Wine that sparkles is as ancient as wine itself. The natural process of second fermentation has been a part of winemaking for a millennium. It’s only in the modern era that we figured out how to harness those bubbles, trapping them in glass under atmospheres of pressure akin to a car tire.
The most well-known regions for sparkling wine are France’s prestigious Champagne and Italy’s easy-drinking Prosecco. Champagne is known for the area’s rich history and for making wine in the time-intensive Champagne method — also known as the traditional method — that includes second fermentation and aging in the bottle. This leads to wines with great complexity. Prosecco, on the other hand, is famous for using the Charmat method, which conducts second fermentation in a large vat with pressure controls to dial in how much pressure is desired in the final wine. This leads to a fresh, aromatic style of wine.
But there’s a big world out with a wide range of sparkling wine to be had outside of these two powerhouse regions. A lot of amazing, even life- changing, bubbles from Oregon and Maryland to Italy and Spain. We were so excited to taste through hundreds of bottles of bubbly, and as we did, one thing became very clear: The U.S. is not playing when it comes to this category. We’re calling them American Sparklers (a term coined by VinePair’s tastings director Keith Beavers) and they are plentiful and deserving of so much attention.
So read on to
