Everything You Need to Know About Champagne from YumSugar.com
Champagne: Sparkling wine produced in the French region of the same name. The "champagne" definition was protected by the Treaty of Versailles, but since the US never officially signed it, some American producers use the champagne name, too.
Prosecco: A sparkling wine produced in Italy, mostly in the Veneto region.
Cava: Spain's contribution to the champagne family, named for the cellars in which it is produced.
Sparkling wine: A catchall term used for any bubbly without a specific regional designation, often applied to American wines.
Brut: A dry variety of sparkling wine, and the most common.
Extra brut: The driest of the dry. Also sometimes called brut sauvage.
Extra dry: Not to be confused with "extra brut," these wines are only slightly dry — a midpoint between sweet and dry champagnes.
Sec: Slightly sweet, even though the name actually translates to "dry" in French.
Doux: The very sweetest sparkler, typically served as a dessert wine.
Demi-sec: A bit sweeter than sec, but not as sweet as doux.
Cuvee: A rather confusing term that basically means that the bottle comes from a blend of wines, often kept secret by the maker.
Grand cru: A wine that comes from the highest quality vineyards.
Vintage: A wine produced from a single year of grapes, versus nonvintage, which combines several years.
