For many, the festivities will include popping the cork on a bottle of champagne.

Though wine connoisseurs will tell you that champagne can be drunk at any time, it is still associated with very special occasions in most minds.

Buying a bottle of champagne can be confusing to the layman. The French terminology doesn't help those who don't understand the language, and to confuse the issue further marketing techniques mean that many sparkling wines are done up to resemble champagnes.

But there is quite a difference between champagne and sparkling wines, and not just in the prices.

"The term champagne applies only to the wines made in the Champagne region of France, which lies approximately 90 miles east of Paris,'' explained Mr.

Michael d'Atria, restaurant manager at Stonington Beach Hotel and wine lecturer at the Bermuda College. "All other wines not from Champagne should be called sparkling wines.'' Perfectly acceptable, however, are sparkling wines from other areas, such as California, which are made by the champagne method ( methode champenoise ). In fact, several famous French vintners also produce champagnes in the US by the same method they use at home.

The methods by which champagnes and sparkling wines are made differs greatly, and accounts for the disparity in prices.

Whereas making champagne is a long, labour-intensive process with the wine being made in individual bottles and using only the very best grapes from top vineyards, other sparkling wines may use a blend of lesser grapes, and may also be prepared in bulk in tanks and bottled mechanically.

Naturally, the taste varies widely, and the difference can also be spotted on pouring.

Champagne and other sparkling wines made by methode champenoise normally have small, long-lasting bubbles which gives an almost creamy sensation in the mouth, whereas tank-method sparkling wines generally produce a spectacular fizz when the bottle is opened and then quickly subside. These wines don't have the same feel in the mouth as champagne.

Methode champenoise was devised by Veuve Cliquot, while a Benedictine monk, Dom Perignon, devised the bottle strong enough to hold the fermented wine.

"The pressure in each bottle of champagne is 90 pounds per square inch -- the same as one tyre on a London double decker bus,'' Mr. d'Atria noted. Dom Perignon was also the one who started using the cork as we know it today.

"More important, he was the one who devised cuvee -- the blending of wine from different vineyards because he thought the final product would be a more complex wine,'' Mr. d'Atria said.

The method by which champagne is made is as fascinating as it is painstaking.

The process begins with the fermentation of grape juice. The best champagnes are made from a blend of three grapes: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meuniere.

"Blanc de blanc is made from white grapes only and it is has more finesse and elegance,'' Mr. d'Atria said.

In the Spring, the cellar master will blend (cuvee) several different wines from different vineyards in a huge tank, to which will be added liqueur de tirage -- a mixture of yeast and sugar dissolved in a little wine. This blend will then be placed in individual bottles, with a temporary cork, and stored in cool cellars at a constant temperature of approximately 55 degrees F., at which point the second fermentation will take place.

"For vintage champagne the wine must age for at least three years before disgorgement, for non-vintage wines a minimum of 18 months,'' Mr. d'Atria explained.

Once the champagne has aged, the bottles are placed in a special rack called a pupitre, with the necks almost horizontal. Every two or three days a person known as a riddler will begin the process of remuage -- turning and tilting each bottle slightly until after approximately eight weeks each bottle is completely upside down.

"That is to get the yeast and sediments onto the cork,'' Mr. d'Atria said.

"At this moment the neck of the bottle is inserted into a freezing liquid which freezes the sediments. The bottle is then turned upright and the temporary cork released, taking with it the frozen lump of sludge and sediment. This process is called disgorgement.'' Naturally, the release of the frozen wastes leaves less wine in the bottle, so the difference is made up with liqueur d'expedition/dosage -- a mixture created from some of the earliest opened bottles of a vintage to which has been added a certain amount of sugar.

The amount of sugar in the liqueur d'expedition/dosage determines the dryness of the champagne. Brut requires approximately 8-9 grammes per litre, while extra dry requires approximately 14-15 grammes per litre.

When you are buying champagne, you will be confronted with several different terms. Brut indicates a very, very dry wine; Extra Dry is slightly less dry than Brut; Sec is dry, and Demi-sec is fairly sweet.

"Champagne may be served at any time, anywhere, and with any food, but Demi-Sec is best served with dessert,'' Mr. d'Atria explained.

Champagne should always be served chilled, and opened carefully. While a loud popping of the cork might be exuberant and festive, quiet removal with as little fuss as possible preserves more of the carbon dioxide which has been so carefully produced to give the wine its sparkle.

And of course champagne should be served in tulip or flute-shaped glasses -- again to preserve the bubbles.

"Champagne glasses should always be slim and tall. The most beautiful thing about champagne is the bubbles, which rise continually. The narrower and taller the glass, the less bubbles will be lost,'' Mr. d'Atria advised.

"And never use swizzle sticks in champagne. After taking so many years to create those beautiful bubbles in a bottle, it is a sin to destroy them in a few minutes.''