A staff training infographic worth 1,000 words

BY MARNIE OLD

BUBBLY WINES are made differently than still wines , of course . There are three main styles , which are based on the European wine they emulate during the method of production :

Champagne – Fermented twice , with second fermentation in sealed bottles , using the “ Traditional Method .” Flavor , texture and mousse are enhanced by long-term aging on yeast sediments , or lees . These wines are most often dry to bone-dry .

Prosecco – Fermented twice , with second fermentation in pressurized tanks , using the “ Charmat Method .” The wine is typically slightly sweeter , and must be bottled and sold quickly to preserve its freshness and pleasantly fruity taste .

Asti – One single fermentation is interrupted halfway to preserve high levels of grape sugar and suppress alcohol content in the “ Ancestral Method .” These wines are fully sweet and do not age well .

One of the most noticeable distinctions between styles is their sweetness . But the regulated label terminology used to indicate sugar content can be hard for wine drinkers to decipher . Some

sweetness designations , such as “ brut ,” are unique to sparkling wines , while others , like “ extra dry ,” can be misleading despite seeming more straightforward . However , they all make more sense with historical context .

When French Champagne first became popular in the early 18th century , the style caught on as an expensive novelty item that we would now consider dessert wine . Most were dosed with over 50 grams of cane sugar per liter , at a level we would now call “ Doux ,” or sweet . As bubbly wine became more fashionable in the royal courts of Europe , demand grew for drier styles to serve with dinner . So vintners added less sugar and labeled these bottlings as “ Demi-Sec ” or “ Sec ,” meaning half-dry or dry . But even these were still quite sweet by modern standards .

When merchants kept requesting even-drier wines , vintners who had used the word dry for a sweetish wine had to come up with a new word to signify “ drier than dry .” Thus the term “ Brut ,” meaning savage or unrefined , conveying a near-total absence of sweetening . BD

SWEETNESS TERMS AND SUGAR CONTENT IN SPARKLING WINES CAN BOTH BE DECEPTIVE Most countries regulate sparkling wine sweetness terminology according to sugar content , using a system pioneered in Champagne , France . However , “ Extra Dry ” is confusingly not the driest style , and sparkling wines can also taste drier than their sugar content might suggest , since acidity offsets perceived sweetness on the palate .

MARNIE OLD is one of the country ’ s leading wine educators . Formerly the director of wine studies for Manhattan ’ s French Culinary Institute , she is best known for her visually engaging books published by DK – such as Wine : A Tasting Course . Marnie currently serves as director of vinlightenment for Boisset Collection .

10 Beverage Dynamics • July / August 2020 www . beveragedynamics . com