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Champagne
 “Come quickly, I am tasting stars,” Dom Perignon’s famous quote after his first taste of Champagne, and a
fairly apt description of what a good Champagne experience should offer. Is Champagne truly a wine? Where do the bubbles come from? How do I serve Champagne? Any Champagne suggestions? Read on for answers to these questions and more.
Yes, Champagne is truly a wine and it is typically derived from a blend of grapes such as Chardonnay, Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier. Champagne as we know it originally came from the Champagne region of France;however, Italy, Spain, Australia, New Zealand and the U.S. are strong contenders in today's Champagne market. Champagne is considered a sparkling wine, due to the bubbles, which are formed during a second fermentation process.
This second fermentation takes still wine and seals in the carbon dioxide that is formed when yeast converts sugar into alcohol, making for millions of bubbles with no place to go (in the first fermentation process the carbon dioxide is released out of the fermentation tank/bottle).
Champagnes are categorized as Extra Brut, Brut, Extra dry, Sec and Demi-secdepending on their sugar levels. An extra brut Champagne will be very dry, while a demi-sec is the sweeter option, with brut (dry), extra dry and sec lying somewhere in the middle with an off-dry to semi-sweet offering
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