Sparkling
wine - from the cheapest stuff on the shelves to the most prized bottle
of Dom Perignon - shares one essential characteristic with Coca Cola,
Budweiser, and Perrier. They are all liquids in which carbon dioxide has
been dissolved and trapped. The difference between these drinks lies in
the way the carbon dioxide got into the liquid. In the case of soft
drinks and very, very cheap sparkling wine, it is simply injected from a
large cylinder.
Beer
and quality sparkling wines get their bubbles as a by-product of
fermentation. Unlike beer, though, which is fermented only once,
sparkling wines go through the process twice. The first fermentation
produces a still wine with a low alcoholic strength. This is then given
a shot of yeast and sugar and transferred to a sealed container - a cuve
close (sealed tank) in the case of cheaper wine and Asti Spumante, or a
bottle, in the case of Champagne or a premium sparkling wine. Re-fermenting
the wine in the small confines of a bottle gives it a naturally yeasty
flavor and fine bubbles associated with good Champagne and good
sparkling wine from elsewhere.
Sparkling
wine - from the cheapest stuff on the shelves to the most prized bottle
of Dom Perignon - shares one essential characteristic with Coca Cola,
Budweiser, and Perrier. They are all liquids in which carbon dioxide has
been dissolved and trapped. The difference between these drinks lies in
the way the carbon dioxide got into the liquid. In the case of soft
drinks and very, very cheap sparkling wine, it is simply injected from a
large cylinder.