New Year’s Eve, when all around the world people celebrate the beginning of something they would like to be different and better, by eating and drinking more.
Am I too cynical? Maybe. Anyway I am not going to propose alternatives to the excesses of your party but just tell you something about bubbles.
Historically, the event is marked by the presence of bubbly. Different white sparkling wines are on the table depending on the country and tradition.
In Spain people toast with Cava, in the Unites States mostly with Champagne, in Italy people raise a glass of Prosecco.
Is it all the same when it comes to bubbles? Prosecco, Cava, Champagne: are there any significant differences?
We may as well drink a glass of Champagne
Champagne is widely regarded as the finest expression of sparkling wine. Paul Claudel, a modern French poet inspired by the mysticism and symbolism, once wrote: “Gentlemen, in the little moment that remains to us between the crisis and the catastrophe, we may as well drink a glass of Champagne”.
Not very mystical, but definitely symbolic. In the middle of the European economic crisis this could the right moment to prefer champagne rather than other sparkling wines. It is the worst solution for your finances though.
You are about to buy a bottle of champagne and you notice that it costs much more than any other sparkling wine. Champagne is definitely going to be a chic and glamorous choice. Since 50’s its bubbles have been associated to luxury and high social class, like a Ferrari car.
Are you willing to spend more than 80 dollars just to show off the chic champagne label? Yes? End of the post for you, then. You are ready to celebrate. No? Your goal is not to merely appear chic and glamorous. You want to know more. Your doubts are legitimate since there are so many products whose great reputation is not totally deserved, whose value does not justify the high price. Is the champagne one of these overrated products?
Discovered in 1200, champagne is only produced in France, in the region of Reims and Epernay, and mostly from pinot grape variety. When produced in other parts of the world, as in Brazil and recently even in China, it cannot be honoured with the appellation of “champagne”, according to a law that appeared in the Treaty of Versailles at the end of the World War I.
Slightly different taste
Both in Champagne and Prosecco/Cava bubbles are naturally formed. Grapes, the container where fermentation takes place, and the overall production time are the main differences.
To get Prosecco, wine grapes are poured into stainless steel autoclaves with sugar and yeasts, which together take few months to complete the fermentation process leading to bubbles. For Champagne, instead, wine, sugar and yeast are directly added in the bottle, corked and left to ferment up to 4 years. After a process to eliminate the deposit (degorgement), a liquor is added to distinguish between the sparkling Brut, Extra Dry, Dry, etc.
Prosecco/Cava is young, fresh with the fragrance of fruit and flowers. Champagne has a more complex flavour with a typical aroma of yeast due to the longer and more complex aging process.
Choosing between champagne and any other sparkling wine is not only a matter of cost, then. They taste slightly different. Champagne is perfect for those who love stronger and yeasty taste while Prosecco is a great choice if you like fruity and lighter notes.
I think it is important to point out these differences as unfortunately the majority of people believe that champagne is the only choice for the most important occasions and toasting with something different would be a bad showing. Unfortunately its fame, still deserved, has increased in the marketplace at the expenses of other equally valid sparkling wines.
Bellini
Personally I love my first sips of champagne, but I feel overwhelmed by the yeasty taste already at the end of the first glass. I cannot get myself a second one, I start thinking how to mitigate the flavour still retaining its fizz and sparkling identity.
I enrich bubbles with a fresh touch of peach preparing this popular party cocktail, Bellini. Classically made with Italian Prosecco, simple, delicate but still fizzy, you can make it with any sparkling wine.
Since, unless you’re buying a wine whose bubbles are a result of the injection of carbon dioxide (as in some sparkling water), you are still buying something good. Even if it is not Champagne, monsieur et madame.
Happy new Cocktail!
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2 oz peach pure
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4 oz Prosecco or Asti Brut
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few drops of raspberry juice to get the pink color
Pour peach pure (white peach is better), then champagne (kept cold) in a flute glass. The long glass will allow the bubbles to move more and make the fizz last longer. Then add raspberry juice.
