Champagne, that wonderful nose tickling beverage, is by far the most famously celebrated of all sparkling wines. Champagne is a type of Sparkling Wine, but...The type of sparkling wine that can be truly called Champagne is made only from grapes of the Champagne region of France.

Not only that, but French law dictates that all sparkling wines made in that area must be made by a special process called the traditional or champagne method. The French term is méthod champenoise. Only then, should it be called Champagne.

Bubblies produced in other parts of the world, even if they are created by the traditional method, should be referred to as sparkling wines. This does not necessarily mean that they are of lower quality. It simply means that they would not be referred to as Champagne. There are many high quality sparkling wines made in other areas of the world.

Top Champagne Producers that you can find in our stores

Things to Know When Buying a Sparkling Wine

Champagne is more complex, toastier, and has more and smaller bubbles than sparkling wines from the charmat method because of its long term exposure to lees.

Sparkling wines may be high quality, but the charmat method was chosen because it creates a fruitier flavor from limited exposure to lees.

The sweetness of a sparkling wine or Champagne ranges from:

• Extra Brut (Brut Sauvage) 
• Brut - Dry 
• Extra Dry - Medium dry
• Sec - Slightly sweet
• Demi - Sec: Fairly sweet
• Doux - Sweet

Vintage Champagne is made only from grapes harvested during a specific year. They only make vintage Champagne during years where the grapes had exceptional growing seasons and it is aged longer than non-vintage Champagne.

Premium vintage Champagne or prestige cuvée is made using only the best grapes from top vineyards for that year and the Pinot Meunier variety is often left out.