In the north of Italy lies a region with a sixth of all Italy’s people and a healthy portion of its vines. The region is home to the best sparkling wine produced in Italy as well as some of the funkiest cheeses around—try Tellagio sometime, it’s actually very good. Here they call the Nebbiolo grape Chiavennasca and will sometimes dry them to raisins before making a strong, off-dry red. If you haven’t googled it already, the area in question is the Lombardy region, in north-central Italy, along the Swiss border.

The wine market of Lombardy in inextricably linked to its cultural center—Milan. The wines of the region have historically gone to quench the thirst of the cities citizenry. Over time, the region and the city seem to have worked out a deal were the vineyards grow what the city wants to drink—or perhaps the city just like to drink its local vino. In any case, there’s a lot of sparkling wine coming out of Lombardy as well as some excellent red wine called Valtellina.

Franciacorta is a DOCG wine zone (the highest quality level a region in Italy can receive), which grows grapes exclusively for use in sparkling wine. The region uses the Champagne process to make their wines and even uses the Champagne grapes Chardonnay and Pinot Noir—with a little Pinot Bianco thrown in for local flavor. The wines are aged for 18 months to 30 months for non-vintage and vintage wines, respectively. Franciacorta sparkling wines can be expected to have a little more sugar than Champagne, but they won’t be sweet. Any wine that is produced in the area that isn’t sparkling is called Terre di Franciacorta. Still wines from the region include blends of red Bordeaux grapes and aged Chardonnay in the style of Burgundy.

Outside of Piedmont—the ancestral home of Nebbiolo—the only area to grow the grape is Valtellina in Lombardy. Nebbiolo is famous for making Barolo and Barbaresco in neighboring Piedmont. In Lombardy the grape makes a more delicate wine, with less acid and tannin than the world famous Nebbiolos of Piedmont. Though lighter in style, Valtellina makes excellent red wines capable of aging for up to 10 years. A very unique wine is made here from the Nebbiolo grape, it’s called Sforzato and is made from grapes semi-dried grapes and results in a strong, rich wine, similar to Amarone.

Another region producing wine in Lombardy is the Oltrepò Pavese—literally “across the Po river.” Oltrepò Pavese is responsible for half the wine coming out of Lombardy, but most of it is simple wines that won’t get outside of Italy. The quality wines are made from Pinot Noir, both in sparkling white and still red wines.

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Carneros exists in its own little world. It’s the first American Viticultural Area (AVA) to be defined by climate—instead of political lines in the sand. It straddles the two most famous AVAs in the United States—Napa and Sonoma—with a portion of the appellation lying in each, and the ability to name it’s wines as Carneros or Napa/Sonoma, depending where the grapes are from. It’s the only area in the U.S. that is recognized internationally as a powerhouse of sparkling wine production. Carneros, or Los Carneros if you want, is a very special corner of the wine world, and it lies just across the bay from San Francisco.

The dominant climatic force in Carneros is the San Pablo Bay, an offshoot of the larger San Francisco Bay. This oceanic influence brings down temperatures and brings in strong winds, which consistently hit the vineyards of Carneros. The area was chosen by the great Louis M. Martini in the 1940’s because of the relative coolness of the climate—this is California after all, not Wisconsin, so the coolness is relative. Still the area showed promise for growing grapes that fare well in cool weather, namely Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

After some success in the 70’s with varietal, still versions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, the world began to form an idea. The idea went like this: cool climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay make some pretty good sparkling wine in Champagne…so, let’s make a sparkling wine in the style of Champagne in Carneros! And so began the veritable gold rush of the 80’s for good land in Carneros by the big Champagne (and Cava) producers.

The wines of Carneros are marked by a certain touch of old-world charm, mixed in with the fruit forward flavor profiles—they’re California wines after all. The Chardonnays tend to have significantly more acid and less of the creamy, roundness of most California Chardonnay. This style can be excellent on its own, but often finds its way into a blend of Chardonnays from either Napa or Sonoma. The clean acidity and brightness help to balance the fattier style of Chardonnay from warmer parts of the appellations. Carneros Pinot is noted for having a lighter body with more earthy aromas than most California examples of the grape.

The sparkling wine from Carneros is considered some of the best of the new world. The wines display excellent structure and acidity, with intense aroma and bright, clear flavors. Some of the best sparkling producers in the area are: Domaine Chandon, Domaine Carneros, Gloria Ferrer and Codorníu Napa. Sparkling wine from Carneros has the potential to age well, though most bottles follow the Champagne example and are blends of several years, so there won’t be a vintage year on the label.

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Champagne, I love you, you’re wonderful and I’ll see you on birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. Prosecco is for the everyday celebration. You should have sparkling wine at least once a week. At least. Prosecco fills that niche with grace and charm.

So what if it isn’t wafting complex toasted brioche and apricot aromas like the great sophisticated Champagne it is inevitably compared to? It’s not supposed to be Champagne. Yes, they both have bubbles and are usually white…and that’s about where we can stop comparing them. Decent Champagne starts at $30 a bottle, but good Prosecco can be had for $12 a bottle.

You may know Prosecco from the Bellini, that wonderful fizzy peach cocktail. Prosecco can be an aperitif, or a table wine to go with an easy Wednesday night dinner. Prosecco is hip and in-the-know. Prosecco says “I like bubbles, and I don’t care if it’s not from France, I’m going to drink what I want.”

Prosecco hails from the Veneto region in Italy, roughly a third of the way down, on the western side. It’s a pretty land with gently rolling hills. The wine is protected by the Prosecco DOC and by a new DOCG for Prosecco di Valdobbiadene. Just look for the little pink ribbon on the top of the bottle and you’re good to go.

Prosecco is that rarest of rare old world wines that makes sense to the American labeling mindset: Prosecco wine is made from Prosecco grapes. It’s that easy. You just don’t find ‘em like that in Europe. (Of course the Italians caught on that us Americans were having an easy time understanding their labels, so they went ahead and changed the name of the grape to Glera)

Prosecco may not have the reputation that Champagne has earned, but it still should be a go-to bubbly for quality, fun and value.

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Perhaps no other wine in the world has been able to cultivate an image quite as well as Champagne. The houses of Champagne spent the 19^th and 20^th centuries making their wine as synonymous with upward mobility, the affordable luxury product. They affectively tied their sparkling wines with moments of celebration in the minds of the world’s consumers. In a stroke of genius, they specifically advertised to women. In an age when this was uncommon, it reaped rewards in brand loyalty that last to this day.

It should come then, as no surprise that the Champagne producers of France feel a great need to protect this valuable brand. There are literally international treaties that the French have negotiated to stop anyone, anywhere outside of the bounds of the Champagne AOC from calling their sparkling wine product “Champagne.”

True Champagne comes from the Champagne region, located in north-central France. The vineyards lie near to the city of Paris and are one of the most northerly outposts of grapes in the world. The grapes used to produce Champagne are actually quite familiar to most wine consumers: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with a little of the obscure Pinot Meunier thrown in.

Champagne is usually a white wine, but Pinot Noir is a red grape…no? Well, yes, it is, but in Champagne production the Pinot Noir grapes are crushed very lightly and removed from the skins quickly so that no color leaches into the juice. Most Champagne is a blend of the three grapes, however a bottle labeled Blanc de Noirs will be made exclusively from Pinot Noir and Meunier and a bottle labeled Blanc de Blancs is made from only Chardonnay.

Champagne today is always a sparkling wine, though it was a still red at one point in time. The geography and climate of the area sparkling wine production the best choice for growers in the area. The cooler climate gives the grapes a high dose of acid and lower sugar content. The high acid is beneficial to balance the texture of the bubbles in the wine. Champagne is made by the process invented in the Champagne area called méthode champenoise. While the process is repeated throughout the world to produce sparkling wines, the name is protected and cannot be used on labels of wines that are not Champagne.

Champagne is produced in several levels of sweetness, from driest to sweetest: Brut zero, Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Sec, Sec, Demi-Sec and Doux. Most Champagne is a non-vintage wine. This is different than most still wines, and is why there is generally not a vintage on the label of Champagne. The Champagne houses blend their wines, using wines from several years to arrive at a “house style.” This process is designed to ensure that you’re favorite bottle of Champagne will taste the same, year-to-year.

Imagine if Coca-Cola or Budweiser tasted different every year…that consistency is what the Champagne houses are aiming for. Every few years though, there is an excellent vintage and the Champagne will be made from only that year’s wine. These special wines are called vintage Champagne and are aged for longer, then released with a vintage date on the label.

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Phylloxera devastated the south of Spain in the late 1800’s, which meant that the existing vineyards had to be ripped out and replanted. A stroke of fate happened when the red grapes of pre-Phylloxera vineyards were re-planted with white grapes. A second stroke of luck happened when Josep Raventós traveled to Champagne.

He realized that all the newly planted white grapes in his vineyards could be used to make a Spanish sparkling wine, in the style of Champagne. His company Codorníu still produces sparkling wine to this day, though they no longer call it Spanish Champagne, today the world knows his creation as Cava.

Cava literally means “cave” in Spanish and refers to the cool caves where the wines were stored and aged before the advent of refrigeration. Though Cava can technically be made in six areas of Spain, the vast majority of production happens in the region of Penedès, near Barcelona. In order to be labeled as Cava, the sparkling wines must be made in the traditional Champagne method—méthode champenoise. This process creates a wine that undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle. Any wine that is produced with the bulk, forced carbonation process called charmat must be labeled as “Spanish Sparkling Wine.”

The grapes that go into Cava dictate much of it’s flavor profile and style. The main grapes used in the production of Cava are: Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo, along with some Chardonnay and Pinot Noir which have been planted recently to appease international palettes. The Macabeo is fairly neutral and will usually make up the bulk of the blend. Parellada is the second most widely used grape. It is generally thought of as the best in quality, with apple and mineral notes a crisp finish. Some Cava is now produced and labeled as varietal Parellada. The Xarel-lo grape is indigenous to the area and produces wines with a strong character—which some people find less than pleasant—and is only used in small amounts for blending.

Cava has a texture similar to most sparkling wines, with tight, well-formed bubbles and crisp acidity. The wine can be produced in styles ranging from totally dry to very sweet, in that order they are: brut (nature), brut extra dry, sec or seco, semisec or semiseco, dolsec and finally dolce.

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Happy New Years! Ok… you all know what I’m going to recommend for a New Years gift… yes… you guessed it: a Champagne Wine Club! As you all know there really isn’t much difference between Champagne and Sparking Wine. The only difference is Champagne comes from Champagne, France. If you’re buying a gift for someone that cares or knows the difference then you better play it safe, otherwise I’d suggest doing one of the many Sparkling Wine Clubs. Most wine lovers have spent their fair share of time in Napa. Anyone who has ventured a little further to Sonoma has been to Korbel. They’ve got a great tasting room and wonderful tour that shows how they make their famous champagne. Did you know they started out making cigar boxes, ran out of trees, and then discovered the land was perfect for champagne grapes? If you’re looking for a little outing in the new year I suggest visiting Korbel. You can find all of the Korbel wine clubs on their site. For those of you that want sparkling wine for a variety of vineyards then I suggest checking out Cellar’s Sparkling & Champagne wine club. I think a lot of us only think about Champagne during New Years, but really it’s great to have with dinner for mini celebrations all year long. Next time you cook dinner for your wife surprise her with a nice bottle of bubbly!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider

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Wine Club Insider here on New Years Eve 2008!

What better time than New Years Eve to talk about champagne and the other fine bubblys from around the world!

Personally, I found champagne to be an acquired taste. I wasn’t an instant fan, and since my only previous experience with sparkling wine (and I hate to even admit this!) was with such fine vintages as Cold Duck and Baby Duck (as much as I love them, my parents were obviously connoisseurs… not!).

I tried a few of the less expensive (read: “cheap”) so called champagnes, and much the same as drinking your regular “plonk” still wine, it didn’t blow my skirt up, so to speak. But then… ahhh. At the Millenium New Year, I opened a bottle of 1992 Dom Perignon, and I tell you, my eyes were opened!

Though some folks might say that Dom is over-priced/over-rated, I think it is still a great bottle of bubbles, and the ’92 was really awesome.

Okay… I’d seen the light, and now the search was on. Over the next couple of years, though it still wasn’t my top priority, I certainly tried my fair share of sparkles, enjoying many. By the way, www.1-800-wineofthemonthclub.com has a pretty nice club for $49.99/month for two bottle.

Okay… here are some of the snazzy champagnes I loved besides the famous “Dom”:

~ Domaine Merriwether (Oregon): Beautiful, soft champagne. One of the best I’ve ever had, especially for the price.

~ Champagne Duval-Leroy: Nice, beautiful bottle, good depth.

~ Taittinger Domaine Carneros Brut: Velvety. About $20

~ Paul Chenau Brut: This Cava is a Very nice Spanish addition.

~ Mumm’s “Millenium Cuvee:” Excellent. Produced for wine club members for the New Years 1999.

~ Domaine Chandon “Etoille Rose:” This unique wine is a Chard-Pinot Noir blend that is one of my favorites from the marvelous Napa house owned in part by the legendary Moet Chandon.

And now, probably my two faves of the past year or so:

~ Schramsberg “Cremant Demi-sec:” Cremant means “creamy,” and this demi-sec is a sweeter, softer wine using the rare “Flora” grape (a combination of the Semillon and the Gewurtz).

And possibly my favorite champagne ever…

~ Scramsberg “J. Schram:” served at White House dinners, consistently wins taste tests against Europe’s best, this vintage wine from perhaps the USA’s best champagne house is also one of my favorite wines ever. A bit pricey at $100, I could easily drink this every day, but will have to settle for tonight at midnight!

Schramsberg is found at www.schramsberg.com, and you’d be well served to give them a try!

I wish you all the best of the season, and hope you have a safe and happy celebration tonight. Blessings to all of you for a healthy and prosperous 2009, and may all your gifts be wine club gifts!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out for 2008!

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