How To Make Sparkling Wines Like Champagne [INFOGRAPHIC]

If you’ve ever wondered where sparkling wines get there bubbles from you’re in luck. Our infographic beautifully illustrates the steps that winemakers take to turn regular wine (base wine is the technical term) into the bubbly variety. The vast majority of sparkling wine* is made using one of these three different methods, all of which are explained in our infographic. Here are the three ways to make sparkling wine:

• Méthode Champenoise / Méthode Traditionelle: This is the slowest and most costly way to do things, and all Champagne is made this way. This approach has two names, as outside of Champagne, winemakers legally need to use a different name to refer to the same production process. French sparkling wines labeled Crémant, Spanish Cava, and Italian Franciacorta all are produced using this method.
• Transfer Method: This approach is very similar to the Méthode Traditionelle, but the final production stages are carried out in a tank, as opposed to in bottles.
• Charmat Process / Metodo Italiano or Martinotti: Using this method for producing sparkling wine, invented in Italy, secondary fermentation takes place in stainless steel tanks. Prosecco and Asti, the popular Italian sparkling wines, lend themselves to this approach.

* Gas injection — injecting carbon dioxide as if you were making soda – is a fourth way to make sparkling wine, although it’s only used to make extremely cheap sparkling wines.