The Story Of Sparkling Wine
When most people hear the words ’sparkling wine’ they instantly think of Champagne. While Champagne may indeed be the most famous of all the fizzy wines, there are a number of other excellent contenders that not only taste great, but are easier on the pocket, too.
There’s Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine that is usually either pink or white. It’s stocked in most supermarkets and is easily available all over the UK, as well as being reasonably priced.
Or why not delve into some sparkling quality wine from Germany? The best of the sparklers from this country is called Sekt, yet about 90 per cent of Sekt produced is actually made from wine imported from other countries including France, Spain and Italy. Cheap wine that’s been injected with CO2 is not permitted to be named Sekt, however, and must instead be labelled Schaumwein, which is the German for wine that sparkles, with the literal translation being foam wine.
Or, if you are looking to be particularly trendy and impress your friends, why not hunt out some Bulgarian sparkling wine? The Bulgarian domestic market consumes a lot of fizzy wine, and the most famous of the brands are Iskra, which means spark, and Magareshko mlyako, which rather amusingly means donkey milk.
Bulgaria currently has a reputation for being an up-and-coming wine-producing country, and you may just discover a few hidden gems from this country.
While nothing kicks off a celebration better than an iconic bottle of fizzy stuff, you may be surprised to learn that the bubbles in wine were once feared rather than cherished.
In old French cellars, the glass used to make wine bottles was not as strong as it is today, and it was not known how to control the fermentation process properly in order to control the bubbles. Bottles could burst at random, showering unlucky cellar workers with glass and wine.
Even as far back as the Ancient Greeks and Romans, effervescence has been noted in wine production. It was once attributed to phases of the moon, as well as to evil spirits. Bubbles were considered a fault, and it’s no surprise really when you consider the injuries that must have occurred. Dom Perignon himself was actually charged with eradicating the bubbles from wine, and when sparkling wine was produced deliberately for market during the 1700s, workers in cellars had to work with heavy iron masks on to protect their faces from randomly exploding bottles.
Thankfully, conditions have greatly improved, and wine producers no longer risk their lives when they make sparkling wine for us to enjoy!
Dominic Donaldson is a wine expert. Find out more about Sparkling wine and the fizzy fun that awaits!
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