Common name for a quality sparkling wine, especially in German-speaking countries. According to EU regulations, these must have a carbon dioxide pressure of at least 3 bar. There are many country-specific names for the sparkling beverage, but only two of them are protected by origin. These are Champagne for products produced exclusively in the Champagne region of France and Cava in Spain. Other non-proprietary names are Crémant (in France outside Champagne) and Spumante (in Italy), which are also used in other countries. Sparkling or sparkling wines of lower quality are called semi-sparkling wine, which also has many country-specific names. A list of all designations can be found in the keyword sparkling wine.
Production
However, the production steps are very similar and are described under Champagne. In contrast to Champagne, the second fermentation often takes place in stainless steel tanks using the pressurised tank method, the Méthode charmat, named after its inventor. The wine is fermented in a pressurised tank after the addition of sugar and yeast and is also left on the yeast for a certain period of time. From there, the finished sparkling wine is filtered under pressure and then bottled. This process saves the time-consuming steps of remuage (riddling) and disgorgement (removal of yeast sediment).
The second difference to champagne is the blending method. A classic champagne is often (but not exclusively) a cuvée from different vineyards, vintages and mainly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. A sparkling wine, on the other hand, is usually made from a single variety of grapes from the same vineyard and vintage.
In Germany, this is mainly Riesling and in Austria Welschriesling, Grüner Veltliner and Chardonnay, but others are also used. However, there are also many sparkling wine brands that are produced using the classic method, i.e. bottle fermentation. In this case, depending on the country of production, the labelling indicates the designation "Méthode traditionelle" or "Méthode classique", which is common in France, Germany and Austria, and "Metodo tradizionale" or "Metodo classico" in Italy.
How sparkling wine got its name
The name "Sekt" is not protected in terms of origin, although Germany endeavoured for decades to only allow the name to be used in countries where German is the official language. After lengthy legal disputes, an EU decision in 1975 finally confirmed that this linguistic restriction was discriminatory. Quality sparkling wine may...
