There are a great many different types of sparkling wine but, of course, the king of them all has to be the French Champagne, which is copied the world over but everywhere (except the USA) can only be called Champagne if produced in the Champagne region of France. A good Champagne is dry with a full but fine flavor which is derived from the use of classic grape varieties and also from bottle-aging.
   There are other sparkling wines made from the same grapes and in the same way but which seem closer to fizzy drinks – they are full of froth and sometimes have fresh fruity flavors, and sometimes have little taste at all. When you want a quality Champagne look for any of the following terms on the bottle: methode champenoise, methode classique or "fermented in bottle" – all these denote quality wines made by the second-fermentation method.
   Most of the French and Spanish dry, sparkling wines are made with more neutral tasting grapes than Champagne and so have less weight and may be a little more acidic, whereas German and Italian sparkling wines use much more highly flavored grapes and therefore tend to be medium rather than dry. You need to drink these wines very cold and very young. They are usually cheap enough, yet of sufficiently high quality to serve in quantity when you cannot afford Champagne.
   The new world is developing it’s own styles of sparkling wines as their vineyards mature and they tend to be fuller and softer than Champagne. However, with enough bottle aging you often find that they can offer some of the same complexities of maturity of a good Champagne.
   You can also get sweet sparkling wines which will range from the very light, Muscat-based wines of Italy to real Champagnes that have been made with additional dosage to taste sweet. These are often intended to accompany desserts, but beware: too sweet a pudding will overwhelm most wines: a dessert wine should always be sweeter than the dessert.