Buy Champagne & Sparkling Wines Online

Champagne and Sparkling wines

Champagne is a sparkling wine that comes exclusively from the Champagne region of France and claims the honour of being the most famous of all sparkling wines. To be called 'Champagne' the wine must adhere to a very strict set of regulations. In very simple terms, they consist of:

• the wine must come from the Champagne region in France (140 km NE of Paris). Here the soil is chalky and the climate is cool, resulting in higher acid and lower alcohol wines, key characteristics of Champagne. Sparkling wine produced outside of the Champagne region, is simply that-sparkling wine.
• Only three different grape varieties may be used in the production of Champagne- chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier.
• The entire harvest must be handpicked! Three pickers are required per hectare of vineyard. With 30,000 hectares to be harvested, thats 90,000 pickers!!
• the wines must be produced under the 'methode Champenoise' (or the methode traditional)

The basis of the methode traditionelle is the secondary fermentation that the cuvee (blend of chardonnay, pinot noir, pinot meuniere wines) undergoes. Here, the cuvee is bottled and additional sugar is added (the liqueur de tirage) before the bottle is sealed with a crown cap. This will trigger a secondary fermentation in the bottle and the crown seal will trap the CO2, creating the finely beaded bubbles and fizz that Champagne is renowned for. The secondary fermentation process must occur over a period of at least 15 months.

Sparkling wines and Champagnes can be described as Extra Brut, Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, and Demi-sec depending on their sugar levels. Apple, pear, citrus, strawberry, cream, and vanilla (typically on the finish), yeast and nutty flavours are all common characteristics of Sparkling wines and Champagnes. 

Prosecco wines originate from the Veneto wine region in Italy. Prosecco is Italy’s most popular sparkling wine. While it is often compared with Champagne, it is made with a different set of grapes and undergoes a different winemaking process. Prosecco tends to have accentuated fruit and floral aromas. Because its wines age in large tanks with less pressure, Prosecco has lighter, frothier bubbles that don’t last as long.  Most Prosecco wines are produced in a dry, brut style. However, due to the grapes’ fruity flavours of green apple, honeydew melon, pear, and honeysuckle, it usually seems sweeter than it is. 

Buy Emerging Champagne and Sparkling wines Online

At BottlO´Briens we offer a delectable range of French Champagne and Sparkling wines as well as some of the best Australian Sparkling wines and Italian Proseccos online and in store. Veuve Cliquot NV from Reims, France is a Champagne from the fuller-bodied school with flavours of buttered toast, brioche and biscuit to complement the ever present fine acidity and flavour length that is a trademark. Villa Sandi Prosecco il Fresco from Veneto, Italy has aromas of ripe golden apples, acacia, and honeysuckle are exhibited on the nose. On the palate, the wine is dry, fresh and fruit-driven with citrus and stone-fruit flavors.

Local & Australia-Wide Champagne and Sparkling wines Delivery

At BottlO’Briens, we offer free Champagne and Sparkling wine delivery to Cronulla, Woolooware, Burraneer, Gymea, Miranda and Caringbah (for Orders over $100). All other Sydney postcodes $15 flat rate delivery fee for Champagne and Sparkling wine delivery. Next day delivery is available for orders placed before 11am.

BottlO´Briens delivers Australia wide (excluding Northern Territory).