Curiosities about sparkling wines

Ciao,

Now that we have seen the more technical aspects of sparkling wines, I wanted to tell you some interesting facts about sparkling wines. If by chance you haven’t read the other two blogs on sparkling wine, no problem, you can read “Are all bubbles the same? The Classic Method” here and ”Are all bubbles the same? The Charmat Method” here.

Features

Dosé, pas dosé, brut, extra dry, dry, but what do all these terminologies that you find on the label of your bottle mean? They explain the characteristics of the wine.

The driest wine ever indicates Pas Dosé or zero dosage on the label; practically, this classification means that no sugar has been added to the liqueur d’expédition. Extra brut, on the other hand, indicates that almost no sugar has been added, so the wine is very dry in this case. Brut is also a dry wine, but in this case, the addition of sugar is slightly higher, which means the wine is a little softer on the palate.

With extra dry, we enter the world of softer sparkling wines, although the name can be misleading because extra dry in English translates as very dry. Dry is a dessert wine; sweet wines generally come from aromatic grapes such as Moscato or Brachetto.

Pairings

All dry wines, therefore, from zero dosage to brut, in addition to being good as an aperitif, generally go well with fish, even raw. On the other hand, extra dry wines are perfect as an aperitif and go very well with cold cuts. Dry, sweeter wines go well with medium-hard cheeses and desserts; sweet wines go well with desserts. Many of my friends don’t appreciate this combo, but a sweet wine should always accompany desserts.

How to store bottles of sparkling wine

First of all, these wines don’t need to age. The classic methods have already reached their ageing in the cellar before being placed on the market, while wines such as prosecco have a rapid sparkling process that gives its best when young. So if you buy a sparkling wine, consume it within the year.

If you have a wine cellar, perfect; make sure you have a temperature of 6/8 degrees C. If you don’t have a wine cellar, keep the bottles horizontal so the wine wets the cork in a cool, dark place.

How do you uncork a sparkling wine?

First, sparkling wines should be served at a temperature of 6/8 degrees. The wine then warms up quickly while in the glass. Please, no barrels and caps that pop violently. The cork must be lifted slowly so the gas comes out a little at a time, almost as if it were starting to breathe. When you remove the cage, always keep one hand on the cork because otherwise, with the pressure, it could jump and hurt you.

And now let’s drink! Here I leave you the list of all our bubbles, have fun tasting them!

Let me know which one you liked best.

ciao

Monica