As we sprinkle sparkle all around the town and around our homes this time of year, how can we help thinking about sparkling wines? My 90-year-old mother attributes her still-lively lifestyle to her regimen of a half bottle of Champagne every day for almost 70 years. She swears that all those bubbles mean added oxygen going to her brain!

While we tend to call all wine with bubbles "Champagne," only sparkling wine from the Champagne region 90 miles northeast of Paris can rightfully be so labeled. That Champagne is made from a blend of one white grape, chardonnay, and two red grapes, pinot noir and pinot meunier. It gets its bubbles from a second fermentation in the bottle -- methode traditionelle. In this process, sugar and yeast are added to a fermented wine and it's closed tightly. As the sugar turns into alcohol, the carbon dioxide, a by-product of fermentation, is trapped in the bottle. Because the cellars where this happens are deep and cold, the fermentation is slow and produces the tiniest bubbles. If the wine is labeled blanc de blanc, it is made from chardonnay exclusively, and if it is blanc de noir, it is made only from the red grapes.

The wines come in varying degrees of sweetness. The names seem to be made to confuse rather than to clarify. Extra-brut has up to 6 grams per liter of residual sugar and brut has less than 15 grams, so both are what we would call dry. Extra-dry has 12 to 20 grams, dry (or sec) has 17 to 35 grams and demi-sec has 33 to 50 grams, which means they progress from sort of sweet to downright sugary.

Although Champagne is no doubt the queen of sparklers, it certainly is not the only choice when it comes to bubbles. France has many sparkling wines that are not Champagnes. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, the United States, Australia and many other countries also make sparklers. Many of these are modeled on French Champagne but others are original wines made from local grapes with an entirely different taste profile. There is even sparkling sake from Japan!

Some get their sparkle in the same way as Champagne -- a second fermentation in the bottle, which is a slow and expensive process. But there is another process for creating bubbles called charmat, which is faster and less expensive. The second fermentation takes place inside a sealed tank, where the wine becomes infused with carbon dioxide and then is bottled. A third way of introducing bubbles is by carbonization, the same process as for soft drinks, but none of the wines we discuss here use that method.

Spanish sparklers are called cava and are made from three white grapes: macebo, parellada and xarello. All cava is made using the traditional method of second fermentation in bottle. A perennial favorite on all best buy lists is an under-$10 bottle that is available throughout the state store system.

Cristalino Brut Cava, Spain, NV

Crisp and dry with aromas of citrus, green apple and toast with pleasant yeastiness. At this price, you can sparkle every day.

Bellussi Prosecco de Valdobbiadiane, Veneto, Italy, NV

Prosecco is the name of both the grape and the wine. It comes from the Veneto region near Venice and is the wine that Italians bring out for any and every occasion. Made from the charmat process, it's light and dry with aromas of yellow apples and stone fruits. The Bellini cocktail, created at the famous Harry's Bar in Venice before World War II, is a mixture of prosecco and peach puree. It got its name from the pink color it shared with a toga depicted in a Bellini painting hanging in a Venetian church.

Martini and Rossi Asti Spumante, Piedmont, Italy, NV

Spumante means bubbly in Italian. This is a demi-sec wine which means rather sweet and low in alcohol. It's made from the white muscat grape, which produces a lot of fruitiness. It's the perfect wine to serve with fruit desserts.

Trapiche Extra-Brut, Mendoza, Argentina, NV

This winery, established in 1883, makes sparkling wine from 70 percent chardonnay, 20 percent semillon and 10 percent malbec. Made using the traditional method, this one is lemony and yeasty with a steely finish. Totally dry, it would make an ideal partner for raw oysters.

Varichon and Clerc, Blanc de Blanc Brut, Savoie, France

A good example of a non-Champagne sparkler from France, this wine is made from chardonnay, chenin blanc and local white grape varieties, altesse and molette, grown in the Alpine foothills southeast of Lyon. It got its bubbles from the charmat method. It has a creamy texture with small bubbles and aromas of apples, pears and toast.

Wyndham Sparkling Shiraz, Australia

This crimson red wine is a big mouthful of strawberries and spice. It's medium dry, which means slightly sweet with enough substance to pair with meat. The bubbles come from the charmat process.

St. Hillaire Brut, Limoux, France

This wine, an AOC Blanquette de Limoux from an abbey in Southwestern France, has been made since the early 16th Century. All wines with this appellation are made from a minimum of 90 percent of the local mauzac grape and must use the traditional second fermentation in bottle. The result is a tasty sparkler with aromas of apples and pears and a dry, crisp finish that regularly wins a spot on the list of 100 best buys. If you prefer a sweeter wine, look for the St. Hillaire extra-Dry (#4243, $10.99 until 1/03).

Piper Heidieck Brut, Champagne, France, NV

Although this Champagne scores 92 points in Wine Enthusiast, it is among the least expensive sold locally. Champagne sales are suffering in this economy and many brands have reduced their prices so this is a good opportunity to taste a bubbly which many consider to be the real deal. It's the classic blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay grapes.

While you're shopping, you might want to pick up a Champagne re-corker (PLCB # 29940, $5.99), which will re-seal any bottle you don't finish. And with so many affordable bottles of bubbly available, it's fun and festive to use sparkling wine to make wine cocktails. There's a terrific book which goes far beyond Mimosas and Kir Royales titled "The Bubbly Bar" by Maria C. Hunt, (Clarkson Potter, $16.99). Ms. Hunt will help you create delicious cocktails by mixing sparkling wine with everything from gin to cordials and liqueurs to fruits and herbs. Wrap it with one of the above bottles and a Champagne re-corker and you have a sensational gift for some lucky friend.

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