Ch.2 – Champagne Flashcards
What are the five main production sub-regions of Champagne?
- Montagnes de Reims
- Vallée de la Marne
- Côte des Blancs
- Côte de Sézanne
- Côte des Bar
Why is the Grand Cru or Premier Cru designation in champagne controversial?
- Because it’s for the whole village, not individual (and invariably different plots/soils, aspects/ quality)
- If all grapes come from one GC village can label village eg “Grand Cru Cramant”
- If mixture of villages, but all GC can label “Grand Cru”
- But because of diff standards within villages and need to create large volumes, champagne houses focus on blended wines and emphasise vintage/prestige cuvées rather than villages (in contrast to Burgundy)
What do the letters CM on a bottle of champagne mean?
- Coopérative de Manipulation
- “Made by a cooperative” e.g. Nicholas Feuillate
- A wine cooperative that makes wine from all its members (growers) grapes pooled together
- The individual grower may or may not have some involvement in the wine-making process. (NB differs from an SR (Societé de Recoltants) which is where growers share the same winery and always have significant involvement in the wine-making process)
Describe pressing in méthode champenoise (traditional method)
- Aim to extract high quality, low phenolics (no extraction of tannins from skin/seeds) to make white from black grapes
- Traditionally 4000kgs - a marc - loaded onto basket press
- Still used, as are pneumatic and other moderns types
- Juice separated strictly into two fractions
- The cuvée (first 2050L/4000kgs) = free run juice & first pressing (100% for the best champagnes)
- The taille (next 500L, no more, to limit phenolics)
What is champagne?
- A protected region and wine style
- a traditional method sparkling wine made from grapes grown within the appellation
- most champagne is white, fully sparkling, NV Brut from blend of PN, Meunier & Chardonnay
- typically med intense aromas/flavours of green apple and lemon with biscuit autolytic notes, high acidity, med alcohol and dry finish. Good to outstanding, mid to premium. Vintage & prestige cuvées command super-premium prices
Hazards, Pests and Diseases in Champagne
- Winter frost can kill (parts of) vines
- Spring frosts destroy new buds –> reduce yields
- Cold & wet weather in June disrupts flowering/fruit set –> coulure/millerandage –> reducing yields/ripe & unripe grapes together
- Downy mildew –> reduces crop levels
- Violent storms/hail in summer –> damage grapes & vines
- Hot, humid sun after rain –> rapid spread of botrytis
- Generally, downy & powdery mildew always a risk
- Dagger nematode spreading fanleaf virus also common
Topography & Soils of champagne
- Paris basin old seabed, thick chalk.
- Best base wines made on chalky hillsides of N champagne. Chalk esp good for chardonnay.
- Most common soil is chalky soil with limestone and chalk subsoil. Chalk highly porous and stores water - steady supply if dry period
- Most vineyards 90-300m on well-drained slopes: avoids waterlogging.
How does a chef de cave achieve a constant style of NV champagne year after year?
- Blending (assemblage)
- Large champagne houses have > 100 base wines/ reserve wines. (Also reduces risk of no wine in poor vintage)
- Reserve wines important to style:
- 10-15% of last 1 or 2 vintages is typical large brands
- 30-40% older wine for complexity premium brands
- How stored affects reserves
- eg reductively in stainless steel for large brands
- old oak to add mildly oxidative notes
- Bollinger stores reserves in magnums
- Keeping a “perpetual reserve”
What is the current demand for champagne?
- Domestic 50% of champagne low av bottle price, but rising
- 2017 exports by vol: UK, USA, Japan, Germany, Belgium
- USA/Japan highest value, av price pb.
- UK highest vol, lowest price pb (of top 10 markets)
- (WSTA 2019 UK figures drop of quarter, but av bt price £47)
Key developments of champagne in early 20th C
- Current AOC boundary (Champagne vineyard area) 1927
- Critical in Comité Champagne’s later defence of the Geographical Indication “Champagne only comes from Champagne”
-
échelles des crus (“ladder of growths”) rating system introduced to determine grape prices. (now market does)
- Underlies what became GC and 1erC villages
- ‘blocage’ system (later called reserve wines)
- initially set aside some young wine as insurance
- now enables blending for consistent NV wines
- adds depth & complexity, raised standard of NV
Location and regions of Champagne
- N-E France just south of 50th parallel, E of Paris
- Large: 150km N-S, 120km E-W
- 5 sub regions. 3 around Epernay in N
- Montagne de Reims (to E of Epernay)
- Vallée de la Marne (W to slight E Epernay)
- Cote de Blancs (to S)
- Cote de Sézanne (S of Cote de Blancs)
- Cotes de Bar (100km S, closer to Chablis than Epernay)
Planting regulations in champagne
- Inter-row spacing max 1.5m
- Intra-row spacing 0.9 - 1.5m
- Max ‘total’ spacing 2.5m
- Therefore av density 8000 vines p/H : competition between vines optimises quality
- Sparkling wine grapes don’t need ripe tannins or concentrated flavours, so can be grown at high yields
Key developments of champagne in 19th Century
- Controlled 2nd ferment using measured amount of sugar and yeast to create known pressure
- Madame (Veuve - ‘widow’) Cliquot (d 1866) developed riddling (remuage) using pupitres
- Disgorgement by dipping bottle neck in icy brine, enabling rapid production of clear wine on large scale
- Late 19th dry style of champagne for English alongside sweet style
Champagne sales?
- 300m bottles (2017)
- 50% domestic, 50% exports
- Houses 73% of all sales, 88% of all exports
- Co-operatives small vol, evenly spilt domestic/export but Nicolas Feuillatte 3rd biggest brand on its own
- Most growers wine sold in home market
Why are brioche flavours more prominent in champagne than in warmer climates?
Because there is a lower level of primary fruit due to Champagne’s cool climate
Describe (Petit) Meunier (old name called by Comité Champagne)
- Mutation of Pinot, white hairs on leaves “floury” (meunier = “miller”)
- Buds early, but later than PN, so less prone to spring frosts/coulure in cool Vallée de la Marne, where it dominates
- Does better on heavier clay soils than C or PN.
- Ripens earlier than PN - good if rain at harvest
- Sensitive to botrytis infection
- Reliable fruity wine, adds softness to blend: important for NV wines aged shorter on lees and drunk on release
- Less used in long-aged wines (though Krug like it and growers Egly-Ouriet)
Who is the chef de cave?
- The master blender
- Aims to create a wine greater than the sum of its parts
- Combines diff vineyards, varieties and vintages
- Must predict the development of wine over time before second fementation and maturation has even begun
List 9 champagne styles
- NV - consistent through blending
- Vintage - 100% from year. Only “best” years, but varies by producer
- Rosé i) <span>us.blend red & white wine “rosé d’assemblage”</span> ii) <span>skin maceration & “bled off” = rosé de saignée</span>
- Blanc de Blancs - lean in youth, brilliantly age to biscuits/hazelnuts
- Blanc de Noirs - fuller bodied than BdB but age more quickly
- Grand Cru - all grapes from Grand Cru Villages
- Premier Cru - all grapes from Premier Cru /Grand Cru Villages
- Prestige Cuvée - us top wines, best grapes, nv or v. Some specialise in range eg Krug
- Late Release/ Recently disgorged - Extended lees ageing, ready to drink from release. Age quicker after disgorgement. eg Bollinger RD, Dom Perignons’ P2
Options in first fermentation in Champagne
- Temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks or
- Large oak foudres (increasing in quality producers, cos adds textural richness & mouthfeel)
- Large selection of yeasts
- Temperature usually 15-20C (warmer than trad white, as no need for primary fruit)
- Many (but not all) encourage malo to reduce/soften acidity in final wine (and less risk of malo in bottle) though if warmer harvest it’s less of an issue
Describe champagnes route to market
- Many conglomerates and large houses own /run distribution systems, localised in diff markets as way of controlling price/ limiting grey (unauthorised) market trading
- Some use agents to distribute
- Grower champagnes often use specialist agents who champion grower champagnes to spec shops/ private clients and hospitality sector.
- Growers often visit key markets in person
What do the letters RM on a bottle of champagne mean?
- Récoltant-Manipulant aka Grower Champagne
- “Grower Maker” makes wine from his own grapes (up to 5% can be bought in)
- Eg Agrapart & Fils
- nb also includes co-operative members who take their bottles to be disgorged at the co-op
What can a producer do if natural sugar levels in the juice in champagne are too low?
- Chaptalisation (adding sucrose) is permitted to produce a wine with a min alcohol level of 11%
- EU law: final alcohol level no more than 13%