I think what david_42 is getting at, is to make sparkling wine the way champagne is made, there is a lot involved because you are using special techniques and conditions to result in a bottle carbonated beverage that has had most of the sediment removed.
Now more specifically to your questions anything that makes a good wine will usually make an outstanding sparkling wine. Some times even a mediocre wine will get much better when it sparkles. Heck Americas drink of choice proves that. Flat pop is horrible but you add bubbles and everyone loves it.
As far as the actual technique. make a wine and ferment it out dry DRY DRY then bottle it in 750 ml champaign type bottles with either 1 tsp of sugar or 2 carbonation tablets. if using plastic or cork stoppers make sure you wire them down. I prefer to just cap the bottles. Easier to put on and take off.