When it comes to celebrations like weddings, christenings, birthdays, engagements, garden parties or even if you have to launch a ship, there is only one thing that will fit the occasion, champagne. In fact whatever the event you can bring a sense of significance to any get-together by serving up a chilled bottle of this fizzy treat.
Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing in the bottle secondary fermentation. This creates the bubbles which make the drink special. Many consumers call all sparkling wines champagne, but according to official EU rules, only those produced in a specific French champagne region are legally allowed to call themselves champagne.
Most champagnes are a mixture of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes, although there are those that are made from 100% Chardonnay or Pinot Noir grapes, or from a unique house recipe. Champagne as we know it is usually a brut (this makes it fairly dry in taste). There are other sparkling wines, such as cava but they cannot officially be called champagne because they are not from the French region.
Initially wines from the region of champagne were still, the first sparkling wine was produced in the...