(Capitalgazette) - A number of decades ago sparkling wine was either pricey champagne or sweetened, effervescent plonk made by bulk winemakers in California, such as Gallo or Italian Swiss Colony.

For those of you old enough to remember, Andre and a sweet sparkling red wine called Cold Duck should bring back a smile or a bad memory.

Today, the sparkling wine opportunities are much broader with availability from most winemaking regions of the world. But the giants of value bubbles come from Italy and Spain.

Although real French champagne still reigns supreme in the premium sparkling wine category, bargain-priced bubbly such as Italian prosecco and Spanish cava in the $10-$20 range dominate imported sparkling wine purchases.