Celebrate with Champagne and sparkling wine.
It’s a celebration, people! We’re going to pop bottles like the postgame locker room celebration at the Superbowl!
But before the corks start flying and the bubbles start bursting, we need to pick out a Champagne, or sparkling wine...or maybe a Prosecco. So wait—what is the difference anyway?
According to Brian McPhee, manager at Red Bank Wine & Spirits, people in this area don’t seem to buy a lot of Champagne and for the most part stick to the sparkling wines and Proseccos. In fact, when I paid Brian a visit at the store, there were very few bottles of French Champagne to be seen.
Mimosas are what are trending in the world of sparkling wines, and if you’re mixing your wine with orange juice, there’s really no point in using a very expensive bottle of Champagne. Unless, of course, you’re trying to impress a crush—or staring in a rap music video.
The truth is that all Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne. Technically, Champagne goes through a second fermentation process once bottled—this is what makes the wine so bubbly. Sparkling wine will not go through this process. Instead (usually), sparkling wine is regular wine with CO2 injections.
But of course the most recognized difference between a sparkling wine and Champagne is where it is made. Champagne comes from the region in France that the wine is named after and wine is only recognized as Champagne if it is made in that region. Three types of grapes are used to make champagne: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.
Prosecco is similar; it is made in the Veneto Region in northeast Italy from the Italian grape Glera.
If you’re like most sparkling wine consumers, and you admit you can’t taste a difference, the best way to tell is the bubbly. The more bubbly your wine is, the better it typically will be, because it has gone through the second fermentation process. Even easier to indentify is the price. If you don’t know you’re buying real Champagne, you will, once the clerk rings you up.
For most folks, Champagne is consumed in times of celebration. Is it the novelty, the price, or maybe the sound it makes when the bottle is uncorked? Whatever the reason, don’t ever miss an opportunity to celebrate your good fortune. At the end of a long day, there’s always a silver lining—and that alone calls for a celebration.