Sparkling Red Wine

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Whilst there are plenty of wine enthusiasts that would instantly turn up their noses at the very mention of a sparkling red wine, there are some red sparklers on the market today that are capable of impressing even the most pedantic of wine buffs.

Long associated with cheap, Lambrusco-style fizz and less-than-sophisticated social gatherings, the sparkling red wine market has been bubbling up quietly for some years now and the best bottles on the market are finally garnering praise from in-the-know red wine enthusiasts.

Leading the charge for the reappraisal of sparkling red wine is Australia, where wine producers have been making highly respectable bottles of red fizz for some years now.

Whilst Italy and Portugal are among the countries that have long been making bottles of sparkling red wine, the concept is still not taken very seriously in Europe or, indeed, the United States, where sweet Italian and Portuguese red fizz was sipped with abandon during the 1980s before being dismissed as a poor taste tipple by the time the 1990s came around.

For many wine drinkers, sparkling red wine continues to be synonymous with a sweet, sickly confection that amounts to little more than fizzy grape juice.

Those familiar with Australian sparkling red wine, however, will realise that this is often very far from the truth. The warm climate and laid-back culture in Australia lend themselves particularly well to chilled, easy-drinking wines and the traditional warm, heavy reds are not always well received.

Most wine-drinking Aussies will affirm that they generally keep a bottle or two of sparkling red in the fridge and these make the perfect accompaniment to those famous Australian barbecues.

The first thing that will strike wine drinkers trying Australian red sparklers for the first time is that, more often than not, they are dry. The most common grape varietal used to make Australian fizzy red wines is Shiraz and the finished wines are endowed with much of the red wine grape´s character and depth of flavour. Considered by many to be lighter and easier to drink than their still red wine counterparts, a sparkling red Shiraz is required drinking at many an Australian social event.

Of course, there are still plenty of sceptics out there in the wine world and it´s true to say that really high standard sparkling reds are not easy to come by outside of Australia itself. The best bottles tend to be priced accordingly and you may need to spend some time doing your research with your local wine merchant before sourcing a bottle that suits your taste and budget.

For those looking to inject a little fun and variety into their red wine drinking, however, the search can be well worth the effort.

As a rule of thumb, those full-bodied sparkling Shiraz red wines are a good place to start, delivering a drinking experience that is at once surprising and enjoyable. Surprisingly enjoyable, one might say.

But while the Aussies are blazing a trail for sparkling red wine, they are not the only wine makers producing red sparklers of note. Whilst Italy may have earned scorn for its Lambrusco wines, a good bottle can be an enjoyable tipple. Those who simply cannot be tempted by a Lambrusco need not shy away from Italian red wines completely – the Piedmont region of Northern Italy, for example, produces some excellent bottles of lightly sparkling wines made from the distinctive Brachetto grape.

Whilst the wines tend to have a slight sweetness, they are rarely cloying, with a freshness that makes for lively drink. Never ones to overlook a wine-producing opportunity, the French have their own very decent sparkling red in the form of Vin du Bugey-Sedon, from the often-overlooked Jura region of France. Lighter in colour than its Australian and Italian counterparts, this could almost (but not quite) class as a rose wine.

Sparkling wine buffs may still insist that fizz is only appropriate in white or rose wine forms but the fact of the matter is that there are some really very good bottles out there that are definitely worthy of wine aficionados´ attention.

Whilst wine lovers still face a challenge in sourcing good, affordable sparkling reds, changing tastes and perceptions of the genre mean that they are increasingly available and look set to enjoy further success in the coming years. You may decide to copy the Australians and have couple of bottles chilled during the summer (should such a thing occur this year!) and thus create a real talking point at summer barbecues, picnics and parties.