Wine and women — may they both sparkle! After doing a blind wine-tasting at Swissotel for the Eve’s Club, sparkling wines have been on my mind. In the past few months alone, India’s sparkling wine producers have increased by 100 per cent, with original Sula and Grover Zampa being joined by newcomers Fratelli and Chandon (from Moet Hennessy). So here’s a tasting note on the Indian sparkling wines. Try them this V-Day month to add a sparkle to your romance:

What makes a wine sparkle?

Starting with champagne (coming from the Champagne region of France), there are several kinds of sparkling wine — red (still haven’t found one I like), white or rose.

All sparkling wines start off as still wine (flat, no bubbles). All end up having suspended pockets of CO2, which make it sparkle and fill the glass with these lovely ascending little bubbles. To get the bubbles, the wines have to undergo a second fermentation.

The basic principle behind the fermentation process that all alcoholic beverages go through can simply be stated as: Sugar + Yeast = Alcohol + CO2 + Heat.

Still wine goes through this once and CO2 produced in the process is released into the air. The secret of sparkling wine is to create a second fermentation in the wine to keep, or trap, the CO2 bubbles created by the fermentation process.

The second fermentation may be done on a large scale in a tank or in each individual bottle. To initiate second fermentation, a mixture of sugar (very concentrated grape juice) and yeast is added to still wine for fermentation to take place. The yeast feeds on available sugar and converts it into alcohol and CO2. The latter dissolves in the wine.

The lees (deposits of dead yeast or residual yeast and other particles after fermentation) need to be removed. In a tank, a filtration process takes care of these. However, along with unwanted sediments, some of the good stuff that adds to the flavour is also removed in the process. In bottle fermentation, the bottle is turned upside down so that the lees collect in the neck, which is then dipped in a very cold bath to create lees ice, subsequently removed.

After removing the lees, usually a bit of sweetness in the form of pure grape juice is added if sweet sparkling wine is needed. For dry wine, the bottle or tank is topped with more wine.

The merit of a sparkling wine is tested on smell, taste and how well the bubbles are maintained. The consistency and size of the bubbles matter. Fine sparkling wine should have fine persistent bubbles; large bubbles in sparkling wine are considered very low quality.

Chandon

Chandon is definitely the best constructed wine with a wonderful consistent froth of tiny bubbles that delicately parade up the glass. I found the aroma a little light with some nice yeasty bready notes and a touch of fresh green apple peel. What it lacked in the aroma, it more than made up for in the taste. It has this rich, creamy, velvety texture that just envelops the mouth with flavours of apple, slightly overripe pineapple and notes of freshly shelled walnuts and a nice crisp acidity. I just couldn’t get over the ‘mouth feel’ (fancy wine tasting term and self-explanatory). One word that just kept coming to mind was luxurious; I guess that’s what a good sparkling wine should evoke. (Around Rs 1,200 per bottle)

Grover Zampa

This sparkling wine has fine consistent bubbles, a light pale colour with a complex, toasty yeasty aroma and notes of honeydew melon and white peaches. Added are wonderful toasty flavours with hints of pear and hazelnuts. I liked its balance and found it a little more interesting on the nose than the Chandon, which made me eager to explore more. (Around Rs 825 per bottle)

Fratelli Gran Cuvee

Fratelli starts off with a very delicate froth with tiny bubbles and has a very interesting nose, reminiscent of lemon meringue pie lightly drizzled with honey. There are a lot of mineral components in this wine with a little chalkiness on the nose and layers of minerality on the palate. This sparkling wine is probably the crispest of the four with good acidity and flavours of lemon zest and a smooth, toasted honey finish.

(Around Rs 1,250 per bottle)

Sula

Being the senior-most player, and for a while the only drinkable bubbly on the block, Sula is now up against some fierce competition. I found the bubbles nice and consistent. Aromas of candyfloss and caramel apple (think a day at the circus) flavours of roasted almonds, a bit more of the caramel in a nice creamy texture and a bit of an odd apple cider finish. (Around Rs 800 a bottle)