Sparkly Bubbly Champagne

New Year's Eve is near and all around the world Champagne bottles are being sold at an impressive rate. This year is almost over and what's the best way to receive the next one? With a glass of bubbly, of course! Here's another idea for you: how about impressing all your friends and family with Champagne trivia? I'll help you out with that.

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The Name

According to Wikipedia, Champagne “is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of the wine to effect carbonation. The term "Champagne" is used to refer to wine produced exclusively within the Champagne region of France, from which it takes its name”.

Grape Varieties
Only a few varieties of grape can be used for the production of Champagne, being the most common the white Chardonnay and the dark-skinned Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier.

Types of Champagne
There are four types of Champagne:

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• Cuvée de prestige: is a blend of top-of-the-range wines from a producer, of high quality and produced to the highest standards.

• Blanc de noirs: meaning “white of blacks”, is a white wine produced from black grapes.

• Blanc de blancs: “white of whites” is the Champagne produced exclusively from white Chardonnay grapes.

• Rosé: this pink Champagne is produced by adding a small amount of red wine to the sparkling wine cuvée.

Sweetness
Champagne has three degrees of sweetness, according to the amount of sugar added after the second fermentation. The least sweet is Brut Natural or Brut Zero. The next one is Extra Brut and the sweetest is Brut.

The Science Behind It
If you want to learn a bit about the chemistry of Champagne, I'll leave you this amazing video from Bytesize Science. Hope you enjoy it.

Finally, I want to wish you all Happy New Year! May 2012 bring you happiness, joy, health and prosperity in every aspect of your lives. Cheers!