Editing Sparkling wine (section)

===Crémant===
[[File:Crémant d'Alsace Ziegler with glass.jpg|upright|thumb|A Crémant d'Alsace]]
Sparkling wines designated Crémant ("creamy") were originally named because their lower [[carbon dioxide]] pressures were thought to give them a creamy rather than fizzy mouth-feel. Though they may have full pressures today, they are still produced using the [[traditional method]], and have to fulfill strict production criteria.<ref name="OCW Cremant">{{cite web |author=Winepros Limited |url=http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/reference/oxford_entry.jsp?entry_id=862 |title=Oxford Companion to Wine : Crémant |publisher=Winepros.com.au|edition=2nd |date= 2000|orig-date= 1999 |access-date=17 May 2014 |archive-date=9 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080809124714/http://www.winepros.com.au/jsp/cda/reference/oxford_entry.jsp?entry_id=862 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In France, there are eight [[Appellation d'origine contrôlée|appellations]] for sparkling wine which include the designation Crémant in their name:
*[[Alsace wine region#Crémant d'Alsace AOC|Crémant d'Alsace]]
*Crémant de Bordeaux
*Crémant de Bourgogne
*[[Clairette de Die AOC|Crémant de Die]]
*[[Jura wine regions|Crémant du Jura]]
*[[Limoux wine|Crémant de Limoux]]
*Crémant de Loire
*Crémant de Savoie<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2014/07/savoie-fizz-joins-the-cremant-family |title=Savoie Fizz Joins The Cremant Family  |website=Wine-Searcher News & Features}}</ref>

There are also Crémant designations outside France:
*[[Crémant de Luxembourg]]
*Crémant de Wallonie (Belgium)

French appellation laws dictate that a Crémant must be [[harvest (wine)|harvested]] by hand with yields not exceeding a set amount for their [[Appellation d'origine contrôlée|AOC]]. The wines must also be aged for a minimum of one year. The [[Loire Valley]] is France's largest producer of sparkling wines outside of the Champagne region. The majority of these Crémant de Loire are produced around the city of [[Saumur]] and are a blend of the [[Chardonnay]], [[Chenin blanc]] and [[Cabernet franc]]. AOC laws do allow [[cuvée]]s with [[Sauvignon blanc]], [[Cabernet Sauvignon]], [[Pinot noir]], [[Gamay]], [[Côt]], [[Pineau d'aunis]] and [[Grolleau (grape)|Grolleau]] but those grapes are rarely used in a significant amount. In [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]], AOC laws require that Crémant de Bourgogne be composed of at least thirty percent Pinot noir, Chardonnay, [[Pinot blanc]] or [[Pinot gris]]. [[Aligoté]] is often used to fill out the remaining parts of the blend.<ref name="MacNeil pp 207, 267-268">K. MacNeil (2001). ''The Wine Bible'', pp. 207, 267–268. Workman Publishing. {{ISBN|1-56305-434-5}}.</ref> The [[Languedoc wine]] Crémant de Limoux is produced in the forty one villages around the village of Limoux in the south of France. The wine is composed primarily of the indigenous grape [[Mauzac (grape)|Mauzac]] with some Chenin blanc and Chardonnay. The wine must spend a minimum of nine months [[aging (wine)|aging]] on its lees. The sparkling [[Blanquette de Limoux]] is composed predominately of Mauzac and is aged for nine months.<ref name="MacNeil pp 302">K. MacNeil (2001). ''The Wine Bible'', p. 302. Workman Publishing. {{ISBN|1-56305-434-5}}.</ref>

As noted above, the designation Crémant was previously used for sparkling wines from the Champagne region which were produced with slightly less carbon dioxide and somewhat lower bottle pressure (typically 2–3 atmospheres instead of 5–6).<ref name="OCW Cremant"/> These wines were rare in comparison to regular, full-pressure Champagne. The Crémant designation was also used for sparkling wines from the Loire valley, in the form of Crémant de Saumur and Crémant de [[Vouvray wine|Vouvray]], without being defined as separate appellations. In 1975, Crémant de Loire was given formal recognition as an AOC, and was followed by Crémant de Bourgogne (1975) and Crémant d'Alsace (1976). When in the late 1980s lobbying by Champagne producers led to {{lang|fr|méthode champenoise}} being forbidden within the [[European Union]] as a designation for the traditional method, the term Crémant was given its present definition. This meant that the use of "Crémant" in the Champagne region was discontinued and additional French Crémant AOCs were created from 1990, starting with Bordeaux and Limoux.

Since the designation Crémant is not reserved exclusively for French use (as a result of it replacing {{lang|fr|méthode champenoise}}), it may also be used by producers in other EU countries which fulfill the production criteria. Although such usage is rare, for example in [[Luxembourg wine|Luxembourg]], Crémant de Luxembourg is a designation within the ''Moselle Luxembourgeoise'' appellation, rather than a separate appellation, but otherwise follows the same rules as French Crémant.<ref>[http://www.ivv.public.lu/anbaugebiet/produkte/cremant/index.html Institut Viti-Vinicole Grand Duché de Luxembourg: Cremant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223014004/http://www.ivv.public.lu/anbaugebiet/produkte/cremant/index.html |date=23 December 2017}}, accessed on 1 April 2008.</ref>

[[Sula Vineyards]] produce "Sula Brut Crémant de Nashik" (up To 80% Chenin Blanc, the remainder Riesling and Viognier) and "Sula Brut Tropicale Crémant de Nashik" (60% Chenin Blanc, 40% Shiraz, Viognier) in India, which they differentiate from their "Méthode Classique" and "Méthode Traditionnelle" products.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sula Classics |url=https://sulavineyards.com/sula-classics.php |website=Sula Vineyards |access-date=28 October 2022}}</ref>