Champagne is a wine with tiny carbonation bubbles in it. We know it as the wine of celebration or victory. We know it for its popping corks and cascading flow over the head of the victor. But what is it really?
Champagne or Sparkling Wine?
Champagne- with a capital "C"- can only come from the Champagne region in northern France. All wines made outside of the Champagne region are called spakling wines. Therefore: all U.S. made wines with trapped carbonation are considered "sparkling wines".
How is it made?
Sparking wines are made by continuing the wine making process after the still wines are completed. Yeast converts sugar into alchohol and carbon dioxide (and other things). When a still wine is done fermenting all of the carbon dioxide has excaped via an airlock on the top of the tank. You will notice once in a while that a table wine may have some bubbles in it. This is because the wine was handled so gently that the carbonation did not escape during normal wine processing. For a spakling wine, special measures are employed to capture the carbonation and keep it in the wine. This can be either by the bottle or by the tank. Wine will capture more carbonation when it is colder. So keeping the wine extra cool becomes important too.
First: Make sure that your sparkling wine is cold. Carbonation stays in a cold wine. If the wine is warm all of the carbonation will want to leave the wine. This creates high pressure in the bottle. The cork will pop out of the bottle and shoot accross the room and the wine will come rushing out as the bubbles struggle to escape the bottle as quickly as possible. During a proper opening you will hear nothing but a slight pop and feel a slight push on the cork with no loss of wine.
Second: Turn the bottle- not the cork. After removing the foil and the hood, place a towel over the bottle and grip the cork from the outside of the towel. Place your other hand on the bottle and slowly twist the bottle against your firm grip on the cork. This twisting action will loosen the bond between the bottle and the cork. The pressure in the bottle will force the cork out. Be patient and point the bottle away from your friends.
Third: Use the right glasses. Find the tallest and skinniest stemware that you have. This gives the bubbles less surface area from which to escape and you a nice long time to see them rise. Pour the wine into them slowly-sparkling wine can be quite rambunctious!
Sparkling wines are under pressure. The warmer the bottle is the more pressure there is ready to jump out at you.
Chill before you open and keep it on ice to preserve the carbonation.
Hint: a pressure wine stopper will preserve your left over sparkling wine for several days.
Please ask us about them at the winery.
Sparkling wine is not just for special occasions anymore! Sparkling wines are the most versitile of any wine catagory. They go with ANYTHING! Our sparlikng strawberry wine is made from hand squished, Hartville, Ohio, super sweet, June strawberries. They were farmed by Mr. Kay Vaughan and family. We invite you to come to the winery and give it a taste.
Adventure into a new realm and see what the world has been raving about. We know that you will be glad that you did!