It is a known fact that sparkling wine always makes sense for every occasion. A brunch with friends, someone’s birthday, or even just enjoying a glass on your own after a hard day’s work; sparkling wine can be your saviour in such times. Before we take a look at Sula’s exquisite collection of sparkling wines, let’s first try to understand what makes the drink as grand as it is.
What is Sparkling Wine?
Sparkling wine can be made from any white or red grape. However, most of the time, sparkling wine is white, since it comes from the clear flesh of the grape. The skin of the grape is what gives the drink colour. Thus, for a rosé or a sparkling wine, winemakers have to consciously allow the skin of the grape to stay in contact with the juice during the fermentation process. It consists of high carbon dioxide levels, which is what makes the drink fizzy. The bubbles result from fermentation which happens when sugar is added to the wine. Yeast starts acting on the sugar, which then releases carbon dioxide. When this carbon dioxide is trapped inside a sealed space, bubbles are created in the wine. While still wine only goes through one fermentation, sparkling wine goes through secondary fermentation as well. Now that we have an understanding of the basics of sparkling wine, let’s take a look at its types.
Semi-Sparkling Wine
Bars or units of atmosphere are used to measure the pressure inside a wine bottle. Semi-sparkling wines, also known as frizzante wines, have about one to two and a half bars of pressure. This is lesser in comparison to most sparkline wines that have five to six bars of pressure. This is the reason why semi-sparkling wines are perfect for when you want to take it easy on the bubbles. After all, it is about your preference. This variety of wine also offers a different experience flavour wise, in comparison to fully sparkling wines.
Red Sparkling Wine
Red sparkling wines are made with the help of red grapes, without the removal of their skin, as mentioned before. Italy has a very long history of making red sparkling wine, for instance, the popular Lambrusco. It is known to be a fruity and light-hearted sparkling red.
What Are the Benefits of Sparkling Wine?
Drinking a glass of sparkling wine can improve your gut
health! The polyphenols that come from red grapes, which
can be present in sparkling wine, promote the growth of
good gut bacteria. Like most red and white wines,
sparkling wines are also beneficial for your heart. The
red grapes that are used for sparkling wines contain
antioxidants and an anti-inflammatory compound that
helps with reducing inflammation. They can also prevent
the development of chronic diseases. Another major
reason that sparkling wine is good for keeping your
heart healthy, is that the grapes used contain traces of
copper. Its deficiency has been linked to high
cholesterol as well as high blood pressure. Thus these
health scares can be avoided.
Since sparkling wine consists of carbon dioxide, it is
also helpful for improving the look of your skin. The
carbon dioxide can help with reducing stretch marks,
wrinkles and also increase the skin’s elasticity. It
doesn’t end here - sparkling wines can also help improve
your overall brain health. This includes your memory,
attention span and spatial awareness as well.
Levels of Sweetness
Sparkling wines have varying sweetness levels, depending on the amount of sugar added after the second fermentation along with the amount the wine has aged.
Extra-Brut: This is the driest style of sparkling wine. In these wines, the yeast takes over and consumes all the sugar, so there is a total absence of sweetness in the wine.
Brut: These wines are dry, but with a hint of sweetness. They are considered to be the most popular type of sparkling wine.
Extra Dry: While this type of sparkling wine is also dry, it is still sweeter than Brut and Extra-Brut.
Demi-sec: This is a sweet sparkling wine with considerable sugar content and thus, it goes very well with dessert.
The Sparkling Wines of Sula
Let’s take a look at Sula’s compelling range of sparkling wines and how you can enjoy them to the fullest.
Sula Brut Tropicale
Made from 60% Chenin Blanc, 40% Shiraz and Viognier, this low-bodied wine is full of tropical notes. Sula Brut Tropicale is not only beautiful to look at with its pale blush colour, but it is also delightful to sniff, owing to its aromas of apricot, passion fruit, peach and rose petals. Since there are also hints of guava at the finish, this wine makes for a delightful experience overall. Considered to be a special edition sparkling rosé, this drink offers pleasant feelings of effervescence on the backpalate, along with flavours of strawberry, yellow plum and apple. As these end with a peach-flavoured finish, this wine works well as an aperitif and also pairs well with fried seafood appetizers, salads and white sauce pasta.
Sula Brut
Made from 80% Chenin Blanc and 20% Riesling and Viognier, this low-bodied sparkling wine is very refreshing. Owing to the notes of peaches and honey of Chenin Blanc, apricot and peach flavours of the Riesling variety and unique flavours of tangerine and spices of Viognier, Sula Brut is fruit-forward. Altogether, it mainly presents the aromas of apples and pears. This sparkling wine is perfect for everyday celebrations and it can pair very well with salad, french fries, fried chicken, smoked salmon and Indian pakoras. Thus, since this wine goes well with a variety of food, ranging from appetizers to mains, it can be your go-to choice for several occasions.
Sula Sparkling Shiraz
Sula Sparkling Shiraz, is India’s first sparkling Shiraz wine. Made from 100% Shiraz, this medium-bodied sparkling red wine is charming and visually pleasing, due to its deep ruby colour. This drink is bursting with flavours of dark berries, pomegranate and sweet plums with a hint of sweet spices as well. Made using the Prosecco method, in which the secondary fermentation happens in a large tank, this is a fruit-forward wine. You can pair the drink with chilli chicken, Dabeli, Mutton Rahra as well as a dark chocolate dessert.
Dia Red Wine Sparkler
Dia Red Wine Sparkler is an Italian Lambrusco style wine that is slightly sweet, light, refreshing and semi-sparkling. Made from 95% Chenin Blanc and 5% Shiraz, this drink has enticing notes of red fruits. This low-bodied wine pairs very well with Samosas, Dabeli and Chicken Manchurian.
Dia White Wine Sparkler
Dia White Wine Sparkler is an Italian Spumante
style, light, sweet and semi-sparkling wine. Made from
100% Chenin Blanc, this wine is perfectly balanced and
has notes of honeysuckle and white flowers. This drink
goes very well with Vietnamese spring rolls, sweet and
sour chicken and Pakoras.
Since Dia wine comes in a can, it is very easy to carry
around. Being India’s first wine in a can, it has also
led to less wastage and seems to be the perfect answer
for getaways and picnics, due to its convenience.
Final Thoughts
We hope that this detailed guide to sparkling wines has
been useful in terms of picking your favourites. At
Sula, we always keep the environment in mind and work
hard to implement environment-friendly and sustainable
practices in everything that we do. This is why it means
all the more to us to see you enjoy the fruits of our
hard work.
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