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For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.Table wineTable wine, or light wine, is fermented grape juice whose alcohol content falls within a certain range. Furthermore, table wine is not bubbly. (Some table wines have a very slight carbonation, but not enough to disqualify them as table wines.) According to U.S. standards of identification, table wines may have an alcohol content no higher than 14 percent; in Europe, light wine must contain from 8.5 percent to 14 percent alcohol by volume (with a few exceptions). So unless a wine has more than 14 percent alcohol or has bubbles, it’s a table wine or a light wine in the eyes of the law.
The regulations-makers didn’t get the number 14 by drawing it from a hat. Historically, most wines contained less than 14 percent alcohol — either because there wasn’t enough sugar in the juice to attain a higher alcohol level, or because the yeasts died off when the alcohol reached 14 percent, halting the fermentation. That number, therefore, became the legal borderline between wines that have no alcohol added to them (table wines) and wines that may have alcohol added to them.
Today, however, the issue isn’t as clear-cut as it was when the laws were written. Many grapes are now grown in warm climates where they become so ripe, and have so much natural sugar, that their juice attains more than 14 percent alcohol when it’s fermented. The use of gonzo yeast strains that continue working even when the alcohol exceeds 14 percent is another factor.
Many red Zinfandels, Cabernets, and Chardonnays from California now have 14.5 or even 15.5 percent alcohol. Wine drinkers still consider them table wines, but legally they don’t qualify. (Technically, they’re dessert wines, and are taxed at a higher rate.) Which is just to say that laws and reality don’t always keep pace.
Here’s our own, real-world definition of table wines: They are the normal, non-bubbly wines that most people drink most of the time.
Dessert wineMany wines have more than 14 percent alcohol because the winemaker added alcohol during or after the fermentation. That’s an unusual way of making wine, but some parts of the world, like the Sherry region in Spain and the Port region in Portugal, have made quite a specialty of it.
Dessert wine is the legal U.S. terminology for these wines, probably because they’re usually sweet and often enjoyed after dinner. We find that term misleading, because dessert wines are not always sweet and not always consumed after dinner. (Dry Sherry is categorized as a dessert wine, for example, but it’s dry, and we drink it before dinner.)
In Europe, this category of wines is called liqueur wines, which carries the same connotation of sweetness. We prefer the term fortified, which suggests that the wine has been strengthened with additional alcohol. But until we get elected to run things, the term will have to be dessert wine or liqueur wine.
Sparkling wine (and a highly personal spelling lesson)Sparkling wines are wines that contain carbon dioxide bubbles. Carbon dioxide gas is a natural byproduct of fermentation, and winemakers sometimes decide to trap it in the wine. Just about every country that makes wine also makes sparkling wine.
In the United States, Canada, and Europe, sparkling wine is the official name for the category of wines with bubbles. Isn’t it nice when everyone agrees? Champagne (with a capital C) is the most famous sparkling wine — and probably the most famous wine, for that matter. Champagne is a specific type of sparkling wine (made from certain grape varieties and produced in a certain way) that comes from a region in France called Champagne. It is the undisputed Grand Champion of Bubblies.
Unfortunately for the people of Champagne, France, their wine is so famous that the name champagne has been borrowed again and again by producers elsewhere, until the word has become synonymous with practically the whole category of sparkling wines. For example, until a recent agreement between the United States and the European Union, U.S. winemakers could legally call any sparkling wine champagne — even with a capital C, if they wanted — as long as the carbonation was not added artificially. Even now, those American wineries that were already using that name may continue to do so. (They do have to add a qualifying geographic term such as American or Californian before the word Champagne, however.)
For the French, limiting the use of the name champagne to the wines of the Champagne region is a cause célèbre. European Union regulations not only prevent any other member country from calling its sparkling wines champagne but also prohibit the use of terms that even suggest the word champagne, such as fine print on the label saying that a wine was made by using the “champagne method.” What’s more, bottles of sparkling wine from countries outside the European Union that use the word champagne on the label are banned from sale in Europe. The French are that serious.
To us, this seems perfectly fair. You’ll never catch us using the word champagne as a generic term for wine with bubbles. We have too much respect for the people and the traditions of Champagne, France, where the best sparkling wines in the world are made. That’s why we stress the capital “C” when we say Champagne. Those are the wines we want on our desert island, not just any sparkling wine from anywhere that calls itself champagne.
When someone tries to impress you by serving a “Champagne” that’s not French, don’t rush to be impressed. Most respectable sparkling wine companies in America won’t call their wines champagne out of respect for their French counterparts. (Of course, many of California’s top sparkling wine companies are actually owned by the French — so it’s no surprise that they won’t call their wines champagne — but many other companies won’t use the term, either.)
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For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.