You have all heard the comment that all Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne. All right, what do we mean by that? The creation of sparkling wine takes advantage of the basic elements of the alcohol fermentation process. During fermentation, sugar in grape juice is acted on by yeast cells to produce alcohol and carbon dioxide (CO2). For table wines, we allow the CO2 to vent and it is not a factor in the finished wine. To create sparkling wine, we induce a second fermentation in finished wine and trap the CO2 in solution in the wine.

Sparkling wine may be produced anywhere in the world. It can undergo the second fermentation in a bottle or in a large tank. When the second fermentation takes place in the bottle, we call it Traditional Method. Every nation translates this process into their own language. We have Sekt in Germany, Cava in Spain or Spumante in Italy. When sparkling wine is produced by the traditional method in the very special region of France called Champagne, we have a unique product recognized throughout the world.