Everything You Need to Know About Sparkling Wine (And Why Champagne Isn't the Only Option)

Overview

• Sparkling wine is made in three ways: traditional method (second fermentation in bottle, used for Champagne, Cava, and English sparkling), tank method (used for Prosecco), and CO2 injection (avoid these).
• The British were producing deliberate sparkling Champagne around 30 years before the French, using stronger coal-fired glass bottles and rediscovered cork stoppers.
• Champagne suits food and special occasions. Cava offers outstanding value using the same production method. English sparkling wine competes with mid-range Champagne. Prosecco is ideal for casual drinking and aperitifs.
• Glass shape makes a genuine difference. Egg-shaped or tulip glasses outperform traditional flutes for flavour and aroma, particularly for quality sparkling wines.
• Sparkling wine is far more food-friendly than most people realise. Its acidity and bubbles make it one of the most versatile styles with food.

What Sparkling Wine Actually Is

Sparkling wine is wine with bubbles. The bubbles come from carbon dioxide dissolved in the wine under pressure. Most sparkling wines are white or rosé, though red sparkling wines exist, including Italian Lambrusco, Brachetto, and Australian sparkling Shiraz, all of which work well with certain foods.

Sweetness ranges from bone-dry Brut Nature through to sweet Doux styles. The terms come from French: Brut means "raw" or "harsh," whilst Doux means "soft" or "sweet."

The sparkling quality comes from one of three methods. Understanding which was used tells you a great deal about what to expect in the glass.

Fully sparkling wines such as Champagne and Cava sit at 5–6 atmospheres of pressure, nearly twice the pressure in a car tyre. Semi-sparkling styles (Italian Frizzante, French Pétillant) sit at 1–2.5 atmospheres, producing lighter, less aggressive fizz. The EU defines anything over 3 atmospheres as sparkling wine.

The Surprising History of Sparkling Wine

Effervescence in wine has been observed since Ancient Greece and Rome, but nobody understood what caused it. Over the centuries it was blamed on phases of the moon and various other causes.

In the Middle Ages, winemakers in Champagne noticed their wines would sometimes sparkle slightly. This was considered a fault. Dom Pérignon, the Benedictine monk everyone credits with inventing Champagne, was actually tasked with getting rid of the bubbles because the pressure kept exploding bottles in the cellar.

In the early 18th century, when deliberate sparkling wine production increased, cellar workers wore heavy iron masks to protect themselves from exploding bottles. One bottle exploding could trigger a chain reaction, and cellars routinely lost up to 90% of their stock to instability.

The British were the first to see sparkling wine as desirable rather than a fault. Wine from Champagne was often shipped to England in wooden barrels, where merchants would bottle it for sale. During the 17th century, English glass production used coal-fuelled ovens, which produced much stronger, more durable bottles than the wood-fired French glass.

The English also rediscovered cork stoppers, which had been used by the Romans but forgotten after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. During Champagne's cold winters, fermentation would stop prematurely, leaving residual sugar and dormant yeast in the wine. When the wine was shipped to England and bottled with cork stoppers, warmer weather would restart fermentation. The yeast consumed the remaining sugar, producing carbon dioxide that could not escape the sealed bottle. When opened, the wine was bubbly.

In 1662, English scientist Christopher Merret presented a paper explaining how sugar in wine created sparkle, and that adding sugar to wine before bottling could make nearly any wine sparkle. This is one of the first documented accounts of understanding the process, suggesting British merchants were producing sparkling Champagne almost 30 years before the French were doing it deliberately.

How Traditional Method Sparkling Wine Is Made

The traditional method, used for Champagne, Cava, and English sparkling wine, involves several distinct stages. Understanding them explains why these wines cost more and taste different from tank-method alternatives.

1. A base wine is made, usually quite acidic and not particularly pleasant on its own.
2. A mixture of sugar and yeast (the liqueur de tirage) is added, and the wine is bottled with a crown cap.
3. The yeast consumes the sugar, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide. Because the bottle is sealed, the CO2 dissolves into the wine under pressure. This second fermentation takes weeks to months.
4. The dead yeast cells (lees) sit in the bottle for months or years, adding complexity. This is where the biscuity, brioche-like flavours that distinguish quality sparkling wine from cheap fizz come from.
5. The bottles are gradually tilted and rotated (traditionally by hand, now often by machine) until the lees collect in the neck.
6. The neck is frozen, the cap removed, and the pressure shoots out the frozen plug of sediment.
7. A small amount of wine mixed with sugar (dosage) is added to replace what was lost, and the bottle is corked.

Champagne

Champagne is produced at the extreme northern limit of where grapes can ripen. The growing season is long and drawn-out, and the grapes struggle to reach full ripeness. This is actually what makes Champagne special. The cool climate and chalky limestone soil produce grapes with a particular balance of acidity and subtle fruit character that is difficult to replicate elsewhere.

Since 1985, it has been illegal to use terms like "Champagne method" or "Champagne style" for wines produced outside the region.

Three grapes dominate: Chardonnay (white), Pinot Noir (red), and Pinot Meunier (red). Yes, most Champagne is made from red grapes. The juice is pressed gently before the skins can colour it.

Each grape contributes something different. Chardonnay provides finesse, elegance, and ageing potential. Pinot Noir adds body, structure, and red fruit character. Pinot Meunier contributes aromatics, particularly floral and fruity notes.

Blending across vintages is a hallmark of Champagne. Most Champagne is non-vintage (NV), meaning it is blended from multiple years to maintain a consistent house style. Vintage Champagne is only produced in exceptional years when the grapes have enough complexity to stand alone.

Cava: Spain's Outstanding Value Option

Cava is Spanish sparkling wine, produced mainly in the Penedès region of Catalonia, around 40km southwest of Barcelona, though it can also come from Valencia, La Rioja, and Aragón. The name comes from the Catalan word for cellar.

Cava is made using the traditional method, exactly like Champagne, but with different grape varieties. The main grapes are Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada, all native Spanish varieties, though Chardonnay has been permitted since the 1980s.

Cava was created in 1872 by Josep Raventós. The Penedès vineyards had been devastated by phylloxera, and red vines were being replaced with white varieties. Raventós, seeing the success of Champagne, decided to create Spain's answer to French fizz. It has since become deeply embedded in Spanish culture.

Quality in Cava varies considerably. These are the indicators worth knowing:

English Sparkling Wine

English sparkling wine has grown substantially in quality and reputation over the past two decades. Commercial production started in the 1960s, but it was not until the 1980s that English winemakers began planting the classic Champagne varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.

The climate in southern England, particularly Sussex, Kent, and Hampshire, is remarkably similar to Champagne's climate 30–40 years ago. Chalky soil, cool temperatures, long growing seasons: the conditions that make Champagne special exist here too. Today there are over 100 vineyards producing English sparkling wine, and the leading producers genuinely rival good Champagne in blind tastings.

The clearest signal of English sparkling wine's standing came when Champagne house Taittinger planted vines in Kent. A house making Champagne since 1734 looked at Kent's chalky soils and decided this was where they wanted to make their next great sparkling wine. That is not sentiment. That is terroir recognition. Domaine Evremond, their collaboration with Hatch Mansfield, launched in Autumn 2024.

In 2023, Maximilian Riedel and the Riedel UK team visited wineries across Hampshire, Kent, and Sussex, conducting wine glass development workshops with 25 leading producers. The objective was to find the glass shape that best showcases English sparkling wine across all three regions.

Twenty-five winemakers tested twelve different Riedel glass shapes against a large number of English sparkling wines in blind conditions. The unanimous result was Riedel's Riesling shape in the Veloce range.

The Riesling shape provides wider surface area than a traditional flute, allowing the higher natural acidity in English sparkling wine to integrate and the more delicate fruit flavours to emerge. The wider opening also gives better access to the mineral complexity from England's chalk and limestone soils.

Prosecco

Prosecco has eclipsed all other sparkling wines in UK sales over the past decade. The Prosecco region is in northeast Italy, about 30 miles from Venice, covering nine provinces in Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. The best growing area lies between the towns of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano.

Prosecco is made from the Glera grape, a white variety from Slovenia. It is quite neutral, producing light, fresh flavours rather than complex, structured wines. Grapes are harvested in September, made into still wine, then transferred to large pressurised stainless steel tanks where sugar and yeast trigger a second fermentation. After a few weeks, it is filtered and bottled.

This tank method is faster and cheaper than the traditional method. It also preserves the fresh, fruity character of the Glera grape rather than developing the yeasty, biscuity notes that come from extended lees contact.

The Science of Bubbles

When sparkling wine is poured into a glass, an initial burst of effervescence occurs. Bubbles form on imperfections in the glass: tiny scratches, fibres, or deliberate etchings. These nucleation points are essential because carbon dioxide needs somewhere to start forming. On a perfectly smooth glass surface, the wine would stay relatively flat. This is why quality sparkling wine glasses often have a small etched point at the base of the bowl.

The average bottle of Champagne contains enough CO2 to potentially produce 49 million bubbles. They initially form at around 20 micrometres in diameter and expand as they rise, reaching approximately 1 millimetre when they reach the surface.

A poured glass loses its bubbles much faster than an open bottle because the surface area exposed to air is much larger. Lipstick, dishwasher residue, or grease on the glass can kill bubbles almost instantly, which is one reason why proper glass care matters.

Probably yes. A study at the University of Surrey gave subjects equal amounts of flat and sparkling Champagne with identical alcohol levels. After five minutes, the group drinking sparkling wine had 54mg of alcohol in their blood, whilst the group drinking flat Champagne had only 39mg. The theory is that bubbles speed up the passage of alcohol from the stomach to the small intestine, where most alcohol absorption happens.

Why Sparkling Wine Works With Food

Sparkling wine is one of the most food-friendly wine styles, for several practical reasons. High acidity cuts through rich, fatty, creamy food and cleanses the palate between bites. The bubbles provide texture that still wine cannot match, creating a scrubbing, refreshing sensation that works particularly well with fried food, salty snacks, and dishes with cream or butter. Sparkling wine also handles both salty and sweet elements without clashing, which makes it brilliant for complex dishes and one of the few wines that genuinely works with eggs.

Beyond the four main styles, there is a broader world of regional sparkling wine worth exploring. German Sekt made from Riesling can be bone-dry, mineral, and complex. French Crémant (from Burgundy, Alsace, or the Loire) uses the traditional method and offers better value than Champagne. Modern dry Lambrusco Secco is entirely different from the sweet version of the 1980s: fresh, fruity, slightly savoury, and excellent with charcuterie and pizza. Australian sparkling Shiraz is full-bodied and deeply fruity, brilliant with barbecue or rich spiced food. Italian Brachetto d'Acqui is sweet, light, and works surprisingly well with chocolate desserts.

Choosing the Right Glass

The glass you use makes a genuine difference to sparkling wine, particularly for anything worth drinking. Glass shape affects how aromas develop, how bubbles behave, and how much of the wine's complexity you can actually perceive.

Riedel is the benchmark for wine glass design. Their Veloce range uses thin, light crystal in shapes developed through extensive tasting workshops with winemakers. The Champagne Wine Glass in the Veloce range is their standard recommendation for sparkling wine, whilst the Riesling shape in the same range was specifically selected through blind testing with 25 English sparkling wine producers. Both are available from us.

Caring for Your Sparkling Wine Glasses

Rinse sparkling wine glasses promptly after use to prevent residue drying on the glass. Wash in warm water with a small amount of mild washing-up liquid, using a soft cloth rather than an abrasive pad. Rinse thoroughly to remove all traces of detergent, which can affect both bubble formation and aroma. Quality crystal glasses such as Riedel are dishwasher safe, but hand washing extends their life and clarity.

Air-drying is fine if the atmosphere is clean and odour-free. For the best results with fine crystal, dry by hand immediately after washing with a lint-free glass cloth, holding the base rather than twisting the stem. Leaving glasses to air-dry in a kitchen environment can allow odours to settle inside the bowl, which affects the aroma of the wine.

Store glasses upright where possible to prevent the rim from chipping against shelves or other glasses. If storing in a cupboard, ensure there is clearance above the rim. Avoid storing glasses near strong-smelling foods or cleaning products, as fine crystal can absorb ambient odours that affect the wine's aroma when poured. If storing glasses for extended periods, a quick rinse before use removes any settled dust or odours.

• Abrasive cloths or scouring pads: These scratch fine crystal and create rough surfaces that cause irregular bubble formation.
• Dishwasher with harsh detergent: Repeated cycles dull fine crystal over time. Use a gentle cycle and specialist glass detergent if machine washing.
• Stacking glasses: Never stack sparkling wine glasses inside one another. The weight concentrates on the rim and causes chipping or cracking.
• Extreme temperature changes: Do not place a cold glass directly into very hot water. Allow glasses to reach room temperature before washing in warm water.

Frequently Asked Questions