Sparkling wine

Sparkling wine meaning

Sparkling wine is wine that releases persistent effervescence from dissolved carbon dioxide when opened. In the current OIV definition, the carbon dioxide is of exclusively fermentation origin and bottle overpressure is at least 3.5 bar at 20°C, with a 3 bar minimum for bottles smaller than 0.25 liters. OIV divides the production routes into secondary fermentation in bottle and secondary fermentation in a closed tank.

That international definition is not identical to every national standard. U.S. rules, for example, define sparkling grape wine by carbon dioxide resulting solely from fermentation in a closed container, tank, or bottle. Wine made effervescent with externally supplied gas falls into a separate carbonated wine class. Always apply the rule for the market and protected name in question.

Traditional, tank, transfer, and ancestral routes describe how fermentation and handling create or retain gas. They do not determine sweetness: Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, and related words belong to a separate sugar vocabulary. Compare the routes in the sparkling wine methods guide and the sugar boundaries in the wine sweetness guide.