating.

With almost 300 Champagne houses producing Champagne in the Champagne region, there’s potential for a lot of bottles to be produced each year. Around 320 million to be precise! With this in mind, choosing a bottle of Champagne may sound a daunting task. But there’s no need to fear. Once you know what to look for, deciding what to buy is simple. In this article, we cover everything you could need to know about Champagne, from types and styles through to bottle sizes. So once you’ve mastered your “Brut” from your “Balthazar”, you’ll be picking out bottles of Champagne in no time.

Grapes Types

Three grapes are used to make Champagne – Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier are black grapes, while Chardonnay is a white grape. The quantity that each grape is used varies according to the Champagne. If you come across a “Blanc de Blancs”, this is Champagne which is made exclusively from the Chardonnay grape. “Blanc de Noirs”, on the other hand, is Champagne made from the red grapes – Pinot Noir and/ or Pinot Meunier.

Champagne Styles

Champagne comes in a range of styles from very dry through to very sweet. The normal dry style is known as “Brut”. If you prefer a slightly drier than normal style, look for “Extra” or “Ultra Brut”. “Sec” is slightly sweeter than normal, “Demi Sec” is sweeter, while “Doux” is an intensely sweet and very rare style of Champagne.

Champagne Types

The cheapest Champagne type that you’ll come across is “Non Vintage”. This refers to Champagne that is blended from wines of several years and, in doing so, this ensures that a constant style is achieved. Non-vintage Champagne is stored for at least a year before it is sold, and is considered the entry level or house style Champagne. The next level of Champagne is known as a “Vintage”. This is made from a blend wines from a particular year, when the quality of the wine is good enough to declare a vintage. In this case, the Champagne will have been stored for at least three years. A very, very special bottle produced in a vintage year, is known as a “Prestige” or “Deluxe Cuvée”. This is the producer’s top notch Champagne and usually costs more than three times more than a non-vintage and possibly double the price of a vintage Champagne. The grapes will have been hand selected and the Champagne will have been left to mature for five to seven years. Finally, if you like your Champagne with a pink tinge, go for a Rosé based Champagne.

Champagne Bottle Sizes

The most common Champagne bottles that you will come across are 75 cl bottles and Magnums (1.5 litres). However, it is also possible to find Quarter (18.75 cl) and Half bottles (37.5cl), along with Jeroboam (3 litres), Rehoboam (4.5 litres), Methuselah (6 litres), Salmanazar (9 litres), Balthazar (12 litres), and Nebuchadnezzar bottles (15 litres)!

The Champagne Region

Champagne refers to the region from where it was produced. The region of Champagne is the most northerly wine region in France and the “Champenois” (the collection of Champagne producers) are fiercely protective of its heritage. A bottle of Champagne has to be produced in the Champagne region for it to bear the Champagne label. So while all Champagne is classed as sparkling wine, you will come across sparkling wine which isn’t Champagne. Spanish Cava and Italian Prosecco are good examples.

In December, we travel across the ocean to discuss one of nature’s gifts, Champagne! Champagne is a wine region in France, so only wines from this area may be properly called Champagne. Any “champagne” produced outside this region in France should be referred to as Sparkling Wine.

No other beverage in the world symbolizes a celebration better than Champagne/Sparkling wine. These beverages help usher in the New Year as well as weddings, birthdays, promotions and any other special occasions. This time of year is when approximately 80 percent of this beverage is consumed. At holiday parties, my catering company likes to set up a sparkling station near the front door, greeting guests with a festive glass of bubbly.

Wine speak

The Champagne region in France is located about 90 miles northeast of Paris. In the late 17th century, French Champagnes were formally recognized as a new style of wine. Champagne’s unique effervescence came about due to the cooler climate of northern France. Grapes from this region generally had not fully ripened nor totally fermented in the Fall when wines are traditionally placed in barrels.  Over the winter, the champagne was dormant, then began fermenting once again in the Spring. This led to a fizzy beverage that was cloudy, due to the spent yeast floating in the barrels. At the time, this was considered an inferior product.

The French in the Champagne region created a new process to clarify their beverage. Instead of traditional barrel aging and storage, champagne was the first wine to be stored and aged in individual bottles with corks. This new process, Methode Champenois, (still in use today) involves inverting the bottles in racks and gently turning the bottles (riddling), to help the yeast collect in the neck of the bottle.

Next, the neck of the bottle is submerged in a brine solution that freezes the yeast section. The bottle is popped to expel the plug of yeast (disgorgement), resulting in a clear beverage. The champagne is then topped off with still (non-fermented) wine held in reserve for this purpose. A small amount of yeast and sugar are added to the bottle, then corked. This starts the second fermentation process. As the yeast consumes the sugar, a small amount of alcohol is created, as well as carbon dioxide. This allows the bottle to regain its fizz.

Today there are about 100 Champagne Houses in the Champagne region that are supplied with grapes or grape juice from over 15,000 local growers. Given the cooler climate, faster ripening grape varietals are used exclusively in this region; Chardonnay (used exclusively in Blanc de Blancs), Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (used with Chardonnay in Blanc de Noirs and Roses). There are three different methods to produce Champagne; the traditional Methode Champenois where wines ferment in individual bottles, the Charmat Process where wines are fermented in large steel vats and, third, the Artificial Carbonation process where wine is injected with carbon dioxide – which is the most inexpensive approach (and can lead to headaches). Quality Champagnes cost more due to the winery’s use of higher quality grapes, the blending of aged, still wines and the cost of storing the bottled Champagne for years before release.

There are three different styles of Champagne or Sparkling wines, ranging from light to medium to full body (based on the amount of time the yeast is left in contact with the wine). Also, sparkling wine’s sweetness levels ranges from Brut (dry) to Extra Dry (semi-sweet) to Doux (sweet).

Food and wine pairings

As discussed, the holidays are when the majority of Sparkling wines are consumed. They tend to be food friendly due to their higher acidity levels. This refreshing beverage is an ideal aperitif (lighter style is best) or can be used throughout a meal (heavier, more yeasty styles). They tend to match well with spicy and salty dishes. When served as an aperitif, my catering company tends to pair the lighter style Sparklings with sushi, smoked salmon canapés, garlicky shrimp crostini, spicy chicken sate and grilled ahi tuna skewers with a wasabi aioli. They also pair well with goat cheese and semi-soft white cheeses that offer mild flavors.

Sparkling wines have been a house favorite for years. Personal favorites from California that I recommend include Schramsberg and Domaine Carneros, which we just visited this past October. On the French side, a smaller House that is receiving great accolades is Charles Ellner, whose Brut Champagne Seduction ($65) and Brut Reserve ($40) offer tremendous value for the money. Included in the following are suggestions from local merchants of Champagnes and Sparkling wines and their retail prices, which may vary:

Bill’s Picks

$10 range

Pierre Delize Non-Vintage (NV) Blanc de Blancs – France – $7

Domaine Ste. Michelle (NV) Brut Columbia Valley – Washington State – $12

Jaume Serra Cristalino Brut Nature – Spanish Sparkler – $10

Rotari Brut – Italian Sparkling (not from the Asti region) – $12

Daniel Pardiac Brut Blanc de Blancs – France – $12

$25 – 40 ranges

Roederer Estate (NV) Brut – Anderson Valley, CA – $22

Domaine Carneros Brut Carneros – Napa Valley, CA – $25

Schramsberg Brut Blanc de Noir – Napa/Sonoma Counties, CA – $30

Joseph Perrier Brut – France – $26

Bollinger NV Brut – France – $40

Charles Ellner Brut Reserve – France – $40

Bob Kovacs of The Wine Seller in Geneva reminded me of Winston Churchill’s famous quote, “Champagne, in defeat you need it – in victory you deserve it!” 

For more from Bill Garlough’s Perfect Pairings visit My Chef.