Wine Wanderings from France to the U.S.
By Wine Atlas, Wednesday 30 November 2005 :: Wine - United-States :: #87 :: rss
Greetings from the vine!
Today I bring you a collection of wine terms, tips, trivia and events I call "Wine Wanderings." Without further ado, let the wandering begin!
Quote of the Week: "One barrel of wine can work more miracles than a church full of saints."
- Italian proverb
b Did you know that Champagne is only made in Champagne? Wine-growing in France's Champagne region dates to the end of the third century A.D. Until the 17th century, only still (non bubbly) white, red and rose wines were produced, different than the champagne we know today.
The 17th century Benedictine monk Dom Perignon has gone down in history as the person who "invented" Champagne. He is reputed to have exclaimed, "It's like drinking the stars!"
Since World War II, French champagne sales have climbed upwards, nearly quadrupling between 1945 and 1966. Champagne has trickled down the social scale and is no longer considered just a luxury.
Sparkling wine has a long tradition here in the United States. California vintners have a successful track record for producing sparkling wines, dominant in terms of both quality and the number produced in the U.S. Outside of California, sparkling-wine producers in Oregon, Washington, New York, New Mexico and Michigan offer a diverse range of styles and good quality.
California's Korbel, the largest American producer of sparkling wine, was founded in 1882, while Ohio had a booming sparkling business in the mid-19th century. Schramsberg, in the northern Napa Valley, released its first sparkling wines in the mid-1960s. This is when the wine world began to take notice.
Gino L. Filippi, Wine Columnist
Continue reading : sbsun.com
