WHILE WINEMAKERS in Champagne are renowned for their sparkling wines, they’re even better at something else: branding. The word “champagne” is synonymous with luxury and extravagance (and snobbery), and it’s the French wine region known throughout the world, even to those who don’t know it’s a wine region. But that’s all it is—a geographically defined region in Northern France with a set of rules on how to make sparkling wine. No magic, no pixie dust. There are excellent Champagnes, but there are a lot that are mundane and overpriced. Sadly, its cultural dominance means that other types of bubbly are overlooked or regarded as inferior, even though many are far more interesting and offer better value for money.
Creation myths are always murky, but Champagne can’t claim to be the first sparkling wine; wines made in the ancestral method most likely date back to the 1530s, predating Champagne by at least 100 years. Other sparkling varieties include Spanish cava, Italian spumante and Lambrusco, Sekt from Germany, and Crémant, a regional French sparkler (if some of those names conjure up nightmares of family functions drinking sickly sweet muck, quality versions are more abundant these days). Most other major wine regions—Australia, South Africa, US, Chile—produce versions. English sparkling wine is highly rated and there are even award-winning Welsh examples (yes, from Wales, FFS).