It can be quite difficult to find affordable, tasty Champagne to serve a large group of people. The term Champagne only refers to a wine produced in Champagne region of France. Wine of that style produced in the United States is designated as “sparkling wine” and elsewhere in the world, there are a large number of names for sparkling wines such names as Prosecco, Cava, and Spumante, just to name a few.
In trying to locate a sparkling wine to pour for a large group, I started with an extra dry NV Italian Prosecco produced by La Marca that costs $13 a bottle. This wine was quite crisp on the tongue, with creamy overtones and lemony citrus flavors. Next was the Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noir NV, which tasted creamy, with an aroma of raspberries and some vanilla. This Sonoma County, Calif., wine has a light pink hue and retails for approximately $14. The last wine tasted, which was the most expensive of the three at $19, was the Roederer Anderson Valley Brut NV. This sparkling wine was nice and crisp, with a bit of spice upfront. I thought this wine was full bodied, similar to the style of a typical French Champagne. This wine hails the Mendocino wine region of California.
The NV on each of the labels above stands for “non-vintage,” meaning that it was produced by blending grapes from different years. Non-vintage wines seldom taste different in any given year because of the way this blending occurs. In addition, when a wine is labeled “Blanc de Noir” or “Blanc de Blanc” it means either white from dark (made with Pinot Noir grapes) or white from white (typically made with Chardonnay grapes). Even though the Pinot Noir grape is red, the juice is clear just like all other red grapes. The red color of wine occurs through a process called maceration wherein the winemaker leaves the grape skins in the grape juice both before and during fermentation. The alcohol removes the red color along with tannins and aroma from the skins and dissolves them into the wine.
Is there really a difference between sparkling wine and Champagne -- not really. According to legend, a monk named Dom Pérignon missed the mark while making wine for his Abbey in the early 1700s. One winter, he mistakenly bottled and corked the wine prior to the completion of the fermentation process. Due to the cold weather fermentation was dormant during the winter, but as temperatures rose in the spring -- fermentation resumed and carbon dioxide that was trapped inside caused the bottles to explode. After taking a drink, Dom is said to have quipped, “Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!” Although the name Dom Pérignon today is synonymous with great Champagne, he did not invent sparkling wine. The first sparkling wine most likely originated in a region of France that is further south of Champagne and 150 years earlier than Dom’s mistake.
Jim Rawe, a family attorney in Bradenton, is an avid collector of fine wines. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at jimrawe@gmail.com.
