When my friend Diane Dixon wrote me the other day inviting me to take part in one of her excellent Twitter chats #SommChat, she asked me what I’d like to focus on for the online event. My answer was dosage and the often misunderstood (and maligned) role that sugar plays in the production of sparkling wine.

Over the last two years, I’ve traveled all over the country talking about and tasting sparkling wine with people from every walk of the wine trade. In the arc of that time, I’ve never quite been able to wrap my mind around why there is so much confusion when it comes to how fizzy wines get their sparkle.

We spend an inordinate amount of time poring over the crus of Barbaresco or Beaune, their soil types and their topography, for example. But when it comes to the range of effervescent wines made throughout the world using the ancestral, Martinotti, and classic methods, I’ve found that we tend to gloss over the details of what has made sparkling wine one of the most profound expressions of viticulture today.

Tomorrow at noon EST, Diane and I will be leading a chat about dosage, tirage, liqueur d’expédition etc. Please join us @KeeperColl #SommChat.

There is no one who does more to foster the Texas wine and food scene than Diane, whose Austin-based Keeper Collection community produces a series of popular events each year with a focus on young sommeliers and chefs. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be part of the conversation.

See you tomorrow on Twitter #SommChat!