You’ve probably all heard the various versions of the story that traces the origin of Champagne to the blind French monk Dom Pierre Perignon who upon tasting his most recent bottling is said to have exclaimed “Come quickly, I’m drinking stars!” While perhaps something similar to this might have happened around 1700, it did not mark the origins of carbonated wines; just perhaps one of the tipping points that ushered in its broader popularity. Even before Dom Perignon became the cellar master at Abbey d’Hautvillers in 1668, the term “method champenoise” was already being used to refer to one of the ways wines of the Champagne region were turned into “bubbly”.
Whether it is Champagne or Cremant from France, Cava from Spain, Spumante or Prosecco from Italy, or Sekt from Germany, the overall concept and process is generally the same. You take a wine (usually, but not always white), and after full fermentation, blend it together with other varietals to obtain the desired flavor, and then bottle it with a little bit of sugar and added yeast. This forces a secondary fermentation that happens in the bottle. And while wines which are fermented in large vats are able to expel the carbon-dioxide into the air, when fermented in the bottle that carbon dioxide is instead forced to distribute itself within the bottled liquid, thus carbonating it. The bottles are then stored at a slight angle, carefully twisted (or “riddled”) day after day to cause the yeast deposits to gradually settle into the neck of the bottle. The bottle is then very quickly opened, which disgorges the sediment, and then very quickly corked to retain the carbonation.
Sparkling wines have long been associated with celebratory endeavors, almost to the point where many people don’t consider having “champagne” when they aren’t celebrating something. Add to this the fact that since sparkling wine will loose its sparkle once it is opened, it is difficult to find by-the-glass champagne being offered in the same broad selection of varieties as by-the-glass wine, thus requiring you to purchase an entire bottle if you want a good glass of stars.
While traditionally, sparkling wine is white, or perhaps at most rosé, there is in fact no reason why red wines can’t also be put through the “method champenoise” in order to allow them to likewise participate in the celebrations. This last holiday season in fact I sampled several Sparkling Shiraz wines from Australia, and found them to not only be quite delicious, but also very unique in their flavor when compared with their paler siblings.
For cocktails, I wouldn’t recommend going with a high end sparkling wine, but you should always use one which would be enjoyable on it’s own. You may also wish to purchase your bubbly in a small “split”, although you’ll end up spending a lot more for the more convinient size. A better option might be to purchase one of the specially made champagne stoppers so you can at least make an effort at saving some of the bubbles before they all dissapate.
And here are some links to additional ideas here on The Spirit World regarding Champagne and it’s use in cocktails:
