A beginner’s guide to sparkling wine

You may have heard of Champagne, Prosecco and Cava, but have you tried Pét Nat, Crémant, or English sparkling wine? Top up your knowledge as we take you through the best sparkling wines on the market.

Food Editor

Malou Herkes

What is sparkling wine?

Sparkling wine is essentially wine with bubbles in it. The process starts by harvesting grapes and fermenting them, in much the same way as still wine is made. It then goes through a second fermentation – yeast and sugar are added and the wine is sealed in individual bottles or a large tank. Carbon dioxide gets trapped, making it into the bubbly stuff we love to toast with.

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Types of sparkling wine

There are so many types of sparkling wine to try, from biscuity Champagne to easy-drinking Prosecco to great-value Spanish Cava. Have you tried those lesser-known sparkling wines? Like fun and fruity Pét-Nat, champagne-style Crémant, hailing from across France, to champagne's growing rival, English sparkling wines.

Champagne

Champagne production dates as far back as the 17th Century, and is made in the same way as Cava, Crémant and many English sparkling wines – this is known as ‘the traditional method’. The blending stage is an important part of the process. “Champagne is made from three grape varieties – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier – and each brings something different to the final wine. The producer will add different proportions of each wine, sometimes taking the same grape variety but from different plots or they may add reserve wine from a previous harvest to get just the right blend”, explains Dror Nativ, our in-house wine expert.

You might also have heard of Champagne ‘ageing on the lees’. The lees are the dead yeasts that collect at the bottom of the bottle during the second fermentation, which gives sparkling wine its fizz. “The longer you age on the lees, the more of a baked bread, brioche-like character you get," says Dror. Our Delacourt Champagne is made by one of our nominated iconic female winemakers, Carine Bailleul at Champagne Castelnau – it's aged for at least 24 months on the lees, for a delicious toasty character.

More champagne, this way

English sparkling wine

People may think Champagne is the best sparkling wine out there, but Dror doesn't necessarily think so. “England and the Champagne region have a very similar climate. There’s no reason English sparkling can’t be better or as good as Champagne”, he says. Our new Rockferne Sparkling Brut is a case in point – it’s made with the same grapes and traditional method used to make Champagne.

Produced for us by one of the most renowned premium English sparkling wine producers, Roebuck Estates, it’s a single vintage wine, meaning all the grapes are grown in a single year – a marker of premium quality. With notes of baked apples and ripe peach, layered with a toasty richness and a hint of honey, our Rockferne Sparkling Brut should be your fizz of choice this year.

Rockferne Sparkling Brut Rockferne Sparkling Rosé

Prosecco

Prosecco is made exclusively in the north-east of Italy in the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia regions. Unlike Champagne, Prosecco undergoes its second fermentation in a stainless steel tank, rather than in the bottle, and it's not aged in the same way as Champagne. “Within three to four months of harvest, you can get Prosecco on the shelf. It's very fresh, and retains its vibrant primary fruit flavours, rather than the biscuity, brioche flavours you get in Champagne”, says Dror . Try our lively, floral Bellante Prosecco, packed with flavours of pear, fresh apple and citrus, or Bellante Prosecco Rosé, with flavours of strawberry, redcurrant and a hint of jasmine.

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Cava

Fancy a Spanish tipple with your summer picky bits? Cava might be the one for you. This sparkling wine from Spain is made with a blend of different grapes. Most commonly, those grapes are Xarel·lo, Macabeo and Parellada, like in our intensely fruity and elegantly balanced Finca Miguel Cava Brut, but sometimes other grapes can be used. Our vibrant, creamy sparkling Finca Miguel Prestige Cava Brut has Chardonnay grapes blended in, for example. Like champagne, the grapes are fermented separately and then blended in specific combinations, before it’s bottled and turned into sparkling wine.

Pét-Nat

Pét-Nat or Pétillant Naturel (which translates as naturally sparkling) is having a moment. Back by popular demand, our M&S Pét-Nat Rosé Brut is launching on 14 May. “It’s intensely fruity and dry – it tastes fantastic. We’re also proud to have an English Pét-Nat, from Heppington Vineyard near the Kent Downs", says Dror. Pét-Nat producers champion a more hands-off approach to wine-making. With no yeast or sugars added to induce fermentation, it undergoes one long fermentation in the bottle, and is left unfiltered for a more hazy appearance.

Browse cava in store

What to pair with sparkling wine

Sparkling wines pair well with seafood, salads, creamy cheeses and tapas, and are a popular accompaniment to party food, but don't limit them to your pre-dinner aperitif. A glass of fizz can be a great match with your main. Our Rockferne Sparkling Brut pairs brilliantly with roast chicken as well as seafood, like crab, lobster and shellfish.

Or raise a glass of our Champagne Delacourt Medium Dry Rosé with your dessert course. It's got a refreshing acidity which balances perfectly with sweet, creamy puds, like this strawberry and elderflower pavlova recipe.

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How to serve sparkling wine

Make sure your bubbles are well chilled, before serving in flute glasses or Champagne Saucers. Pour your sparkling wine at a slight angle to preserve the bubbles and fill your glasses to only about two-thirds full so you can really savour those delicious aromas.

Bubbles for every occasion

At M&S, our team of in-house winemakers and experts specially select all of our sparkling wines, working with our producers to bring the perfect blend to our Foodhalls. We love pouring a glass of the fizzy stuff for big celebrations but don't limit them to the occasional event. “Sparkling wine is such a joyful drink”, says Dror. “Like other wines, a glass of sparkling is just as good on a Tuesday evening as it is for a wedding or birthday”.

Not sure how to choose the best sparkling wine? Our Wine Finder quiz can help you decide.

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Published 4.5.2025