WHY not end 2006 with much aplomb and style? There is, after all, much to look forward to come 2007. Nothing beats a glass of Champagne or sparkling wine for special occasions and whether you like your fizz sweet or dry, it’s hard to feel despondent when the cork ‘pops’. By the way, the term ‘sparkling wine’ refers to any wine which contains bubbles or carbon dioxide with Champagne being the most revered of all.

Although we tend to wait for a special occasion there really is never a wrong time for a glass of bubbly: simply uncork a bottle and watch how the spirits around you soar. The late Madame Bollinger once famously replied when asked her preferred time to enjoy Champagne. “I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad.When I have company I consider it obligatory.I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am.otherwise I never touch it – unless I’m thirsty.”

How fond are we of Champagne?

Approximately 320 million bottles are consumed around the world every year.

Where is Bubbly made?

Sparkling wine is made all over the world from Argentina to England, from India to New Zealand. But the only sparkling wine allowed to call itself Champagne is that which is made in the Champagne region of France, using no grapes other than Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir by the reputable Méthode Champenoise.

Why bubbly is bubbly?

Grapes are picked and pressed and the resulting juice undergoes an initial fermentation, usually in stainless steel tanks, although some producers prefer to use oak barrels.

Once fermented, the wines (which may be from different vintages, vineyards and grapes) are blended together. Before bottling, an additional solution of yeast, sugar and wine (liqueur de tirage) is added, causing a second fermentation in the bottle which produces the bubbles.

The bottles, once sealed with crown caps, mature on their sides for up to three years, after which they are regularly turned and gradually ‘riddled’ (remuage) or tilted or until vertical, causing the sediment created during the second fermentation to fall into the neck of the bottle. The necks are frozen and the icy pellet of sediment is expelled by removing the cap – the pressure of the fizzy wine forcing the icy plug out (dégorgement).

Just before corking and labelling, a mixture of wine and sugar (liqueur d’expédition) is introduced to the bottle (dosage).

How much bubbly can you drink?

From the huge photo-opportunity Nebuchadnezzars, that require three or more people to lift them, to chic quarter bottles drunk with a straw in trendy nightclubs, bubbly bottles are famous for their variety of sizes:

Quarter bottle: 20cl

Half-bottle: 37.5cl

Bottle: 75cl

Magnum: 2 bottles

Jeroboam: 4 bottles

Rehoboam: 6 bottles

Salmanazar: 12 bottles

Balthazar: 16 bottles

Nebuchadnezzar: 20 bottles

Bubbly terminology

Blanc de blancs – a white wine made solely from white grapes.

Blanc de noirs – a white wine made solely from red grapes.

Brut – dry.

Cremant – wines that are only lightly sparkling.

Demi-sec – semi-sweet.

Doux – sweet.

Extra brut – Very dry.

Extra Sec – dry.

Mousse – the froth which fizzes in a glass of sparkling wine as it is poured;

Mousseux – sparkling.

Non-Vintage – (NV) a blend of more than one vintage.

Sec – Medium-dry.

Vintage – A wine of one particular year. Fine champagne vintages: 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995, 1996.

Veuve Cliquot is but one of the fine champagne brands from the House of LVMH (Louis Vuitton-Moet Hennessy). Other LVMH champagnes include Moet & Chandon, and Krug.

How to open your Bubbly?

. Remove the foil and the wire from around the cork.

. Hold the bottle at a slant, keeping the base in your strong hand and the cork in the other.

. Twist the bottle slowly whilst holding the cork firmly (if you twist the cork, you risk it snapping).

. Using the pressure inside the bottle to help you, ease the cork out gently.

NB: It should come out with a sigh/whisper rather than a bang.

. Serve bubbly chilled a couple of hours (rather than days) in the refrigerator. Or place the bottle inside an ice bucket filled with a little ice and plenty of water. To pour, grasp the bottle by the base with your thumb inside the indentation.

Bubbly credits:

Marilyn Bennett

Jonathan Ray ‘Bubbly’