For a long time Champagne was the only “good” sparkling wine that most Americans drank. Those days are long gone; today there’s a good chance you’ll see good Italian Proseccos and Spanish Cavas on wine lists and at your local wine shop. But what are the differences between these three popular sparklers? The chart below reveals the key differences — from the grapes used to how to decode the language of sweetness on the labels:
Note – Sparkling wine production in Germany actually exceeds that of Spain, but most of the bottles of bubbly — Sekt in the local parlance — made in Germany are drunk in Germany. When we say that Champagne, Prosecco, and Cava are the world’s most popular sparkling wines we mean that they are both popular where they are produced, as well as around the rest of the world.
This article was originally published in VinePair. Read the full article here.