There are several types of sparkling wine with the most common being Champagne, prosecco, cava, and sparkling wine from the United States. A typical sparkling wine is made from a blend of three grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier. Prosecco is an Italian sparkling wine. It’s made from prosecco or Glera grapes. Cava is a Spanish sparkling wine. It’s usually made from a blend of Macabeo, Parellada, and Xarelto grapes.

Most sparkling wines are made using the “méthode champenoise,” a very strict set of guidelines developed in France. This method involves creating the effervescence (the bubbles) in the bottle when it undergoes a secondary fermentation. Prosecco, and some other sparkling wines, get their bubbles by having the secondary fermentation occur in the giant tank of wine (called the Charmat method), then the sparkling wine gets put into a bottle.

Most sparkling wine (including Champagne) is non-vintage. In other words, the makers take the juice from several different years and blend it together to make the bubbly. It allows them to keep a consistent flavor profile from year to year. You’ll most commonly see sparkling wine labeled “brut” or “extra dry.”