3 France Cremant / Mousseux Flashcards
1
Q
What is Crémant?
A
- Some (not all) regional French traditional method sparkling wines made outside the Champagne region.
- Crémant PDO created to protect champagne
- used to be semi-sparkling style within Champagne, but because of change in law - 1985 EU banned “méthod champenoise” - Crémant took on current meaning.
- More regions created a Crémant (now 8)
2
Q
How many Crémant appellations are there in France?
Name the 3 largest
A
- 8 Crémant appellations in France:
- Three largest
- Alsace
- Bourgogne
- Loire
3
Q
What are the six common features for all Crémant wines?
A
- Whole-bunch pressing (so hand-harvesting)
- Max yield at pressing of 100l per 150kg grapes
- Min 9 mths lees ageing during 2nd ferment in bottle
- Min 12 mths maturation between tirage and release (includes the 9mths lees ageing)
- Max 13% abv in finished wine
- Min 4 atmospheres pressure
4
Q
Describe Crémant d’Alsace
A
- Sparkling wine made in the traditional method, mainly Brut
- Main grape Pinot Blanc (though 5 others allowed: Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir)
- Medium intensity, apple and pear fruit, biscuit fm autolysis; m+/hi acidity, l/m body
- Longer lees-aged wines medium intensity biscuit, autolytic notes
- Rosé must be 100% Pinot Noir, v good quality m/m+ intensity red berry fruit, 12-14 hrs maceration
5
Q
Climate in Alsace
A
- Vineyards 200m-400m on eastern flanks of Vosges foothills
- Continental, cold winter, sunny warm summer 600mm rain pa
- dry/hot during growing season - irrigation not allowed - risk
- Warm Föhn dries the vines, reduce fungal disease
- Esp at higher elev hi diurnal range - ripeness, acid, pot abv: ideal
Hazards
- water shortage - Vosges = rain shadow, grow season
- Rain thorugh year most in Summer, driest at harvest - BUT….
- Spring frost risk for early bud var - less yield -(climate change)
6
Q
How significant is Crémant for Alsace?
A
- 25% of total wine production
- 500 producers (often alongside still production)
- 3,600 hectares vineyard area +15% in last 10 yrs
7
Q
Where is Pinot Blanc grown in Alsace for sparkling wine production
A
- Vineyards generally sheltered by Vosges
- Best sites usually reserved for noble varieties for still wines (eg Riesling)
- Pinot Blanc grown on lower elevations, fertile soils (not suitable for top quality)
- Also on cooler sites in higher valleys where grapes for still wines would struggle to ripen (eg Munster Valley, where cool airflows retain acidity in grapes)
8
Q
Descsribe advantages and disadvantages of PB in Alsace
A
- 20% of total Alsace vineyard area (includes Auxerrois, as not distinguished in record-keeping, most are P Blanc)
- PROS
- Inexpensive
- Early budding & ripening, so harvest much earlier than other varieties
- Staggers the harvest and grape reception labor
- pear & apples, high acidity (desirable in SW)
- CONS
- early budding = spring frosts
- prone to fungal diseases
- simple quality (top growers use Pinot Gris to imp quality)
9
Q
Describe varieties, risk/hazards, and growing/harvesting of C d’Alsace
A
Varieties
- Pinot Blanc (main grape)
- early bud, susc spring frost, prone to fungal disease, early ripening - means harvest much earlier than for other varieties. Contributes pear and apple, high acid.
- Auxerrois
- Chardonnay (only Alsace appellation allowing it)
- Riesling (preferred for still wines)
- Pinot Gris (used by better producers to add complexity to the Pinot B)
- Pinot Noir (ONLY grape for Cremant D’Alsace rosé)
- cont m/m+ int of red berry fruit.
- NOT allowed - Gewurztraminer, Muscat
Growing & Harvest:
- Vines pruned for higher yield than still as wines do not need high concentration of flavours
- Picking by hand, whole berry mandatory for high quality juice low phenolics
- max yields 80hL/ha
- Harvest early (end Aug/early Sept) for just-ripe fruit/high acid
- Growers must declare in July if they are going to make Crémant
10
Q
Winemaking for Crémant D’Alsace
A
- as pot alcohol low, must often chaptalised
- Then traditional method for fully sparkling
- Wines typical single vintage - no reserve wines
- Time on lees during second fermentation us 12 mths, so aromas mainly primary fruit
- Top producers age longer on lees (eg Cave de Turckheim co-op 2 years for least expensive), giving biscuit, autolytic notes.
- Brut
- Rosés macerate on skin 12-24 hours for colour
- Dosage 8-10g/L range with sugar balancing high acidity
11
Q
Crémant d’Alsace Emotion
A
- 2012 prestige category for Alsace sparkling
- min 75% Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay & Pinot Noir, separately or together
- min 24 mths on lees
- Some v good wines (Dom J-C Buecher), but new category not popular
12
Q
Wine Business structure of Cremant D’Alsace
A
- Production
- 37% merchant houses
- 43% cooperatives
- 20% independent growers
- Largest company is co-op Maison Bestheim, makes sparkling & still wine from 1400 ha, owning half the vineyards, the rest from 450 growers
- Prod doubled 2000-2014
- 80% sold domestically, export % rising in line with global sw demand.
13
Q
Cremant de Bourgogne in one card
A
- Sparkling wine trad method
- Chardonnay (most), Pinot Noir and <20% Gamay
- 10% of total wines of Burgundy
- Production doubled since 2000 (to 19.5m bts) 170 000l p.a.
- Range of styles, white Brut most common
- with med(+)/high acidity.
- Lightly fruity to richly toasty.
- Med intensity green apple and lemon (cool) to apricot (warm)
- brioche autolytic notes.
- Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs and rosé also made.
14
Q
Where grapes grown for Cremant de Bourgogne
A
- Appellation boundary as per Bourgogne AOC - fruit from any Burgundy departéments: 250km from Chablis to Beaujolais; can influence style
- Main sources
- Maconnais (Chardonnay eg Cave de Lugny co-op)
- Cote Chalonnaise, esp around Rully
- Beaujolais
- Chablis area in Yonne dept and Chatillon-sur-Seine (just South of southernmost Champagne)
- Hauts Cotes de Beaune & Hauts Cotes de Nuits
- flatlands on Cote D’Or
- These are cooler and/or cheaper areas
15
Q
Largest single producer of Cremant de Bourgogne?
A
- Veuve Ambal
- owns 6 diff vineyards, supply grapes for 30% of their production volume
