Can you believe it? Summertime is here. Smell the fresh cut grass, the smoke from the backyard barbeques, and the smell of fresh-baked apple pie waffling from the kitchen. Ah, the smells of summer! Did you know that humans have the ability to detect 10,000 different odors or aromas? You would if you've ever attended one of my wine tastings. As I remind my guests, each one of us is different and our ability is based on our experiences. A large part of the enjoyment of wine comes from experiencing the different aromas of the wine and comparing them to our catalog of stored memories. I don't advocate anyone going around the local market sniffing everything, but the next time you're shopping, pick up an item (fruit, vegetable, or spice) you're not familiar with and give it a sniff. Let your brain do the rest. Who knows? It may appear in a wine you're having one day.

Although the French have been very successful in convincing the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) to restrict winemakers from using the term Champagne unless the wine is actually produced in the Champagne region of France , the US does allow longtime producers to continue to use the name under certain conditions. All others must label their wines as sparking wine.

The Spanish call their sparking wine Cava and the Italians call theirs Asti Spumanti. Not to take away from my pick for this month, but if your taste runs to the sweeter style and you want something less costly, try an Asti . You can usually find some good ones for around $12.00 a bottle. Grande andando, italiani!

In spite of these efforts and differences, most folks still refer to all sparking wines as Champagne . I think the majority of people could care less where it is made, as long as they like the taste and the price. Speaking of price, there are a number of conditions that influence the price. One of the most influential is the method employed to produce the sparkle in the sparkling wine.

The most traditional and labor intensive is the Methode Champenoise, which is also the most expensive. After the wine has undergone its first fermentation in stainless steel tanks, a mixture of sugar and yeast is added as the wine is bottled and sealed with a crown cap (soda cap). The mixture of sugar and yeast that was added during bottling sets up a secondary fermentation and this time, since the bottle is capped, the carbon dioxide is captured in the bottle. The wine must then be riddled, a process where the bottle is slowly, over the course of months, turned by hand until the bottle rests upside down trapping all the dead yeast and impurities in the neck of the bottle. It then undergoes disgorgement where the neck of the bottle is submerged in iced saltwater freezing the trapped impurities. The crown cap is removed and the frozen impurities are allowed to escape. Depending on the style (sweetness) the winemaker wants to achieve, a measure of Liqueur d'expedition is added and the bottle is corked with a specially designed cork and wire basket to keep the 80 to 90 pounds per square inch (PSI) inside the bottle from launching the cork. Remember, the pressure in the average car tire is around 32 PSI.

The least expensive method of producing sparking wine is the Carbonation Method. You simply take a still wine (regular wine) and pump carbon dioxide into the bottle and cork it. This method is often referred to as the Bicycle Pump Method. As you can see, it is less labor intensive.

There are a couple of other methods in between and all will put sparkle in your sparkling wine. Therefore, if you're a traditionalist, look for sparkling wines produced by Methode Champenoise, but be prepared to pay more. If you're on a budget, there are still a number of really good sparking wines not using Methode Champenoise.

By the way, next time you're at Sunday brunch, try a Mimosa (three parts champagne and one part chilled orange juice). As Jacob (my three and half year old grandson) would say, DELICIOUS!