Champagne 101...

What is Champagne?

Sparkling wine was first perfected in the district of Champagne, France, in the early 1700s by the Benedictine monk and cellarmaster Dom Perignon (sound familiar?). Upon seeing the bubbles in his glass, he captured the essence of his discovery with the words, "Come brothers, hurry, I am drinking stars!" The formula for Champagne is Sugar (grape juice) plus yeast = alcohol. The emissions of this is CO2 gas. Put a beer cap on top of the bottle makes the CO2 emission implode into the wine, hence sparkling wine.

Can you call it Champagne?

The French get all uptight stating that (they are right here) Champagne is a region in France, like us calling a wine Napa or Temecula. In the U.S., the terms sparkling wine and champagne (that's a lowercase c) are used interchangeably. U.S. wineries can use the term champagne only if the wine is naturally fermented and not through artificial carbonation; i.e. injecting soda bubbles into the wine, like a Coke.

What are the three ways to make Champagne?