Real champagne comes from France. Otherwise it is only sparking wine which is NOT champage.
Correct. California calls it champagne but its just wine resulting from a fermatation process to create sparkling wine. Some dry sun sweet.
Just to be clear and a little more accurate, "Champagne" IS sparkling wine. However, for a bottle of sparkling wine to be labeled Champagne, it has to be made in Champagne, France (not just France) and produced using the méthode champenoise. If that bottle is produced using the exact same method, anywhere else, it must carry a different name. The production method itself must even be referred to differently, méthode tranditionalle being the usual substitute. These rules are strictly enforced. They are codified in national laws, European Union regulations, and international trade agreements and treaties.
There are many great California sparkling wines made using the same method. A few of my favorites are J, Roeder Estate, Schramsberg and Domaine Carneros.Domaine is especially interesting as it is owned by the famous French Champagnery- Tattingers - and made exactly the same way as it is in Champagne, France.
The only difference between the listed California sparkling wines is the legal name of "Champagne".
Now if you really want to get confused.... there is a 100 year old loop hole in the international law that legally allows California made sparkling wines, made by the methode chapenpoise to be called "California Champagne". I have attached a link if anyone is interested....
https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/loophole-california-champagne-legal/Quality sparkling wine is quality sparkling wine. Drink and enjoy!!
Cheers
