The United States is a significant producer of sparkling wine: California in particular is famous for its rosé sparklers. Recently the United Kingdom has started producing Champagne-style wines. Sparkling wine is usually white or rosé but there are many examples of red sparkling wines such as Italian Brachetto and Australian sparkling Shiraz, some of high quality.

Some wines are made only lightly sparkling, such as vinho verde in Portugal — such wines are often called frizzante or pétillant, or simply semi-sparkling wines. Sparkling Wines as opposed to Semi-Sparkling wines must contain more than 2.5 atmospheres of Carbon Dioxide as at sea level and 20 °C.

Terminology

Sparkling wine, Vin mousseux. This is defined as a wine which, in a closed container at 20 °C, has an excess CO2 pressure greater than 3 bar, which must originate exclusively from the secondary fermentation of a still base wine after the addition of the liqueur. Fermentation can take place only in the bottle or in a closed tank. Sparkling wines must be aged in the producing winery for a certain minimum period starting from the onset of secondary fermentation (prise de mousse).

Semi-sparkling wine, Vin pétillant. This is an effervescent wine with a pressure of between 1 and 2.5 bar in a closed container at 20 °C, which can be made like sparkling wines, with secondary fermentation occurring either in the bottle or in a closed tank. In France, vins pétillants are made in two regions – the Loire Valley and Bugey-Cerdon. Carbonated semi-sparkling wines contain added CO2. Pétillants tend to have a lower alcohol content than other sparkling wines and some are marketed on a low-alcohol proposition.

Perlants contain more than 1 g of CO2 per litre of wine and bubbles can be seen at the surface at 20 °C when the bottle is uncorked. At 2 g/litre of CO2, corresponding to an excess pressure of around 1 bar, the wine approaches the definition for semi-sparkling wine.

The term champagne is reserved exclusively for effervescent wines produced in the Champagne region of France by the méthode champenoise. Since 1994, sparkling wines other than champagne produced by this method have not been allowed to use the term méthode champenoise, but have been obliged to use the term méthode traditionnelle.

Since 1975, the term crémant has been reserved for sparkling wines from an appellation d'origine contrôlée, or AOC; this French law was adopted by the EU in 1992. In France, the following AOCs are defined by decree: crémant d'Alsace, de Bourgogne, de Limoux, de Die, de Loire, du Jura and de Bordeaux. Crémants have a slightly lower effervescence – more than pétillant, but less than mousseux.