Fizz!
Champagne and Sparkling Wines of the World
Published on 7. February 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
388 pages
978-1-913141-77-6 (ISBN)
Description
Sparkling wine has delighted humanity for nearly 500 years. It has become essential at celebratory meals, a toast to new marriages, new babies, new jobs, and is even used to launch ships, but there's more to it than the fizzy and festive. In Fizz!, Anthony Rose takes an in-depth look at sparkling wines around the world, exploring how and where they are made, and why they are such a joy to drink.
The first part of Fizz! delves into the history of sparkling wine, including early accidents and experiments in sparkling winemaking, its nineteenth-century surge in popularity (and associated debauchery) and the breakthroughs in vineyard and cellar that ensured Champagne's place among the great wines of the world. Rose then goes on to detail fizz-making techniques, from the traditional method to pet nat, and explores the terroirs and grapes suited to producing the wines, from the Champagne trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier to the native varieties producing compelling effervescence worldwide.
Following a look at the science behind the bubbles, Rose begins his global quest in search of sparkling wines. Travelling Europe, from Portugal to Moldova, he samples Cava from Spain, proves there's more to France than Champagne, finds out why southern England makes some of the world's best bubbles, discovers Sekt secrets of the Germans and explores Italy beyond the Prosecco that began the new fashion for fizz. Journeying further afield, Rose recommends the best fizz from California, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, tastes some of South Africa's Cap Classique and even finds sparklers of note in Japan and China.
This comprehensive celebration of sparkling wine is rounded off with thorough appendices, making it essential reading for wine lovers and students of wine.
The first part of Fizz! delves into the history of sparkling wine, including early accidents and experiments in sparkling winemaking, its nineteenth-century surge in popularity (and associated debauchery) and the breakthroughs in vineyard and cellar that ensured Champagne's place among the great wines of the world. Rose then goes on to detail fizz-making techniques, from the traditional method to pet nat, and explores the terroirs and grapes suited to producing the wines, from the Champagne trio of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier to the native varieties producing compelling effervescence worldwide.
Following a look at the science behind the bubbles, Rose begins his global quest in search of sparkling wines. Travelling Europe, from Portugal to Moldova, he samples Cava from Spain, proves there's more to France than Champagne, finds out why southern England makes some of the world's best bubbles, discovers Sekt secrets of the Germans and explores Italy beyond the Prosecco that began the new fashion for fizz. Journeying further afield, Rose recommends the best fizz from California, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, tastes some of South Africa's Cap Classique and even finds sparklers of note in Japan and China.
This comprehensive celebration of sparkling wine is rounded off with thorough appendices, making it essential reading for wine lovers and students of wine.
Reviews / Votes
The best and most up-to-date 388 pages on the world of sparkling wine that it is possible to find in 2022. - Tom Stevenson, The World of Fine Wine Rose writes well. Neat, dry, accessible, factual. This is a useful textbook ... If I were writing the WSET exam on sparkling wine, I would get this book and thumb it numb. - Tamlyn Currin, jancisrobinson.com This is an academic book which will be of huge value to a student and will please the completist. - Adam Lechmere, Club Oenologique Fizz! Is a brisk guide to a huge topic ... I particularly appreciated the complexities of bottle fermentation laid out so clearly. Very handy for reference. - Henry Jeffreys, timatkin.com It should be essential reading for all WSET students, not least because of the breadth of coverage and the clear explanations of everything you need to know about production methods and the increased spread, and popularity, of fine sparkling wine throughout the whole wide world of wine. It is equally manageable for those merely interested in enjoying, and exploring further, perhaps the fastest growing and most successful wine style of the 21st Century. - David Crossley, Wide World of Wine Brimming with facts and insight but never dull, the text zips along and is as "enchantingly ephemeral and enduringly exciting" as most of us find a glass full of bubbles to be. - Claire Harries, The Wine Merchant A comprehensive work that translates the complex world of fizz into a subject anyone can appreciate. Entertaining, witty and erudite, the writer's characteristic dry wit takes the reader on an effervescent journey through anything that bubbles. The impressive research weaves history, science, personalities and personal anecdote to make this a great read. - judging panel, Guild of Food Writers awardsMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Product notice
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
30 Illustrations, black and white; 15 Illustrations, color
Dimensions
Height: 256 mm
Width: 298 mm
Thickness: 33 mm
Weight
626 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-913141-77-6 (9781913141776)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition
Book
11/2021
Infinite Ideas Limited
€63.33
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Person
Award-winning wine and sake critic Anthony Rose writes for Decanter, The World of Fine Wine, Financial Times How to Spend It online and The Oxford Companion to Wine. He is co-chair of the Australia panel at the Decanter World Wine Awards and the Sake International Challenge in Tokyo and teaches a sake consumer course at Sake No Hana in London. A founder of The Wine Gang (www.thewinegang.com), he was the wine correspondent of the print version of the Independent from start to finish (1986-2016).
Content
Introduction: on sparkling form 1
Part 1: Anatomy of the bubble 7
1. A brief history of the bubble 9
2. The essence of effervescence: an introduction to
sparkling wine techniques 27
3. In the vineyard 49
4. Aspects of sparkling wine 63
Part 2: Country introductions and profiles 75
5. Australia and New Zealand 77
6. England 103
7. France 143
8. Germany 217
9. Italy 227
10. Central and Eastern Europe 265
11. South Africa - Cap Classique 281
12. Spain and Portugal 293
13. USA and Canada 313
14. Asia: Japan and China 339
Appendices 343
I. Champagne production 2000-2020 343
II. Champagne harvest dates/musts/temperatures/
grape prices 345
III. Champagne vintages 348
IV. Traditional method minimum ageing periods 352
Glossary 355
Bubbliography 363
Thanks 367
Index 369
Part 1: Anatomy of the bubble 7
1. A brief history of the bubble 9
2. The essence of effervescence: an introduction to
sparkling wine techniques 27
3. In the vineyard 49
4. Aspects of sparkling wine 63
Part 2: Country introductions and profiles 75
5. Australia and New Zealand 77
6. England 103
7. France 143
8. Germany 217
9. Italy 227
10. Central and Eastern Europe 265
11. South Africa - Cap Classique 281
12. Spain and Portugal 293
13. USA and Canada 313
14. Asia: Japan and China 339
Appendices 343
I. Champagne production 2000-2020 343
II. Champagne harvest dates/musts/temperatures/
grape prices 345
III. Champagne vintages 348
IV. Traditional method minimum ageing periods 352
Glossary 355
Bubbliography 363
Thanks 367
Index 369