Champagne

Question 1

What are the major & minor varieties of Champagne?

Answer 1

Major: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Meunier
Minor: Pinot Blanc Vrai, Pinot Gris, Arbanne, Petit Meslier

Question 2

Where is Champagne located?

Answer 2

North Eastern France
Between the 48th & 49th N parallel
90 miles East of Paris

Question 3

What are the 5 Major Subregions of Champagne? Which major variety is dominant in each?

Answer 3

Montagne de Reims PN
Cotes de Blancs Chard
Cotes de Sezannes
Vallée de la Marne PM
Cotes de Bar PN

Question 4

What is the climate of Champagne?

Answer 4

Maritime, with significant continental influence
Some of the lowest sunshine in France

Low annual temperature variation
Wet, cool winters
Sunny, cool summers
Adequate precipitation year round
Spring & Autumn frost risk

Question 5

What are the important geographic features in Champagne?

Answer 5

The atlantic ocean & Marne river are modifying
The montagne de reims provides important microclimates

Question 6

What are the soils of Champagne?

Answer 6

Dominated by large outcropping of chalk that continues under the english channel to the white cliffs of Dover

Belemnite chalk of fossilized cephalapods with high limestone content, resulting in higher acid in grapes

Younger Micraster chalk of fossilized sea urchins

Top soils of clay & sand, with more clay for PN to the south

Question 7

Who was Dom Perignon? What was Dom Perignon given false credit for? What was his actual contribution?

Answer 7

He was a benedictine monk & cellar master at Abbey de Hautevillers from 1668 to 1715 He didn’t invent the champagne method, but he did contribute significantly to champagne’s viticultural techniques & assemblage.

Question 8

What is the oldest house in Champagne? What is the oldest sparkling-wine-producing house in champagne?

Answer 8

Gosset is oldest (1584)
But Ruinart has been making sparkling wine the longest (1729)

Question 9

What innovation enabled successful (if accidental or seemingly random) secondary fermentation?

Answer 9

The English’s stronger, coal-fired glass bottles could withstand the pressure of a complete secondary fermentation, whereas the weaker french woodfired versions could not.

Question 10

When was the first evidence of champagne labeled as sparkling wine on the bottle?

Answer 10

Mousseux first appeared on a bottle of champagne in 1724

Question 11

What can you tell me about the treatise of 1719?

Answer 11

It outlined the process of making a clear white wine from red grapes, and the separation of presses into cuvée, taille, & rebêche.

Question 12

What were Mme. Ponsardin’s contributions to Champagne? When did she make them?

Answer 12

Early 1800s, she invented riddling and disgorgement (remuage via pupitre, & degorgement) to create a clear sparkling wine.

Question 13

When did brut first appear on a chamapgne label? Which one?

Answer 13

Pommery in 1874

Question 14

Who’s work helped vintners understand & control secondary fermentation? When did this happen?

Answer 14

Jean Antoine Chaptal detailed the sugar to alcohol conversion of fermentation in 1801

then Andre Francois detailed the exact amount of sugar needed to spark a secondary fermentation without breaking the bottle.

Question 15

When & why was Champagne delimited by the french government? Did this cause any drama?

Answer 15

1908, to protect Champagne’s reputation.
Yes, Vignerons & vintners in Aube rioted at their exclusion in 1911, and were included in 1927

Question 16

Who made the first prestige cuvée? When?

Answer 16

Moet et Chandon made Dom Perignon in 1921, but didn’t release it until 1936 on the Normandie liner sailing for New York.

Question 17

When did champagne become an official AOC? What’s different about it?

Answer 17

Not until 1936 when AOCs became a thing, and it’s the only region that doesn’t have to use “AOC/AOP” on its label.

Question 18

What’s the best Chamagne vintage of the 20th century? What’s unique about it?

Answer 18

1914; WWI broke out and women, children, & the elderly did the harvest & made the wine.

Question 19

How did Champagne fare during WWII?

Answer 19

Terribly! It was occupied by Nazi Germany in 1940. Vintners tried to wall up their cellars so soldiers couldn’t steal their fine wines.

Question 20

When & why was CIVC formed? By whom?

Answer 20

CIVC was formed in Champagne in 1941 in response to the nazi occupation by Count Robert-Jean de Vogüé of Moët, to protect Champagne & mediate relations between growers and houses. They also set prices for villages via echelle de crus until the early 2000s, which ultimately determined villages grand or 1er cru status.

Question 21

What did the INAO change about Champagne in 2009?

Answer 21

They expanded the number of villages that can grow grapes & make wine as Champagne from 319 to 357, to help meet market demand.

Question 22

What does the CIVC still do in Champagne if they stopped setting prices?

Answer 22

They still recommend prices, set yields, determine what % of the harvest needs to be reserved each year, and what % can be released (blocage & deblocage), they still mediate relations between growers and houses to promote fairness.

Question 23

Does the cru system in Champagne denote quality?

Answer 23

No, because it ranks the village as grand or 1er cru, and fruit quality varies wildly within villages.

Question 24

What are the 3 press fractions of champagne?

Answer 24

The cuvée (clear, pure juice used for the best champagnes),
the taille, & the rebêche (not allowed in champagne, usually used in pomace brandy and such)

Question 25

What is unique about rosé champagne & wine law?

Answer 25

Champagne is the only AOC level wine allowed to blend red & white base wines to make rosé

Question 26

Are base wines commonly fermented in oak?

Answer 26

Hard no. Mostly stainless steel

Question 27

What is the liqueur de tirage?

Answer 27

The mix of yeast, fining agents, & sugar that kickstart secondary fermentation after assemblage.

Question 28

What is remuage & what is its purpose?

Answer 28

Riddling, to get all the yeast bits settled to the neck of the bottle so they can be removed.

Question 29

What is the liqueur de expedition?

Answer 29

The mix of still base wine and dosage

Question 30

What are the sweetness categories of Champagne?

Answer 30

brut nature 0-3g/L /no dosage
extra brut 0-6g/L
brut 0-12g/L
extra sec 12-17g/L
sec 17-32g
demi-sec 32-50g
doux: 50g+

Question 31

What are the big 5 houses in Reims? Name their prestige cuvées if you can

Answer 31

Veuve Cliquot “La Grande Dame”
Louis Roederer “Cristal”
Krug “Clos du Mesnil”
Taittinger “Comte de Champagne”
Pommery “Cuvée Louise”

Question 32

What are the big 3 champagne houses in Épernnay? Name their prestige Cuvées if you can

Answer 32

Moët “Dom Pérignon”
Perrier Jouet “La Belle Époch”
Pol Roger “Sir Winston Churchill”

Question 33

What tiny grand cru villages have major champagne houses? Name their prestige cuvées too if you can

Answer 33

Äy has Philiponnat (Clos des goisses) & Bollinger (Vielle VIgnes Françaises)

Chouilly has Nicolas Fueillatte (Palmes d’Or)

Question 34

What are the 2 still wine AOPs in Champagne? What kind of wine is allowed?

Answer 34

Coteaux Champenois AOP makes red, white, rosé from anywhere in champagne
Rosé de Riceys makes PN rosé from the autre cru Riceys in the Aube

Question 35

For vintage champagne, how much of the harvest is allowed to be used? How much of the wine must come from the vintage?

Answer 35

80 % & 100%

Question 36

What was the most perfect champagne vintage in the 21st century so far?

Answer 36

2008! Cristal & La Grande Dame would be my recs

Question 37

What’s unique about Clos des Goisses?

Answer 37

It’s both a single vineyard & prestige cuvée, which is quite unique.