Champagne Flashcards

1
Q

What is the main soil and grape of the Aube/Cote des Bar

A

Clay

Pinot Noir

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2
Q

What are the 5 main areas of Champagne?

A

Montagne de Reims
Cotes Des Blancs
Vallee de la Marne
Cote de Sezanne
Aube/Cote de Bar

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3
Q

Whats the main grape of Cote de Sezanne?

A

Chardonnay

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4
Q

What is the key soil type of Champagne?

More specific, which 2 types of that soil are featured, and where are those found?

A

Chalk

Belemnite Chalk, found on the hillsides
Micraster Chalk, found in the valley floors

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5
Q

What grape is featured in the Valle de la Marne?

What about that grape makes it suitable for the area?

A

Pinot Meunier

Meunier likes the heavier clay soils here, and the lower lying Marne is significantly more frost prone, which is perfect because Meunier buds 2 weeks later than Chardonnay or Pinot.

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6
Q

What grape dominates plantings on the Montagne de Reims?

A

Pinot Noir

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7
Q

Name the Grand Cru of Montagne de Reims in relative order from North to South (9)

A

Sillery
Puisieulx
Beaumont sur Vesle
Verzenay
Mailly Champagne
Verzy
Louvois
Bouzy
Ambonnay

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8
Q

Name the Grand Cru of Cotes des Blancs from North to South (6)

A

Chouilly
Oiry
Cremant
Avize
Oger
Le Mesnil sur Oger

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9
Q

Name the Grand Cru of Vallee de la Marne (2)

A

Ay

Tours sur Marne - understand this grand cru sits on the Marne, but the vineyards of Bouzy roll right into it. So…its “Vallee de la Marne” but stylistically its more akin to Montagne de Reims grand crus (its planted to 72% pinot noir).

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10
Q

Historically, what was the Echelle de Crus, and what was it used for?

A

A ranking system splitting up vineyards of Champagne into Grand Cru, Premier Cru, and Deuxieme Crus.

The ranking determined what price growers could get for their fruit from producers.

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11
Q

What governing body regulates Champagne? Since what year?

What are its responsibilities?

A

CIVC - Comite Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne 1941

Setting viticulture and vinification standards

Protecting the brand name/marketing

Managing relationships between growers and producers

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12
Q

What is the minimum time spent on the lees for NV Champagne, and how long must it age in total?

What percent of production does the NV style account for?

A

12 months lees, 15 months total

75%

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13
Q

What grapes are authorized for Champagne production?

What hybrid grape was approved in 2021 on a trial basis and why?

A

Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Meunier

Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane, Petit Meslier

Voltis, its resistant to powdery/downy mildew, thus reducing the need to spray—> sustainability initiative

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14
Q

How long must a vintage champagne spend ageing on the lees, and in total?

A

12 months lees, 36 months total

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15
Q

What percent of a harvest may be sold as a vintage champagne?

If vintage dated, what percent of the wine must be from that year?

A

80%

100%

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16
Q

What is unique about the production of Rose Champagne?

A

While saignee is permitted, its the only AOC in France where blending base wines is permitted for rose production.

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17
Q

What pruning methods are allowed in Champagne?

A

Guyot (Double and Single)
Cordon de Royat
Chablis
Valle de la Marne (Meunier only)

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18
Q

In what year was AOC Champagne established?

A

1936

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19
Q

What is a Marc?

What type of press fits exactly 1 marc?

A

4000kg of grapes

Coquard press

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20
Q

What are the three portions of juice extracted from pressing in Champagne production?

A

1st Vin de Cuvee 2050L
2nd Vin de Taille 500L
3rd Rebeche 1-10% of the total

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21
Q

What is Debourbage?

A

the settling of the juice after pressing, to rack and remove solids before the 1st fermentation.

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22
Q

What are Vin Clairs?

A

The base wines for Champagne, typically ~11% ABV and screeching high acid.

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23
Q

What is assemblage in Champagne production?

A

Vin Clairs are tasted, and blended, with any incoming reserve wines, before the 2nd fermentation.

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24
Q

What is Liqueur de Tirage?

A

The mixture of sugar, wine, and yeast that will kickstart the 2nd fermentation.

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25
Q

What is Prise de Mousse?

And about how long will this take?

A

The name for the 2nd fermentation.

About 8 weeks.

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26
Q

How much will the ABV rise during the 2nd fermentation?

A

1-1.5%

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27
Q

What is Sur Latte?

Pointage?

Sur Pointe?

A

Sur Latte - bottles are stored on their side while they sit on the lees.

Pointage - If needed, during riddling, bottles are shaken to dislodge yeast stuck to the side of the bottle.

Sur Point - after riddling, bottles are kept top pointing down with the yeast cells in the neck ready for disgorgement.

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28
Q

What is remuage?

A remuer?

A

Riddling

If done by hand, the person doing it.

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29
Q

Who invented the Pupitre?

Who invented the Gyropalette?

A

Barbe Nicole Ponsardin (Madame Cliquot)

Claude Cazals

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30
Q

How long does riddling by hand take?

And by gyropalette?

A

8 weeks by hand, 1 week by gyropalette

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31
Q

What is the modern method of disgorgement called?

A

Degorgement a la Glace

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32
Q

What is Liqueur d’Expedition?

A

The dosage

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33
Q

How big is a piccolo?

A Methuselah?

A

187mL

6L

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34
Q

How big is a Demi?

A Solomon?

A

375mL

18L

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35
Q

How big is a Jeroboam?

A Balthazar?

A

3L

12L

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36
Q

How big is a Salmanazar?

A Nebuchadnezzar?

A

9L

15L

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37
Q

What is transvasage and why is it used?

A

Transfer Method

When needed, Champagne can be disgorged into a large pressurized tank in order to be rebottled in specialty sized bottles for sale.

Permitted for Piccolo, and Methusaleh or larger. 20% of NV wine may be transferred into Demi

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38
Q

Give the g/L range for these dosage.

Doux
Extra Dry
Brut Nature

A

Doux 50+

Extra Dry 12-17

Brut Nature 0-3

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39
Q

Give the g/L for these dosage.

Extra Brut
Brut
Sec
Demi Sec

A

EB 0-6
B 0-12
S 17-32
DS 32-50

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40
Q

What was Dom Perignon’s first release? Of what vintage?

A

1936
1921 vintage

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41
Q

What did Champagne producers use to color their wines back in the day in an effort to compete with Burgundy?

A

Elderberry

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42
Q

What did Andre Francois discover?

A

The precise amount of sugar required for 2nd fermentation to occur without accumulating so much co2 pressure so that the bottle exploded.

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43
Q

What was the first single vineyard Champagne, and in what year?

A

Clos des Goisses, Phillipponat, 1935

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44
Q

What is a bidule?

A

a plastic cap that gathers sediment during remuage.

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45
Q

Who makes Cuvee Louise?

A

Pommery

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46
Q

Who makes Comtes de Champagne?

A

Taittinger

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47
Q

Who makes La Grande Dame?

A

Veuve Cliquot

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48
Q

What is Ruinart’s Tete de Cuvee?

A

Dom Ruinart

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49
Q

Who makes Cristal?

A

Louis Roederer

50
Q

Who makes Sir Winston Churchill?

A

Pol Roger

51
Q

What is Piper Heidsieck’s Tete de Cuvee?

A

Rare

52
Q

Who makes Belle Epoque and Fleur de Champagne?

A

Perrier Jouet

53
Q

Who makes Cuvee Josephine?

A

Joseph Perrier

54
Q

Who makes Nec Plus Ultra?

A

Bruno Paillard

55
Q

Who makes Cuvee R Lalou?

A

G.H. Mumm

56
Q

Who makes Grand Siecle and Alexandra rose?

A

Laurent Perrier

57
Q

Who makes Blanc des Millenaires?

A

Charles Heidsieck

58
Q

Who makes Cuvee Paradis? (champagne)

A

Alfred Gratien

59
Q

Who makes Celebris?

A

Gosset

60
Q

What is Duval Leroy’s Tete de Cuvee?

A

Femme de Champagne

61
Q

Who makes Charles de Gaulle?

A

Drappier

62
Q

What is Diebolt Vallois’s Tete de Cuvee?

A

Fleur de Passion

63
Q

What are Deutz’s two Tete de Cuvee’s?

A

Cuvee William Deutz
Amour de Deutz

64
Q

Who makes Catherine de Medicis?

A

De Meric

65
Q

Who makes Louis XV and Grand Vin des Princes?

A

De Venoge

66
Q

Who makes Cuvee Commodore?

A

De Castellane

67
Q

Who makes Charles VII

A

Canard Duchene

68
Q

Who makes La Grande Annee

A

Bollinger

69
Q

Who makes Venus?

A

Agrapart

70
Q

Bergeres Les Vertus, Cuis, Vertus, and Grauves are all top 1er cru in what Champagne region?

A

Cotes des Blancs

71
Q

What 5 villages were promoted to Grand Cru in 1985?

A

Verzy, Chouilly, Oiry, Oger, Le Mesnil Sur Oger

72
Q

In what year was the Champagne region delimited?

What region was left out and added in later?

A

1908

Aube/Cote de Bar 1927

73
Q

By what year was ‘mousseaux’ synonymous with the wines of Champagne?

What innovation made fully sparkling wine production viable on a large scale?

A

1724

Coal fired glass bottles became available towards the end of the 17th century, which were much stronger than the wood fired versions.

74
Q

Who makes Cuvee Laetitia and Cuvee Julie?

A

Henri Billiot

75
Q

Who makes Clos St Hilaire?

A

Billecart Salmon

76
Q

How many bottles of Champagne are made on average recently?

How many growers are there?

How many villages are allowed to make Champagne?

A

339 million

About 20,000

319

77
Q

What is Bouvreux?

A

A second crop, created when rain disrupts flowering. Always left on the vine and not used.

78
Q

To qualify as a Recoltant Manipulant (RM), what percent of fruit and production must come from your estate?

A

95%

79
Q

What house has produced sparkling wine for the longest time, and since what year?

Which house has been in production continuously for the longest? (still wines)

A

Ruinart 1729

Gosset 1584

80
Q

What does ‘RC’ on the label mean?

A

Recoltant Cooperateur - a grower that has a coop vinify their wines, sold under their own label.

81
Q

What is Les Bleus de Ville?

When was it outlawed?

A

The pieces of blue bags that held compost shipped from Paris, scattered in the vineyards still.

1998

82
Q

What is Rose de Riceys?

A

An AOC in the Aube for still rose made from Pinot Noir from the town of Riceys. Semi Carbonic maceration utilized.

83
Q

What is the still wine AOC covering all of the Champagne region? What is it approved to make?

A

Coteaux Champenois AOC

still white, red, and rose

84
Q

What was Dom Perignon famous for being a savant at? Where was he cellar master and when?

A

Blending

Abbey de Hautvilliers 1668-1715

85
Q

What is the Club Tresors and when was it founded?

What is it?

A

Champagne Special Club

1971

A group of grower producers dedicated to making top quality champagne. The ‘Special Club’ moniker is for each producer’s “Tete de Cuvee”

86
Q

Name 5 prominent Special Club producers. How many are there currently?

A

Paul Bara
Charlier
Gaston Chiquet
Dumenil
Pierre Gimonnet
Henri Goutorbe
Marc Hebrart
Hervieux Dumez
Juillet Lallement
J. Lassalle
Salmon

87
Q

What requirements are there to be in the Club Tresors?

A

All fruit must be grown, vinified, and bottled on site

Special Club wines have 2 tasting panels to pass, one for the base wines, and if they pass, one for the champagne produced after 3 years of ageing.

88
Q

What is a CM? Give 2 examples.

A

A Co-op Manipulant, a group of growers making wine under 1 label.

Nicolas Feuillatte, Jacquart

89
Q

What Grand Cru is approved for only red grapes?

A

Tours sur Marne, premier cru for white

90
Q

In what year was the Champagne region first delimited? What region was left out, and when was it included?

A

1908

The Aube, added 1927

91
Q

What is the climate of Champagne like?

A

Cool continental, wet, Atlantic influenced. Coldest, wettest in the world at the 48th parallel

92
Q

What is an MA?

A

A Marque d’Acheter. Essentially a big company buying Champagne for sale under its own label.

93
Q

What is a ND?

A

Negociant Distributeur

A middle man company that distributes Champagne it didn’t make.

94
Q

What is the top village in the Cote de Sezanne?

A

Bethon

95
Q

What is a NM?

A

A producer purchasing its base wines and/or grapes.

Moet et Chandon, Taittanger, et al.

96
Q

What are the 2 top Premier Crus in Champagne, with a 99 rating in the Echelle des Crus? What region are they in?

A

Mareuil sur Ay - Valle de la Marne
Tauxieres - Montagne de Reims

97
Q

Vaudemange, Villiers-Marmery, Trepail, Billy le Grand are all top premier crus in what Champagne region?

A

Montagne de Reims

98
Q

Who makes Gastronome?

A

Pierre Gimonnet

99
Q

What is Salon’s Tete de Cuvee?

A

Le Mesnil

100
Q

What is Egly Ouriet’s top lieu dit? What village is it in?

A

Les Crayeres. Ambonnay

101
Q

Who makes Cuvee de Enchanteleurs?

A

Henriot

102
Q

Who makes Cuvee Alpha?

A

Jacquart

103
Q

Who makes the expensive lieu dit Champagnes of Clos d’Ambonnay and Clos du Mesnil?

A

Krug

104
Q

What are Larmandier Bernier’s top two lieu dit wines?

A

VV du Levant
Terre de Vertus

105
Q

What Champagne producers are known for barrel fermentations?

A

Krug
Bollinger
Alfred Gratien

106
Q

Who makes Palms d’Or?

A

Nicolas Feuillatte

107
Q

What is Oenotheque? What is it known as now? What is the stylistic thing to know about these wines?

What are 3 other producers that make a similar style?

A

Oenotheque is a late disgorgement Champagne of Dom Perignon. It’s no longer made, replaced by the Plenitude line, P2 and P3.

Bollinger RD
Jacquesson DT
Bruno Paillard

108
Q

How are the recent vintages of ‘21 and ‘20 shaping up in Champagne?

A

2021 was tough. reduced yields and rainy, fruit struggled to ripen.

2020 was hot. Heat spikes led to poor acid levels, and a short growing season. Wines could still be ok.

109
Q

How do the 2019 and 2018 Champagne vintages look?

A

2019 - challenges during the season, heat spikes and sunburn. Fruit that made it looks to be quality, red grapes fared better.

2018 unique year, premature harvest with high yields. So acid levels aren’t great, but the vintage gave producers plenty of material to work with.

110
Q

What went wrong in the 2017 Champagne vintage?

A

Nasty frost, then rain and rot in Summer. Red grapes were a disaster. Some solid Blanc de Blancs were made though.

111
Q

How are the 2016 and 2015 vintages for Champagne?

A

2016 was a stressful weather year, Chardonnay struggled, yields down. The fruit that did make it was solid though, better for red grapes.

2015 was fine, but there are issues of balance and depth in the fruit. Acidity is lower, aromatics are off.

112
Q

Hows the 2014 vintage looking compared to 2013 in Champagne?

A

14 was up and down. Wet conditions hurt the Meunier crop (rot). Good yields though. There’s quality here but 2013 was better.

2013 looked like a challenge, cool Spring, late harvest in October. Wines turned out very good, albeit variable.

113
Q

How were the Champagne vintages of 2010, 2011, and 2012?

A

Well, 2011 didn’t yield much ripe fruit at all, very few vintage wines. 2010 wasn’t much better, dry early which stunted growth, then heavy rain in August and battles with Botrytis everywhere.

2012 was a rockstar, despite the challenging weather early. A rare high acid, high sugar vintage, almost as good as 2008.

114
Q

Describe the rockstar 2008 vintage in Champagne. How did the season unfold?

A

Damp early in the season gave way to a dry warm late summer with cool nights. The low and slow approach yielded perfect ripeness and great acid.

115
Q

How are the 2009 and 2007 vintages of Champagne?

A

2009 yielded ripe fruit with lower acidity, average year, Pinot fared best.

2007 had a wet Summer, average year, where Chardonnay fared much better.

116
Q

Hows the 2006 vintage in Champagne?

A

Very high yielding. Hot, dry and sunny till August. Ripe crop but lower on acid. Good vintage but not great.

117
Q

How were the 2004 and 2003 vintages in Champagne?

A

2004 was a massive yield year, but also delivered on quality. Easy growing season.

2003 was rough. Nasty frost, the hail, then, extremely hot Summer. Fruit that did make it misses the acidity it needed.

118
Q

How was the 2002 vintage in Champagne compared to 2001?

A

2002 was excellent. Dry conditions, easy growing season, high yields. A near perfect vintage.

2001 was awful. Vines were carrying high yields when rains came and diluted it, and prevented ripeness. Very few vintage wines.

119
Q

How many 1er cru Champagne villages are there?

A

42

120
Q

What is Ratafia?

Name 3 other examples from other French AOC’S

A

A Vin de Liqueur made from the 3rd press of Champagne grapes, by fortifying with Brandy or eau de vie.

Floc de Gascogne SW France
Pineau de Charentes Cognac
Macvin du Jura