When most people hear the word "Champagne," they think of any bottle of wine that has a generous amount of fizz and a premium pricetag.

The truth is, only a middling percentage of the sparkling vino sold in the United States can be called Champagne. To bear that moniker, it must be made in the Champagne region, in northern France, using a process called methode champenoise, which involves a second fermentation in the bottle, rather than in vats, and a very precise set of steps designed to produce the fizzy finished product.

Essentially, one starts with a bottle of wine, and adds a solution of sugar and yeast. The resulting fermentation releases carbon dioxide bubbles which, since they can't escape the bottle, dissolve into the wine. This is why champagne bottles are much heavier than ordinary wine bottles: they're essentially pressure vessels.

Over a period of time, often years, the bottle is slowly turned and tapped until it is facing neck-down, with the dead yeast cells settled in the neck. The neck of the bottle then takes a dip in freezing brine, creating a plug of wine with the dead yeast sealed in it. The cap (at this stage it's not a cork, but more of a bottle cap) is popped, and the built-up pressure sends the undesirable dead yeast flying out in a sort of winesicle.

Then, the cork goes in, the label goes on and the price goes up.

One odd bit: There is tremendous debate over who should be credited with the invention of Champagne, and by and large the answer you get will depend on which side of the English Channel you call home. The French, by and large, credit a monk named Dom Pérignon with discovering that wine could be made fizzy, while the British say it was a fellow named Christopher Merrett.

Whoever did it, I'd like to honor them with a toast ... who's got the Champagne?