The stories behind traditions of popping a cork for a new year

One of the first festive occasions to celebrate the New Year dates back to ancient Babylon. Babylonians dressed up at the first new moon following the vernal equinox. The vernal equinox marks the time the sun crosses the celestial equator on its way north.  This happened to be a March day, the first day of spring, a new beginning.

The Babylonians celebrated with a religious festival called Akitu which incidentally is derived from the Sumerian word for barley. The Sumerians first began beer production around 4,000 BC. It was called the “divine drink” because of its intoxicating effect.

Ancient Rome also had grand festivities for the New Year. After the Julien calendar took effect on January 1, 45 BC, Julius Caesar decreed January 1 as the first day of the New Year. This new month honored Janus the Roman god of new beginnings. The ten-day long Roman revelry included offerings to Janus, gifts exchanges and, of course, over the top parties with lots of wine and food.

Another established tradition of more modern New Year’s celebrations in the world is sparkling wine. The pop of a cork signals the start of many a celebration. A little story regarding sparkling wine:

Wine historians believe that the world's first sparkling wine, Blanquette de Limoux, was produced in 1531. Limoux is an area located in the foothills of the Pyrénées in southern France. The Benedictine monks at the Abbey Saint-Hilaire first mentioned “Blanquette", to describe the small white grape.

Surprisingly, they detailed the production and distribution of Saint-Hilaire's Blanquette in cork-stoppered flasks. The region's location, north of the cork oak forest in Spain, gave the monks easy access to cork. Today, this affordable, delightful bubbly is mostly Mauzac, blended with Chardonnay and Chenin Blanc.

As in most regions in France, the Champagne region was first planted to the vine by the Romans. Later, the monks took over the vineyards, the winemaking and nursing the community with wine – at the time, a healthier option than water.

The actual creation of Champagne as we know it today, is often attributed to a Benedictine Monk by the name of Dom Pérignon, which is not exactly accurate. He didn’t invent sparkling Champagne, he refined it. Among his many refinements, was figuring out how to keep the bubbles out of Champagne.

Champagne’s glamorous lifestyle actually began as a still wine back in 1429 when the first French king was crowned in Rheims Cathedral. Of course, a still Champagne was served as part of festivities and for every coronation thereafter.

The method of making Champagne — Méthode Traditionnelle or Méthode Champenoise — is long and complicated. And explains why real Champagne can be so darned expensive compared to other bubblies.

It begins in the vineyards. The three main grapes allowed in Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. By law, the harvested grapes must have enough sugar to produce 10 to 11 percent alcohol.

Champagne is the only region that does not permit mechanical harvesting. Every single grape is picked by hand. Picking starts at dawn for those thousands of hands from all over France that descend upon Champagne at harvest time.

Grapes are then pressed. The first pressing is the cleanest with no color or tannins from the skin or seeds. The statutory level for the first press is 8,800 pounds of grapes, with a maximum 670 gallons collected. A second compression is allowed.

Fermentation vats are predominantly stainless steel with a few oak barrels of various sizes. When the wine has finished the first fermentation, sometime in March or April, the assemblage begins. This is the winemaker’s most challenging task, tasting the blends of the different wines from different vats to find the ones that will make up that final house blend.

To the final blend, a liqueur de tirage is added. The tirage is a blend of carefully constructed wine, sugar and yeast. This is the stuff that will ensure tiny bubbles. Once the tirage is added, the bottle is capped, the wine then undergoes a second fermentation inside the bottle.

In the cellar the bottles are placed in pupitres, wooden racks with holes big enough for a bottle. The bottles are placed at an angle with the punt end up. During the second fermentation, the spent yeast cells fall into the neck of the bottle.

For about 18 months, a remuer rotates every bottle with a quick one quarter turn at least four times a day to shake the spent yeast down into the neck of the bottle.

The last major steps are disgorgement and dosage. To disgorge is to remove the dead yeast cells by freezing the neck of the bottle and then removing the cap. All the pressure that has built up sends the plug of spent yeast cells flying.

Dosage is the final step. Another carefully constructed sugar and wine solution is used to top up the bottles before the cork and bale are put on.

Other regions of the world have sparkling wines they call their own and many have Méthode Traditionnelle or Méthode Champenoise on the label signifying they used the traditional method of secondary fermentation.

As we all know, only the Champagne region in France can make Champagne, everything else is a sparkling Crémant, Mousseaux, Franciacorta, Prosecco, Cava or wine.

In Italy, the first mention of Prosecco is credited to an Englishman, who after visiting Italy in 1593 noted: "Here growes the wine Pucinum, now called Prosecho, much celebrated by Pliny."

Prosecco is usually produced using the Charmat method, which is the secondary fermentation in stainless steel tanks rather than Metado Classico or the traditional method. Eliminating this step produces a less expensive sparkling wine that is quicker to produce with a minimum production time of 30 days.

Rules for Conegliano and Valdobbiadene allow these DOCGs to use the traditional method of secondary fermentation. Prosecco is 85% Glera and with 15% of the allowed blend to be Verdiso, Bianchetta Trevigiana, Perera, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, or Pinot Noir.

Spanish Cava refers to a style of wine not to a place. This sparkling wine was first produced in 1872 by Josep Raventós, who brought the Méthode Champenoise back from France, where vineyards had been stricken by the phylloxera louse.

In Penedès, the Catalonian region that is cava’s ancestral home, three traditional grape varieties are used - Macabeu, Xarel·lo and Parellada.

DO Cava was first created as a Denominación specific that defined sparkling wines that complied with specific production methods. It is also used to designate eight regions, although 90% of Cava is produced in Catalonia, with 75% made in San Sadurní d’Anoia in Penedès.

Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are increasingly being used because they’re better suited to lengthier lees aging and the fuller-bodied flavors. One such bottle recently enjoyed was Anna de Codorniu, Metodo Tradicional Blanc de Blancs. This blend with 70% Chardonnay is absolutely delicious and budget minded!

Cheers to a sparkling New Year!

Mary Earl has been educating Kitsap wine lovers for a couple of decades, is a longtime member of the West Sound Brew Club and can pair a beer or wine dinner in a flash. She volunteers for the Clear Creek Trail and is a longtime supporter of Silverdale.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: The tradition behind the bubbly you'll open to mark a new year