According to French law, in order for a wine to bear the name Champagne, it must be produced in that region. Champagne is made using the method champenoise, which requires a second fermentation that takes place in the bottle. The resulting wines are designated by sweetness levels, ranging from bone dry to sweet. Brut is of average sweetness and therefore the most popular. Extra Brut is even drier, Sec is slightly sweet, Demi Sec is a little sweeter, and Doux, very sweet. Vintage Champagnes are produced from blended wines made the same year, and non-vintage are made from a blend of several years. Known as cava in Spain, Sekt in Germany, and Asti Spumanti in Italy.
A denominated region northeast of Paris in which Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes are made into sparkling wine. Also the name of sparkling wine which is made by the méthode champenoise.
(sham-PAYN): Sparkling wine made in the region of the same name, some 70 miles northeast of Paris, using a traditional process in which the wines are bottle-fermented, and made only from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier grapes.
(Sham-pain) - Sparkling wine, specifically the type made in the French region of the same name using a traditional process in which the wine gains its sparkle by a secondary fermentation in the bottle, and made only from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier grapes. Some U.S. wineries still appropriate the name for their sparkling wines, a practice illegal in Europe; but as with Chablis, above, and Burgundy, this practice is dying out.
a white sparkling wine either produced in Champagne or resembling that produced there
Champagne is the French wine district that gives its name to the famous bottle-fermented sparkling wine.
Only the Chardonnais, le Pinot meunier and the Pinot noir are authorized to produce this wine.
Sparkling wine that is usually a blend of three grapes:two red: pinot noir and pinot meunier, and one white: chardonnay. Champagnes can range from very dry to sweet. Most champagne firms will make a minimum of three categories of wine: non-vintage, vintage, and pretige cuvee.
Sparkling wine produced in the Champagne region using the traditional method (Méthode Champenoise) Pinot Noir and Meunier and/or Chardonnay. Styles – white and rosé, vintage and non-vintage. By treaty, other European countries may not use the name for their sparkling wines.
Apart from the world famous French origin-marked sparkling wine sparkling wine, champagne is used rather romantically to describe diamonds which might otherwise to considered to be a slightly "off" colour.
Any lightish, whitish wine that is sparkling.
Ginger ale, sparkling apple cider, sparkling cranberry juice, or sparkling white grape juice.
Only 75 miles northeast of Paris, the region has over 300 villages and produces the best-known sparkling wines in the world. Only wines produced here can legally be called champagne.