CHAMPAGNE OR SPARKLING WINE?

For many people, any wine that has 'bubbles' is a champagne. And there are still people who do not even associate Champagne with wine. If you belong to these groups, do not feel bad, because at the end of this article you will have clearer ideas on the subject. Once again, you're in the right place! And you will understand that this theme is not at all complex and that it comes down to a matter of geographical orientation. Let's start with the famous “All Champagne is sparkling, but not all the sparkling wine is Champagne”.

THE SPARKLING WINE
Technically, we call sparkling to any wine that contains between 4 and 6 atmospheres of pressure (that is, the pressure inside the bottle is between four and six times superior to the outside pressure). Made from grapes used in ordinary wines, it undergoes a distinct production process to create 'bubbles' - carbon dioxide (CO2). In a simplified way, there are two distinct methods for wines to obtain this carbon dioxide: (1) the Charmat method, in which wine acquires the gas in pressurized stainless steel tanks or (2) the traditional / classical method, formerly the Champenoise method, that the gas is created in the bottle itself.

THE CHAMPAGNE
Champagne is a sparkling wine, produced in the Champagne region of northeastern France. The sparkling wines produced there can only be white or rosé, and are only produced from grapes of the French varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.

CONCLUSION
Champagne or Sparkling Wine? It depends on where it was produced. All Champagne is sparkling, but not all sparkling is Champagne. That is to say that it is only Champagne the sparkling wine produced in the French region of Champagne. All sparkling wines produced elsewhere are called Sparkling wines. Did not you say it was a very simple matter ?!

CURIOSITIES

1. Sparkling wines are made in almost all wine-producing countries, and may be white, red or rosé (except for Champagne, which are only white or pink). Although France has the most notoriety of these products, other countries have already begun to compete for prominence through protected desginações: Italy (Prosecco and Asti), Germany (Sekt) and Spain (Cava). In all other countries sparkling wines are referred to simply as Sparkling Wines. In Portugal, some sparkling wines of very good quality are produced all over the country, but the ones produced in the Bairrada region stand out.
2. One of the reasons that fueled Champagne's fame was that in Reims, Champagne's most important city, almost all the great kings of France were crowned. The coronation took place in the cathedral of Notre-Dame of Reims, built in 1225, and in the celebrations Champagne was served. For this reason, the Champagne became known as the "Wine of the Kings".