Happy New Year! Did you drink Champagne on the big night? Or sparkling wine? Do you know the difference?
The difference is not necessarily in the taste. The aromas and flavors of some finely crafted sparkling wines often rival Champagne. The real difference rests in the origin of the wine, the actual place where the grapes were grown and where the wine was vinified and aged.
Champagne is a sparkling wine produced within the borders of France’s Champagne region in the northeast of the country. By law, a bottle may be labeled “Champagne” only if it was produced within the borders of Champagne itself. Everything else is simply called sparkling wine.
In France, almost every wine-producing region makes a sparkling wine. Those wines are labeled “Cremant” or “Mousseux.” The wines are skillfully made and artfully presented but they will never be Champagne. That’s not to say they are not delicious—they are! A few of my favorite sparklers are Cremant D’Alsace and Cremant de la Loire.
There is incredible prestige in Champagne. So much prestige, in fact, that in 2008 the demand for Champagne worldwide exceeded production. The solution? The INAO (the organization that protects the French appellations) voted to push the borders of production and allow an additional 38 districts to produce Champagne. These districts had been producing bubbly all along but in 2008, they were finally allowed to call their sparkling wine “Champagne.”
Doubtless it was an incredible windfall for the lucky producers included in the new Champagne districts. Champagne’s fancy moniker demands a much higher price tag than mere sparkling wine. The sparkling wine producers didn’t change a thing but overnight their product suddenly skyrocketed in value.
If the wine is tasty and bubbly, why should you care where it was produced? There are many ways to approach that question. There is the historical aspect, of course. People have been drinking Champagne for centuries. Many of the venerated Champagne houses are hundreds of years old.
The style produced in each Champagne house is different and unique. Kings and queens, politicians, celebrities, and the common man have all celebrated special occasions with a bottle of good Champagne. Winston Churchill favored Pol Roger. Napoleon preferred Moet and Chandon. James Bond drank Bollinger. Marilyn Monroe loved Dom Perignon. The list goes one.
There is a certain cache to real Champagne. Anyone who has ever owned a pair of designer shoes can attest to that. They are not just your black pumps; they are your black “Manolos” or “Jimmy Choos”—a world of difference to the proud owner. The same is true with Champagne. A romantic evening becomes all the more special if a good bottle of Champagne is popped.
Sparkling wine is nice too but are you looking for nice? Does the eager young man with a ring in his hand reach for the bottle of Prosecco to woo his betrothed? Not likely. Nothing against the wonderful sparkle of Prosecco, but Champagne it is not.
If you didn’t have the opportunity to celebrate the advent of 2017 with a bottle of real Champagne, fear not. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and you have the chance to redeem yourself. This year, share a bottle of delicious, magical Champagne with your beloved.
Pour yourselves a glass and hold it up to the light. Observe the fine bubbles, called “Strings of Pearls” to aficionados. Sniff the fine toasty aromas and savor the rich flavors. You might find yourself exclaiming as Dom Perignon did so long ago, “I am tasting the stars!”
Cheers!
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