Wines and especially those of the sparkling bubbling kind bring to mind celebration and joy. Sparkling wines are mostly reserved by people to celebrate special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, memorials and many other joyous events. It is something else to view a sparkling wine, to shake the bottle, to open the bottle, to pour out the wine into the glasses, to behold the clear, sparkling liquid in the flute stemmed glasses and finally to taste the wine. It is an experience in its own.
The bubbles which burst out when you open a bottle of sparkling wine is because of the carbon dioxide trapped inside the bottle and once the cork comes off the air is filled with the smell of carbon dioxide due to the bubbles pouring out. Sparkling wine can be considered a treat for all your senses and it can make even an ordinary occasion seem special. In fact sparkling wine can be compared to the beauty and aura of diamonds which bring to mind a vivid picture of romance, contentment and immense pleasure.
Champagne is considered the best type of sparkling wine. It is made from the best quality grapes and it is put through a high quality processing method designed almost a hundred years ago which lends the timeless, classic and heavenly taste to it. Champagne makes special occasions like weddings and anniversary celebrations even more joyous. Champagne which is the best form of sparkling wine comes from a region known as Champagne in Northern France.
The history of champagne and other sparkling wines goes back to Dom Perignon who was a monk in the champagne region of France. It is said that he accidently stumbled upon champagne while going about his regular duties in the Benediction Abbey. Initially Dom’s sparkling wine was not very impressive but it soon grew in popularity and eventually Dom became a chief wine manufacturer in the region and perfected the wine making process till his death. And hence Dom Perignon became a legend in France for being the pioneer in bringing out champagne and other types of sparkling wine.
The drinker will most definitely notice a distinctly different taste between champagne and other sparkling wines made from very good quality grapes. This is because of the fine and thorough processing method which champagne is put through. This method of processing is quite complicated and not all wineries are up to having it done. Hence today there are many fine sparkling wines which are manufactured by top end wineries using the champagne like processing methods all over the world.
This does not deter the manufacturing of some poor quality sparkling wines using not very good grapes which are put through rough, bulk processing methods. They are slightly sweeter in taste because of the added sugar to offset the taste of the inferior quality grapes. They are quite easily identified because they are always cheaper compared to the other sparkling wines and they do nothing to reflect the original look, smell and taste of fine quality sparkling wines and champagne.