This was quoted to me recently by a lady who specialises in Champagnes.
In fact, the explanation just about sums it up totally.
There is an enormous amount of confusion around Champagne/Crémant/Méthode Traditionnelle/mousseux and sparkling wines generally.
First and foremost, no wine, sparkling or otherwise, can be called Champagne unless it is grown in the Champagne region. This region is about 100kms northeast of Paris. The centre of it is Reims, and the best Champagnes are raised around the area of Epernay.
Dom Pierre Pérignon (c. 1638–1715) was a Benedictine monk who made important contributions to the production and quality of Champagne
in an era when the region's wines were predominantly still and red (pinot noir). Fermentation in the bottle in those days was generally considered to be a fault in the winemaking.
When the weather warmed and the wine came to England, the fermentation
process would restart and the cork-stoppered
wine would begin to build up pressure from carbon dioxide gas. When the
wine was opened, it would be bubbly.
The English were amongst the first to very much appreciate this type of bubbly wine.
In fact, it was the English scientist Christopher Merret who presented a paper in 1662 detailing how the presence of sugar in a wine led to it eventually sparkle, and that nearly any wine could be made to sparkle by adding sugar to a wine before bottling it.This secondary fermentation has occurred in still wines since antiquity; most glass bottles of the time were not strong enough to contain the high pressures this generated, so exploding bottles were an occupational hazard of winemaking!
Sir Robert Mansell obtained a monopoly on heavy glass production in England in the early 17th century and industrialised the process; his coal-powered factories in Newcastle-on-Tyne produced much stronger bottles than were available in France.
It was the famous widow Veuve Clicquot who, in the early 19th century, with the help of her cellar master, made a great breakthough in Champagne handling which made the mass production of the wine possible. Ridding the bottles of the dead yeasts and sediment (lees) was a constant problem. Mrs. Clicquot cut holes in a table and popped the bottles in the holes upside-down so that the yeasts would drop to the neck of the bottle. (This process is called Riddling) Then she efficiently discarded the yeasts without losing the now sought-after bubbles. This method of making sparkling wine became known as "méthode champenoise". Mrs. Clicquot tried to keep it a secret for as long as possible but, of course, all the other Champagne houses cottoned on very fast and soon everyone was mass producing Champagne.
All Champagnes, Crémants, Méthodes Traditionnelles and many others are made in the méthode champenoise, but only those wines from the geographic region of Champagne are allowed to be called Champagne.
Another way is by fermenting the wine in the tank rather than the bottle. This is known as fermentation in "cuve close". Only very few sparkling wines are successful in this type of winemaking.
There also exists the very cheap way of making gassy wine by injecting gas like any fizzy drink. This is not considered good quality winemaking.
In other regions, the more famous ones are Crémants and Méthodes Traditionnelles from the Loire, Alsace, Burgendy and more locally in smaller areas in the south east such as Blanquette de Limoux and Clairette de Dye.
In the Loire Valley we are spoilt for choice of these wonderful wines.
We have our own Méthode Traditionnelle white and rosé. Also, Crémant de Loire.
The Loire Valley also boasts sparkling Vouvray and sparkling Saumur wines. All are made in the traditional méthode champenoise, but in a different region of France, often using slightly different grape varieties which lend easily to the different regions.
www.AmandasWines.co.uk
If you are confused or not sure what to do