Champagne

While the term has been inappropriately applied to any variety of sparkling wine, true champagne is produced in the designated Champagne region of northeast France using only three grape varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meumier, and made with the traditional method, méthode champenoise. This traditional method requires a second fermentation in which the sparkle is fermented in the wine in the bottle and originally required some 100 manual operations (some of which are mechanized today). Champagnes can range in color from pale gold to apricot blush. Their flavors can range from toasty to yeasty and from dry (no sugar added) to sweet. A sugar-wine mixture called a dosage, added just before final corking, determines how sweet the particular champagne will be.