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+--- Thread: Sparkler types (/thread-17811.html)
- andypandy - 12-25-2005
Lately, perhaps to celebrate the season and my graduation from college, I have started exploring sparkling wines. I have little experience with these, and also have very limited funds to explore much with. As my palate is, generally speaking, young and inexperienced, I would appreciate it if someone could describe for me the general differences in the different types of sparklers. I have tried Proseccos and California Champagnes and am about to try a bottle of cava (Segura Viudas Estate Aria Brut Cava, it was about $12, I think. Anybody know if this is any good?) At the end of this magical journey into new territory I'd like to cap it off with a true Champagne. So there's a couple of questions to answer: basic differences between Cava, Prosecco, California Champagne, true Champagne, or other sparklers, and what's a decent representative of Champagne that's not too pricy for a couple of friends to share? Thanks for y'alls genius. (I was going to post this in the champagne section, but I just feel so comfy here in the novice section, since it fits me the best...)
- winoweenie - 12-26-2005
Hi AP. Seems like every country makes some kind of sparkling wine and have their own name for it. As you probably know the only true champagne is made in France. Prosecco is the general name for Italian sparklers, Cavas from Spain, etc. I just posted on a delightful inexpensive sparkler from New Mexico of all places.If you gop back a year on the Champagne thread you'll find lots of solid choices to invest your hard-earned in. Lovely stuff this "Breakfast of Champions". WW [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]
- andypandy - 12-26-2005
Thanks Wino. There is a great post from Bucko in the Champagne thread about sparklers under $15. I guess to clarify my question, if I had a refined wine palate, and I tasted a california champagne and then a true champagne, or a cava and then a prosecco, and so forth, are there characteristic differences between these different types? Or is there too much variety within the different types to say? What is it that really sets the wine of Champagne apart from the others? I have A. Immer's book but she doesn't really go into this.
- Thomas - 12-26-2005
Quite a question Andy.
First, the thing that sets Champagne from the rest is that it is the name of a place, not really of a wine. The topography of the place is uniquely chalky and mineral like. Also, in that place sparkling wine was developed by way of a certain method, using particular grapes (Chardonnay and Pinot grapes), that has come to be known as the Champagne Method. (Another French place named Limoux claims to have produced sparkling wine well before Champagne, but with neither the same grapes nor method.) Champagne was much better situated--marketing wise--and so it excelled.
The same grapes and the same method can be used to produce sparkling wine outside of Champagne, but the earth will always be unique to the place and hence, the resulting wines will be different from Champagne.
Also, the grapes and the process used to produce sparkling wine in some places outside Champagne aren't always the same as in Champagne, and so the difference in those wines is inherent.
A good Champagne (in my view) should have a slight yeasty--bread like--aroma, tiny bubbles that seem to have no end that explode and foam across the tongue, a clean snappiness, and be no more than 12% in alcohol.
Sparkling wines from other places sometimes duplicate these traits, but more often they have their own appeal. Lower priced Cava, for instance, often has a slight oxidized quality to it; Prosecco is usually lighter and fruitier than other sparkelrs; German sparkling Riesling can be quite interesting, but hardly ever yeasty; and the list goes on.
In the U.S., while there are some decent California sparkling wines, New York's Finger Lakes region (where I am) has a near perfect climate for growing grapes with the kind of acidity that makes sparkling wine a winner. Some of the best American sparklers I have tasted have been produced here.
[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 12-26-2005).]
- stevebody - 12-31-2005
I have to insert one thing here: with all due respect to my esteemed colleague WW, Prosecco isn't the generic name for Italian sparklers. Prosecco is produced from the Prosecco grape, usually in or around the Northern Italian city of Valdobiadenne and its Conegliano sub-region. There are examples of Prosecco from other regions, also, as the Astoria, which is listed as the Veneto appellation. Sparklers made from other grapes - frequently Chardonnay, these days - are made in several other, principally Northern - appellations. The Ferrari line is from Trento. The Bellavista and Ca del Bosco are from Franciacorta, an area known primarily for non-Prosecco bubblies. There are a fair handful of these full sparklers, as opposed to the frizzante (semi-sparkling) style that makes up the bulk of better Moscato d'Asti. Also, the term "Asti Spumante" has gotten a bad rap in the past few decades. All it really means is (full)Sparkling Wine of Asti. It doesn't have to be sickly sweet and badly made but those are the ones we see most in our grocery stores.
There are also the Gavi wines that are made frizzante and can be lovely and graceful or, in odd cases, a mess. The whole category of Italian sparkling wines is one of the least explored by Americans and there are some magnificent things there. The Ferrari "Giulio Ferrari" Riserva took a gold medal in a blind tasting up against most of the better Champagnes - names like Bollinger, Tattinger, and Veuve - by Weinwelt, the influential German wine tasting association. It was the only bubbly to receive 5 stars, with Dom coming in next at 4. The Italians make serious, world-class wines in the sparkling category, too. We just seldom see them.