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Sparkling wine

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Four ways to put bubbles in wine, then Champagne, Crémant, Cava, Franciacorta, Alta Langa, Prosecco and Sussex.

All levels 149 min 18 steps About Sparkling Wine: How the Bubbles Get In

Part of Winemaking

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  1. Sparkling Wine: How the Bubbles Get In

    Wine term 11 min

    Start with the methods: Wine Australia's educator guide lists five, traditional, transfer, ancestral, tank and carbonation, and where and when the fermentation happens shapes the style in your glass.

  2. Traditional Method / Méthode Champenoise (Méthode Traditionnelle)

    Wine term 8 min

    The traditional method in detail: a second fermentation in bottle, then aging on lees for brioche and toast notes.

  3. Dosage: The Final Touch in Sparkling Wine Production

    Wine term 7 min

    After disgorgement, dosage sets the sweetness; every Champagne label names one of seven categories from Brut Nature to Doux.

  4. Transfer Method Sparkling Wine

    Winemaking 7 min

    The transfer method also ferments in bottle, then moves the wine under pressure into a tank for filtering, dosing and new bottles, skipping riddling and disgorging.

  5. Charmat Method

    Wine term 6 min

    The tank method: sparkling wine made through secondary fermentation in sealed, pressurized stainless steel tanks, also known as the Martinotti Method.

  6. Carbonation (Injected CO2 Sparkling Wine)

    Wine term 5 min

    Set both against carbonation: injecting carbon dioxide into a still base wine, the same basic approach used for fizzy canned drinks, with none of it coming from fermentation.

  7. Traditional Method vs Tank Method

    Comparison 9 min

    Traditional Method / Méthode Champenoise (Méthode Traditionnelle) vs Charmat Method

    Put the two side by side: same second fermentation, different vessel, from bottle-by-bottle lees complexity to fresh, fruit-first bubbles from a sealed tank.

  8. Pétillant Naturel / Pét-Nat (Ancestral Method, Bottled Mid-Ferment)

    Winemaking 9 min

    The ancestral method bottles the wine before it completes its first fermentation, and in Limoux, Benedictine monks are credited with a naturally sparkling wine in 1531.

  9. Champagne AOC

    Region 12 min

    Now the regions, starting with Champagne: Cretaceous chalk, a northern climate at 49 degrees, and Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay.

  10. Blanc de Blancs Champagne (100% Chardonnay)

    Wine term 7 min

    Blanc de Blancs, made from white grapes and almost always 100% Chardonnay.

  11. Blanc de Noirs Champagne (Pinot Noir and/or Meunier)

    Wine term 8 min

    Blanc de Noirs, white Champagne made only from Pinot Noir and Meunier.

  12. Crémant de Loire AOC

    Region 8 min

    Outside Champagne, Crémant de Loire uses the traditional method with Chenin Blanc at its center.

  13. Cava DO

    Region 10 min

    Spain's Cava, traditional method from Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada, about 95% of it made in Penedès.

  14. Franciacorta DOCG — Lombardy's Metodo Classico Sparkling Wine

    Region 8 min

    Franciacorta, a DOCG in Lombardy's Brescia province where every Franciacorta takes its second fermentation in the bottle, on the moraine hills south of Lake Iseo.

  15. Alta Langa DOCG

    Region 7 min

    Piedmont's Alta Langa: vintage-dated traditional method from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir on hillsides above 250 meters.

  16. Prosecco DOC

    Region 10 min

    Prosecco, made from Glera by the tank method seen earlier.

  17. Champagne vs Prosecco

    Comparison 9 min

    Champagne AOC vs Prosecco DOC

    Put bottle and tank side by side: Champagne against Prosecco.

  18. Sussex Wine Region

    Region 8 min

    Finish in England, where Sussex makes traditional-method sparkling wine on chalk from the same geological band as Champagne.

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