What is the difference between still and sparkling wine?

The simplest way to put it: still wine sits quietly in your glass; sparkling wine parties. But there's real science behind those bubbles.

All wine starts the same way — grape juice ferments, yeast eats sugar, and produces alcohol plus CO₂. For still wine, the CO₂ simply escapes into the air. For sparkling wine, there's a deliberate second fermentation in a sealed container where the gas can't escape, so it dissolves into the wine under pressure.

The most prestigious method is the traditional method (méthode traditionnelle), famously used in Champagne. After making a base wine, the winemaker adds a precise mixture of sugar and yeast directly into each bottle, caps it, and waits. The second fermentation happens right there in the bottle, often followed by years of ageing on the dead yeast cells (lees), which adds those toasty, bready flavours Champagne lovers adore.

The Charmat method takes a shortcut: the second fermentation happens in a big pressurised steel tank instead of individual bottles. It's faster, cheaper, and perfect for wines where you want fresh, fruity flavours — Prosecco is the classic example. The bubbles tend to be softer and less persistent than in traditional method wines.

Then there's the ancestral method (méthode ancestrale), the oldest technique of all. The wine goes into bottle before the first fermentation has even finished, so it completes naturally — no added sugar or yeast. These are the trendy 'Pet'Nat' (pétillant naturel) wines you'll see at natural wine bars.

Pressure matters too. A typical Champagne sits at about 6 bars (roughly three times the pressure in your car tyres). Prosecco is usually around 3 bars. And those barely-fizzy wines like Vinho Verde? Under 1 bar — just enough to feel a gentle tingle.