Published December 30, 2005
Pop the top: This bubbly's in a can

KRT News Service

WASHINGTON - Filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, a California vintner by avocation, is making Americans an offer he hopes they won't refuse: He's asking them to drink his champagne out of cans.

The new bubbly - named Sofia, after Coppola's moviemaking daughter - comes in individual servings of about 6 ounces. It retails for $5 a pop or $20 for a four-pack.

If taste is the point, Sofia may be a decent bargain. Craig Baker, a Washington, D.C., buyer of imported wines for Robert Kacher Selections, rated canned Sofia second against four comparably priced bottled sparkling wines in a blind tasting organized this week by Knight Ridder.

But taste is almost beside the point, according to some. "It's a very cool presentation of a decent wine," said Maria Elena Gutierrez, 28, sipping Sofia at Mie N Yu, a swanky Georgetown club.

"You're drinking champagne out of a can with a straw. It's different. So you're different," said Saeed Bennani, Mie N Yu's worldly beverage manager. "What's in the can almost doesn't matter."

Although drinkers call it champagne, technically it's not: Only sparkling wines produced in the French province of Champagne can call themselves that.

Champagne traditionalists may be dismayed by the sound that Sofia makes when it's opened, which is as calm as a can of peanuts.

Classy. Get them in for your kids graduation.

Just to be technical about it.....

It's not champagne unless it comes from the Champagne district in France.

Otherwise, it's merely "sparkling wine."

America is the only other place outside of Champagne France that can call their sparkling wine champagne.

It was a way in which France thanked this country for helping them when they were experiencing disease within there vineyards roots. No other country were willing to help and the USA helped by sending over grape vines from America.

In gratitude France gave the USA permission to use the coveted moniker "Champagne" for any sparkling wine made in this country.

That's interesting. I didn't know that.

But that notwithstanding, they can call it whatever they want to.

But if it's not from Chapagne, it ain't champagne.

They can call it what ever they want, but no one else can.

Italy can't use the word Champagne
Spain, can't
No other country but our's

Just some meaningless trivia to end the year

All of the French Champagne houses that have operations in California call their American product "sparkling wine" for the reason plaw cited. Here's another fun-filled factoid:
One of the benefits of real Champagne (produced in the Champagne district of France) is that all Champagnes must be made via the methode Champenoise. As the still wine is bottled, a small dose of yeast and sugar is added, then the bottle is corked. The following spring, a second fermentation occurs in the bottle that results in a finer wine with smaller, livelier bubbles.
California sparkling wine could be made in any of three ways. The label holds the key. The poorest way is if it says, "Naturally Fermented - Charmat Bulk Process." This means that the wine was fermented, just like any wine, but the bubbles were forced in via CO2 injection. This is a swell way to make seltzer, but it sucks for sparkling wine. A second way is indicated this way: "Naturally Fermented in the bottle" [emphasis added]. Since US law doesn't define a "bottle," it means that a second fermentation occurred in some large container--like a 1,000 liter vat--and the wine was then put in smaller bottles. The authentic way is indicated by the phrase, "Naturally Fermented in this bottle."
Back to the original topic: Putting sparkling wine in a can isn't a bad idea, as long as you drink it when it's young and don't intend to age it. The can will enable you to chill it quicker. It'll also save lots of money: Champagne bottles are much thicker than standard wine bottles, and the layered corks cost a fortune compared with regular corks--much less pull-tabs.