CHAMPAGNE

Question 1

REGION

Answer 1

• Wine appellation located in north-east France.
• Considered to produce the most prestigious sparkling
  wine in the world, also called Champagne.
• Protected region and wine style.

Question 2

STYLES OF CHAMPAGNE

Answer 2

• Most Champagne is a white, fully sparkling, non-vintage Brut wine made from a blend of the three main varieties, Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay.
• These wines typically have medium intensity aromas and flavours of green apple and lemon fruit with biscuit autolytic notes, high acidity, medium alcohol and a dry-tasting finish.
• They are typically good to outstanding quality and mid- to premium-priced. Vintage and prestige cuvée wines command premium and super-premium prices.

Question 3

RANGE OF STYLES

Answer 3

• Non-vintage or NV – a wine blended from a number of vintages. The wine usually follows a set house style and blending of different parcels of base wine can smooth out vintage variations, creating a product with the same profile every year.
• Vintage – by law, 100 per cent of the wine must come from the year indicated. Theoretically, these wines are only produced from
  the best vintages; however, there is often some variance, as different producers rating some vintages more highly than do
  others. In some years, the growing conditions have been so favourable that a vintage is almost universally declared, for example
  2002 and 2008. The vintage wine will still reflect the house style, but can be a unique wine, showing the characteristics of the
  year without having to meet a set mould.
• Rosé – in Champagne, these pink wines are usually made by blending red wine with white. In French, these wines are known as
  Rosé d’assemblage. However, skin maceration of black grapes is also permitted and then the wine is ‘bled off’, i.e. drawn off the
  skins. Hence, in French, these wines are known as Rosé de saignée.
• Blanc de Blancs – a white wine made from white grapes only. These wines can be leaner and more austere in youth, but often
  have an unmatched ageing potential, developing notes of biscuit and hazelnuts.
• Blanc de Noirs – a white wine made from black grapes only. The wines are fuller bodied than Blanc de Blancs are. However,
  they are generally thought to age more rapidly than Blanc de Blancs wines.
• Grand Cru – often mentioned on the label as a quality statement. All the grapes must have been grown within the vineyards
  belonging to Grand Cru villages.
• Premier Cru – often mentioned on the label as a quality statement. All the grapes must have been grown within the vineyards
  belonging to Premier Cru and/or Grand Cru villages.
• Prestige Cuvée – this is usually the top wine in a Champagne producer’s range. However, some houses, such as Krug,
  specialise in making a range of prestige cuvées. These wines should be the product of a strict selection of the best grapes,
  together with meticulous winemaking techniques. They can be non-vintage or vintage wines.
• Late release, recently disgorged wines – these are wines that have seen extended ageing on lees, and are disgorged just
  before release onto the market, ready to be consumed immediately. The wines have a different flavour profile from wines of the
  same vintage that were disgorged earlier, and they initially seem more youthful. However, after their disgorgement they age more
  rapidly than standard vintage wines. It is thought that the impact of disgorgement (the ingress of oxygen and disturbance of the
  liquid) is greater in older wines. Bollinger’s R.D. or Dom Pérignon’s P2 are examples of this style.

Question 4

Échelle des crus

Answer 4

The concept of échelle des crus (literally ‘ladder of growths’), the rating system that used to determine grape prices, was introduced in the early part of the twentieth century. Although the market now determines prices, the ratings of the system underlie what became the Grand Cru and Premier Cru villages

Question 5

‘Blocage’ system

Answer 5

The ‘blocage’ system, later called reserve wines, was introduced in the early part of the twentieth century.

• Setting aside of a portion of the young wines as an insurance policy against future disasters that might reduce yields.
• It has now become the system of storing reserve wines to enable vintage variation to be reduced by blending for non-vintage wines.
• The practice of keeping reserve wines has contributed to higher overall quality by adding depth and complexity and thereby raising the average quality of non-vintage Champagne.

Question 6

LOCATION AND CLIMATE

Answer 6

• North-east France, just south of the 50th parallel, directly east of Paris.
• Extends 150 km from north to south and nearly 120 km from east to west.
• There are five sub-regions: three around Epernay (the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs), the Côte de Sézanne (south of the Côte des Blancs) and the Côte des Bar, 100 km south and closer to Chablis than to Epernay.
• The climate is cool continental, with some oceanic influence.
• Rain, 700 mm per year
• Low average annual temperature of 11°C
• The moderate sunshine levels and rain spread throughout the year (due to the oceanic influence) give the grapes the freshness and crispness that contributes to the characteristic style of Champagne.
• Nearly 35.000 hectares of planted area.

Question 7

TOPOGRAPHY AND SOILS

Answer 7

• The wider region of the Paris basin has a thick layer of chalk, an old seabed.
• The chalky hillsides of Champagne in the northern
  part of the region have proved the most valuable for growing high-quality grapes suitable to make base wines. High chalk content is widely posited to be beneficial in the production of high-quality Chardonnay in particular.
• The most common soil types in the region are chalky soils with limestone subsoil and chalk itself. The latter is highly porous and stores water, providing a steady supply of water even in dry periods.
• Most vineyards are at 90–300 m above sea level.
• Welldrained soils and planting on slopes mean that rainfall provides sufficient water to survive while avoiding water logging which would be negative for vine health.

Question 8

Montagne de Reims

Answer 8

• Best known for its black grapes, especially the Grand Cru villages of Mailly, Verzenay, Verzy, Ambonnay and Bouzy.
• More of a wide plateau than a mountain.
• Unusually, some top villages face north, providing excellent cool-climate sites, though they are more frost prone.
• The wines tend to have very high acidity and are austere in youth.
• There are also important vineyards of Chardonnay in this sub-region.
• Soils types vary, but the Grand Crus are on chalky
  soils, providing an excellent balance between water retention and drainage.

Question 9

Vallée de la Marne

Answer 9

• East of Epernay
• Major plantings are Meunier on clay, marl and sandy soils, producing fruity Meunier and rich Chardonnay wines that can be used to blend into early-drinking wines.
• Bud break for Meunier is later and the ripening is earlier than other varieties, making this variety suitable in this frost-prone valley.
• Aÿ Grand Cru

Question 10

Côte des Blancs

Answer 10

• South from Epernay,
• Almost exclusively devoted to the cultivation of white grapes.
• It has the purest form of chalk, providing
  an excellent balance between water retention and drainage, and is 95 per cent planted with Chardonnay. - 4 Grand Cru villages of Cramant, Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger.
• These can produce wines of great intensity and longevity, which tend to be somewhat austere in their youth.

Question 11

Côte de Sézanne

Answer 11

Continuation of the Côte des Blancs, with mostly clay and clay/silt soils and some pockets of chalk; mostly planted with Chardonnay on warmer south-east facing slopes, leading to fruitier, riper grapes.
- In general, the
quality of the grapes is rated lower than those from the three sub-regions listed above.

Question 12

Côte des Bar

Answer 12

• A large area in the south of the Champagne region
• Nearly a quarter of the vineyard area mainly planted
  with Pinot Noir.
• The soils here, Kimmeridgian calcareous marls, are also found in nearby Chablis and Sancerre. The steep slopes
  and soils with stony limestone elements have excellent drainage, helping Pinot Noir to ripen well.
• A lack of Pinot Noir in the other
  sub-regions makes this a very important source of full flavoured, ripe Pinot Noir to blend into non-vintage blends. Merchants based
  in the northern part of Champagne buy much of the wine.

Question 13

VARIETIES

Answer 13

The three principal varieties account for 99 per cent of the nearly 35,000 hectares of vineyard in the region. While there is still more
- Pinot Noir (38 per cent) and Meunier (31 per cent) planted, Chardonnay (30 per cent) is increasingly being planted (all 2017
figures). This is because there is demand for it from the big Champagne houses, it commands a slightly higher price per kilo for
growers and it produces larger yields.
- Tiny amounts of other varieties – Pinot Blanc, Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Fromenteau – are
grown and are either blended into wines or contribute to niche cuvées; for example, Champagne Laherte’s Les 7 is made with all
seven permitted varieties.

Question 14

Meunier

Answer 14

• Mutation of Pinot, that has white hairs on its leaves giving it a ‘floury’ appearance (meunier means ‘miller’ in French).
• An early budding variety, but it buds later than Pinot Noir and Chardonnay As a result, it is less prone to spring frosts and coulure in the cool Vallée de la
  Marne.
• Does well on heavier soils (more clay) where the other varieties would not succeed.
• As it ripens earlier than Pinot Noir, Meunier can be helpful in seasons where the harvest is interrupted by rain. However, it is particularly sensitive to
  botrytis infection.
  Meunier is a reliable producer of typically fruity wine and contributes taillsome softness to the Champagne blend. This is
  particularly important for non-vintage wines, which are often aged on the lees for shorter times than vintage wines and are often
  drunk on release rather than being cellared and bottle aged.
• Meunier tends not to be used in wines intended for long ageing, though it has champions at Krug and among growers (e.g. Egly-
  Ouriet).

Question 15

PLANTING

Answer 15

• Regulations specify a maximum inter-row spacing of 1.5 metres and an intra-row spacing of 0.9–1.5 metres, with total spacing never reaching more than 2.5 metres.
• Average planting density of around 8000 vines per hectare, and the competition between the vines for resources is thought to optimise fruit quality.
• Generally, grapes for sparkling wines can be grown
  at high yields because it is not necessary for tannins to be ripe or flavours and colours to be particularly concentrated.

Question 16

TRAINING SYSTEMS

Answer 16

• Chablis: best for Chardonnay. It usually has 3-4 cordons (old wood), but may have up to a maximum of five. At the end of each cordon is a spur with up to five buds.
  It is a form of spur pruning, retaining a large proportion of permanent wood, which can protect against
  frosts. Spurs are grown at yearly intervals and must be trained to a maximum of 0.6 m above the ground to
  ensure that the ripening fruit gets the benefit of solar energy (heat and light) reflected from the soil,
  especially on chalk.
• Cordon: used for Pinot Noir and Meunier. The vine has a single cordon that is spur-pruned, and the shoots are vertically positioned.
• Guyot: replacement cane system with vertical shoot positioning is permitted in lesser-rated vineyards for all three varieties. Single or double Guyot is permitted.
• Vallée de la Marne: similar to Guyot, but with a higher number of buds. It is being used less now than in the past.
• The average number of fruiting buds per vine for all these systems must not exceed 18 per square metre.

Question 17

HAZARDS, PESTS AND DISEASES

Answer 17

• occasional severe winter frost, which can kill vines or parts of vines
• spring frosts destroying new buds and reducing yields
• disruption to flowering and fruit set due to cold and rainy weather in June, which can reduce yields or lead to the production of ripe and unripe grapes together
• downy mildew, which can also significantly reduce crop levels
• violent storms and hails in summer, which can damage grapes and vines
• hot and humid weather in summer, especially after heavy rainfall, leading to the rapid spread of botrytis.
• As in other regions, downy and powdery mildew have to be dealt with as the need arises. The dagger nematode, which spreads fanleaf virus, is also common.

Question 18

SUSTAINABLE VITICULTURE

Answer 18

• The use of pesticides has been reduced with
  sexual confusion techniques increasingly used to control pest populations.
• Soil protection methods have been put in place, such as the management of groundwater on slopes and the increased use of cover cropping to enhance biodiversity.
• Sustainable practices are carried forward to the winery as well, where water management schemes have often been put in place as well as the recycling of waste and by-products.
• In 2010 the Comité Champagne introduced a lighter weight Champagne bottle for non-vintage cuvées. The new bottle is nearly 60 g lighter than the original and the estimated annual reduction in CO output is 8,000 metric tonnes.

Question 19

HARVEST

Answer 19

• The Comité Champagne is responsible for setting harvest dates and yields each year.
• Determine the permitted yield for the year and the
  required minimum alcohol by volume (e.g. minimum potential alcohol of 9.5 per cent).
• The harvest dates are only start dates, and
  individual producers can choose to start picking a day or several days later. Alternatively, by derogation, they can apply to the INAO
  (Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité) office to start picking their grapes earlier than the official opening date for their
  particular village. For example, a derogation may be sought if botrytis is threatening the crop and it is necessary to pick at below
  the level set.
• The setting of yields by the Comité Champagne protects the quality of wine (by avoiding over-cropping, which could result in dilution of fruit flavour). It also protects the price of Champagne and regulates supply and demand.
• In good vintages, a proportion of the crop may be set aside as reserve wines, a precaution against future crop failure or
  disappointing vintages.
• The Comité Champagne is also responsible for managing the levels of these reserve stocks. The upper limit of yields is controlled by EU law at 15,500 kilos/hectare, yields achieved in the big production years of 2006 and 2007. Part of
  this was put into reserves.
• The Champagne AOC regulations specify whole-bunch pressing, and grapes are handpicked. Picking whole bunches by hand can
  avoid crushing and oxidation and microbial spoilage, thereby preserving fruit quality.

Question 20

WINEMAKING

Answer 20

• Whole bunches of grapes are pressed with a gradual increase of pressure. This is to ensure high juice quality, low phenolics (avoiding extracting tannins from the skins and seeds) and to make white wine from black Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes.
• Traditionally, 4,000 kilos of grapes, a unit known as a marc, were loaded by hand into a basket press that is still widely used. Pneumatic and other modern press types are also used.
• The juice is separated into fractions. Juice extraction is strictly limited to two parts, the cuvée, the first 2,050 litres (per 4,000 kilos of grapes) made up of free run juice and the first pressing, and the second part, the taille, of 500 litres. Limiting total pressing
  protects wine quality by avoiding over-extraction of phenolics and maintains fruit flavours.
• The two fractions have markedly different qualities. The cuvée is rich in acids and produces wines with great finesse and long
  ageing potential. The taille has lower acidity but is richer in colouring pigments and phenolics. It can be a useful addition to some
  blends, helping to produce wines that are more expressive in youth but do not have the same ageing potential. As a result, a higher
  proportion of taille is used in non-vintage rather than vintage or prestige cuvée wines.
• If the natural levels of sugar in the juice are
  not high enough, chaptalisation is permitted to produce a wine with a minimum alcohol level of 11 per cent. The final alcohol level
  may not exceed 13 per cent, a stipulation of EU wine law.

Question 21

ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION

Answer 21

• Many producers choose to ferment their wines in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks. However, an increasing number of quality producers are re-introducing some oak, particularly in the form of large oak foudres, for the first fermentation. This is being
  done largely to introduce more textural richness and mouthfeel.
• Many Champagne winemakers will encourage malolactic conversion to take place at this stage, to reduce and soften the acidity of
  the final wine. Some winemakers choose to avoid malolactic conversion, feeling their style of Champagne is better without this
  modification; others will use it as and when they consider it to be beneficial, for example in cooler years. With warmer harvests,
  putting the base wine through malolactic conversion is very much the choice of the producer.

Question 22

BLENDING

Answer 22

The aim of blending (assemblage in French) is to create a wine that is greater than the sum of its parts.
- Blends may combine wines
from different vineyards, grape varieties and vintages, and relies on the experience of the chef de cave (master blender) to predict
the development of a wine over time, before second fermentation and maturation has even begun.
- Blending is particularly critical for non-vintage Champagnes, as here the base wines must be
blended to achieve a constant style year on year, reducing the influence of the vintage but
retaining the specific style of the Champagne house. This is easier to achieve if the chef de
cave has a number of base wines available.
- Large Champagne houses may have more than
100 base wines to use in blending. The larger houses have the capacity (and the financial
strength) to store a large quantity of reserve wines. This also reduces the risk that a wine
cannot be made in any one year because of damage caused by disease, frost or localised hail.
In addition, the use of reserve wine to create a particular wine style is an important element of
the choices available to a winemaker: 10–15 per cent of reserve wines, often from the last one
or two vintages, is typical of many large brands. Some premium brands have large proportions
of older wines (30–40 per cent) to create added depth and complexity.

• How the wines are stored can also make a difference. If producing large volumes of wine,
  reserve wines will be kept reductively in stainless steel containers. Using these wines as a
  blending component can make a small but important difference in terms of the complexity of
  the final wine. Others choose to age reserve wine in old oak that can add mildly oxidative
  notes. Options that are more unusual include ageing reserve wine for many years in magnums
  (e.g. Bollinger) or keeping a perpetual reserve. In the latter, a proportion of wine is drawn off every year for blending and it is
  replaced by young wine, thereby creating a blend of younger and older wines to use as reserve wine with a view to adding
  complexity.
• Rosé Champagne may also be blended at this stage. Most rosé Champagne is made by blending a small proportion of still, dry red
  wine (made from locally-grown Pinot Noir and/or Meunier) with the white base wines to achieve the desired colour and flavour
  profile. A few rosé Champagnes are made by using contact with the black grape skins, as is done for still rosé. (An example would
  include Laurent Perrier, who make some of their rosé in this way.) Yeast absorbs colour pigments from the wine during each
  fermentation, so achieving the desired colour in the finished sparkling wine requires experience and expertise.

Question 23

SECOND FERMENTATION AND MATURATION

Answer 23

Champagne is made by the traditional method and therefore liqueur de tirage is added at this stage
- The practice of lees ageing is deemed one of the most important stages in the production of all traditional method sparkling wine. It
is during this time that the toasty, brioche characters typical of all Champagne wines develop, through yeast autolysis.
- The brioche
flavours can be more prominent in Champagne than in warmer climates due to the lower level of primary fruit present.
- Non-vintage wines have to spend a minimum of 15 months maturing in the producer’s cellar, 12 months of which must be
maturation on the lees. The same 12-month minimum rule applies to vintage wines, but they cannot be released until three years
after tirage. (However, in practice most vintage wines will be aged for much longer on the lees than the 12 months required.) Some
say a long, slow second fermentation at a cool temperature makes for finer Champagne and smaller bubbles. Lees ageing can
continue for many years, but little change is thought to take place much beyond a decade. Keeping wine undisgorged and in
contact with its lees does help to protect the wine against oxidative development, however, and can lead to ‘late disgorged’ wines
that can attract higher prices. However, all time spent on lees adds to the production cost of Champagne and therefore to market
price.

• Sweetness determined by the amount of sugar in the liqueur d’expédition.
• Nature of the wine in the liqueur d’expédition: can be youthful base wines from the current vintage giving light fresh flavours, or aged reserve wine set aside in cask, barrel or magnum to provide aromas of baked apple and dried fruit.
• In rosé production, the liqueur d’expédition can also be used to correct colour differences.
• The cork must display the name ‘Champagne’ and state the vintage where appropriate.

Question 24

THE QUALITY HIERARCHY IN CHAMPAGNE

Answer 24

In the early twentieth century, a system known as the échelle des crus was created to establish the prices to be paid for grapes.
The 17 villages that became the Grand Cru villages were all rated 100 per cent, 42 Premier Cru villages 90–99 per cent and 257 other villages 80–89 per cent. Historically, prices were fixed by the Comité Champagne and then thep price paid reflected the
percentage given to the village (e.g. 100 per cent for a Grand Cru village). This system ended under pressure from the EU, but the
designation of Grand Cru and Premier Cru villages continues and grapes from Grand Cru vineyards are still the most expensive to
buy.
- Prices today are determined by the market with the biggest buyer of all, Moët & Chandon, in effect setting the trend.
The Grand Cru or Premium Cru designation is for a village as a whole. If the grapes all come from that village, the name of the
village can appear on the label (e.g. ‘Grand Cru Cramant’) or simply Grand Cru if the fruit comes from a number of Grand Cru
villages. It has been a matter of controversy that the Grand Cru or Premier Cru designation refers to the village as a whole, not to
individual vineyards, as inevitably there is variation within a village due to aspect, soil and other factors and some villages are
much bigger than others. As a result, and because of the need to produce large volumes of wine, the large Champagne houses
tend to focus on blended wines and to emphasise the quality of vintage or prestige cuvées, rather than promoting the names of
individual villages or vineyards (in contrast to the use of village names in Burgundy).

Question 25

STRUCTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

Answer 25

• 16,000 growers, who own 90 per cent of the vineyards and 320 Champagne houses.
• Houses sell most of the Champagne but only own about 10 per cent of the vineyards.

Question 26

NM: Négociant manipulant

Answer 26

– buys grapes, must or wine to make Champagne on their own premises and market it under their
own label. All the big Champagne houses belong to this category. A company in this category is often called by the abbreviation
négociant and the group as a whole the négoce
- the Champagne houses now
account for 73 per cent of all Champagne sales and 88 per cent of exports

Question 27

RM: Récoltant manipulant

Answer 27

– makes and markets their own label from grapes exclusively sourced from their own vineyards and
processed on their own premises
- Growers sell most of their wine in the home market

Question 28

CM: Coopérative de manipulation

Answer 28

– a wine cooperative that markets Champagne under its own label from members’ grapes.
- Overall sales of bottled wine from cooperatives are small and evenly split between the home and the export market. However,
Nicolas Feuillatte is the third biggest Champagne selling brand on its own

Question 29

Influencing the supply of Champagne

Answer 29

The region is able to influence the supply of Champagne by the mechanism of setting
the maximum yields of grapes (number of kilos per hectare) that can be made into Champagne in the coming harvest. There are
two parts to the system: grape yields for base wine for the coming year; plus, an allowance for wines to go into reserves. This is
done in the light of current stocks, world demand and the progress of the season until the decision is made in late July. The
average yield over the last decade is 10,500 kilos/hectare and so a decision to vary this by 10 per cent or more would make a
significant difference. If producers need to have additional stocks for sale, they can take wine out of their reserves.

Question 30

Influencing the demand of Champagne

Answer 30

The domestic market consumes half of all Champagne produced. The average bottle price is low, due to the volume of
inexpensive Champagne sold in supermarkets in France. However, the percentage of the cheapest wines (under €12) has dropped
steadily recently, while the percentage of wine over €20 has risen steadily.
The main export markets for Champagne are UK, USA, Japan, Germany and Belgium in that order (by volume, 2017 figures). The
two most valuable markets with highest price paid per bottle are the USA and Japan. The UK has the biggest market by volume
and the lowest average per bottle price in the top ten export destinations.

Question 31

Cost of Production in Relation to Price Sought

Answer 31

Prices for grapes are high in Champagne (€6.10 per kilo, with around 1.2 kg of
grapes needed to produce one 75 cL bottle of Champagne) and represent a very large proportion of the cost of the product. If
Grand Cru or Premier Cru grapes are to be used, the price will be higher still.
Vintage Champagne is more expensive to produce than non-vintage. It is more likely to be made from higher-rated (i.e. Grand Cru
and Premier Cru) and therefore more expensive grapes. It cannot be sold for three years, as against 15 months for non-vintage,
which delays the financial return on the goods produced. This can lead to cash flow problems for new businesses.
- Rosé Champagne is marginally more expensive to produce, as red wine is required. This is typically more expensive to produce than base wine due to generally lower yields in the vineyard are needed to achieve the required ripeness, concentration levels of
flavour and colour.
- Using oak for ageing and/or fermentation is also likely to increase costs.