Champagne vs the rest of the world – four wines to challenge the French

When it comes to sparkling wine , there’s one name that stands head and shoulders above all of the rest: Champagne . But why does it earn such praise? I asked our resident Master of Wine, Dawn Davies, what she thought.

What sets Champagne apart?

Refermented in bottle

Rather than pumping it full of gas like a SodaStream or letting it ferment in large closed tanks, the fizziness is created in each bottle. The still base wine is filled into bottles, some sugar and yeast are added and the bottle is sealed. The yeast eats the sugar, producing alcohol and carbon...