Sparkling Wines - How This “Party Wine” Is Developed

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Sparkling Wines - How This “Party Wine” Is Developed

Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed

The world of sparkling wines, or champagne, as it is also incorrectly called, is pretty exciting. Most events that sparkling wine is used for are those of celebration. Celebrations such as parties, promotions and fancy dates many times will use sparkling wine to mark the event. For this reason, champagne is seen as the party wine. The origin of sparkling wine is almost as fun and interesting as drinking the wine itself and the process of making this type of wine is exciting as well.

It is said that sparkling wines were created by accident. Monks from Champagne, France were supposedly the accidental inventors of this drink. When their wines were stored in their cellars for some time, the wine turned bubbly. They thought they had spoiled the wine, but after drinking it they realized that they had created something great. Sparkling wine is created through temperature changes. When the wine cools down below fermentation temperature before all the alcohol has fermented and when it is heated up again, the resulting fermentation creates the bubbly appearance through a carbon dioxide reaction. Many wineries use the name champagne for their sparkling wine, but in actuality, wine that is truly champagne comes from a specific district of vineyards in France. Any other winery that uses the name champagne is stealing the name from the true foreign wineries.

The process of making sparkling wine has stayed pretty much the same throughout the years. The process has become modernized, but for the most part retains the spirit of the old ways. The first step in making champagne and sparkling wines is to pick the grapes over a period of time so that every grape is at its ripest. Sometimes, different grapes from different vineyards are used to retain the best qualities of each variety. The grapes are then pressed and stored, usually in stainless steel barrels to ferment. This is done over a period of at least three weeks, until all the sugar is turned into alcohol. The wine is then separated from the bits that sunk to the bottom of the barrels and is transferred to other barrels, sometimes wood, to ferment longer or is mixed in with older wines to retain a particular flavor. For the second fermentation, extra sugar and yeast is put in with the wine to make the bubbly texture. And that is how sparkling wine is made! There are many different kinds of sparking wines and they are all made a little differently, but the basic process is the same.

So that is a brief overview of how sparkling wines were created and how they are made. There are so many different kinds of sparkling wine, that it would be impossible to name them all in one article. Visit a wine club or indulge in some books for more information. Just remember, a sparkling wine is not true champagne unless it comes from Champagne, France.

Are you a fan of excellent wines but do not know the way to assess the wine for its economic value? Do not be discouraged. There are places of information out in in retail stores and on the internet that can instruct the ways to measure the value of wines as well as even show you how to make wines you can call your own. You can even purchase books that educate you on how to grow your very own grapes! Think of how pleasantly surprised your friends will be when you present them with a present of wines from your own garden. If you wish to know more, click here: Making Ice Wine with more helpful material at Apple Wine Making Recipes and at Recipe For Making Grape Wine