OK…..let’s make this easy……….sparkling wine is any wine that bubbles and froths when poured into a glass.  The bubbles we so enjoy emanate from a carbon dioxide build up in the bottle under pressure and dissolved in the wine.  If the wine is designated as Champagne, it must, by French law derive from the Champagne region and resource only Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes depending upon the style.   While the gold standard of sparkling wine is Champagne from the namesake region of France, many regions throughout the world, including other regions of France, produce excellent sparkling wine.  The Samur region of the Loire is renown for its sparkling Vouray from the Chenin Blanc grape.  In the United States, sparkling wines are produced in many states with some of the finest deriving from Schramsberg in California (www.schramsberg.com)  and Gruet from our next door neighbor New Mexico (www.gruetwinery.com).  Spain produces Cava, it’s version of sparkling wine from non-Champagne grapes while Italy boasts Prosecco and Brachetto d'Acqui, Asti and Lambrusco and Australia, Sparkling Shiraz.  Germany and Austria produce their version (Sekt) and even Russia produces a “Soviet Sparkling wine.”

Sparkling wine can be bottled as either vintage or non-vintage.   The latter represents the majority of the wine produced and is predominated by a base of current vintage blended with some prior vintage wine.  While the "blanc de blancs" (white juice from white grapes) is always 100% Chardonnay (be it Champagne or sparkling wine), the "blanc de noirs" (white juice from from black grapes) version is a bit more fuzzy.  If designated as Champagne, the wine must contain only the pressed juices from Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier grapes.  If designated as sparking wine, it may contain some Chardonnay.  This diversity in production style results in a wines that may display nearly any color, depending upon the grape used and contact of juices with the skins (in the case of reds).  Most commonly, the wine is light golden or pink (Rose) but can be red as with Bourgogne Mousseux or sparkling Shiraz.  The level of sweetness can vary as can the alcoholic strength and even degree of fizziness.  According to EU regulations, the level of sweetness on any EU wine must be displayed on the label.  Those produced outside of the region are not subject to the regulations.