Champagne Flashcards
Champagne Climate
-range from cool-continental to cold
Champagne Geography
- 90 miles Northeast of Paris
- Northernmost classic region
- sitting on top of rich deposits of chalk
- fossilized oyster and bivalve shells
Champagne Grapes
White -Chardonnay Red -Pinot Noir -Pinot Meunier
Chardonnay in Champagne
- in 2012 30% total plantings
- here it never fully ripens
- providing an acidic, extremely light components
- elegance and longevity
Pinot Noir in Champagne
- in 2012 38% of total plantings
- here it doesn’t ripen enough to make quality red wine
- it is used to produce sparkling white wines
- supports the wine’s structure, richness and body
Pinot Meunier in Champagne
- in 2012 32% of total plantings
- heartier in the climate and produces the highest yield
- lends a youthful fruitiness and approachability
Champagne Top Major districts
- Montagne de Reims
- Vallée de la Marne
- Côte des Blancs
- Côte de Sézanne
- Côte des Bars (Aube)
Montagne de Reims
- Pinot noir is prominent grape
- the vineyards are surprisingly divided between south- and north- facing slopes
Vallée de la Marne
-Pinot Meunier is heavily cultivated in the sheltered vineyards of this frost-prone area where it’s tendency to bud late and ripen early is prized by growers
Côte des Blancs
-Chardonnay is the dominant and almost exclusive grape
Côte de Sézanne
-Chardonnay is the dominant grape
Côte des Bars (Aube)
-Pinot Noir is the prominent grape
Méthode Champenoise
it is the production method used in Champagne
Méthode Champenoise: 4 basic stages
- primary fermentation
- secondary fermentation
- riddling
- disgorgement
Champagne: Primary fermentation
- to create a dry and still base wine
- contains no sugar or carbonation
- goal is to create alcohol
- can be aged in oak or stainless-steel tanks
- after aging blending can happen to create the cuvée, or final base, for the sparkling wine
Champagne: secondary fermentation
- happens within the bottle
- liqueur de tirage is added to the bottle
- then bottle is capped of with a clown cap
- used to create carbonation, usually 115 psi
- as yeast eats sugar it creates small amounts of alcohol and carbon dioxide
- yeast will eventually starve and die sinking to the bottom (similar to the sur lie aging)
Liqueur de tirage
- a mixture of an exact amount of yeast and sugar
- used to ignite secondary fermentation in Méthode Champenoise
Riddling
- “remuage”
- it is the means of forcing the yeast down into the neck of the bottle
Pupitres
- riddling racks
- A-frame sandwich boards
- in here the bottles are turned over time until upside down
- quarter twist per day
- by hand riddling
Gyropallet
- piece of equipment used to conduce riddling faster
- bottles stacked upside down and the slowly rocked back and forth
Disgorgement
- “dégorgement”
- when the yeast plug is removed
Steps of Disgorgement
- 1st dip the neck of the bottle in freezing liquid
- cause the wine that surrounds the yeast to freeze, to precent yeast to fall back
- once the bottle is upright the cap is popped off
- the pressure forces the frozen yeast plug violently out of the bottle
- before the carbonation escapes the wine is ‘dosed’, which means liquid is added back to the bottle
- then bottle gets corked
Liqueur d’expedition
- refers to the dosage used in Méthode Champenoise
- it is made up of still wine that will sometimes be blended with pure cane sugar
Champagne: Brut Nature/Non-Dosé
- 0-3 grams per liter, no added dosage
- bone dry
Champagne: Extra Brut
- 0-6 grams per liter
- very dry
Champagne: Brut
- 0-12 grams per liter
- dry
- most popular style
Champagne: Extra Dry/Extra Sec
- 12-17 grams per liter
- off-dry
- second popular style
Champagne: Sec
- 17-32 grams per liter
- semisweet
Champagne: Demi-Sec
- 32-50 grams per liter
- quite sweet
Champagne: Doux
- 50+ grams per liter
- extremely sweet
- considered sweet wine
NM (Négociant Manipulant)
A house that purchases grapes and or base wines from growers and other smaller houses
Some NM houses own a significant portion of their own vineyards; others own none at all
RM (Récoltant Manipulant)
A grower-producer who makes Champagne from estate-grown fruit. 95% of the grapes must originate in the producer’s own vineyards.
CM (Coopérative Manipulant)
A growers’ co-operative that produces the wine under a single brand
RC (Récoltant Coopérateur)
A grower whose grapes are vinified at a co-operative, but sells the wine under his own label
SR (Société de Récoltants)
A firm, not a co-operative, set up by a union of often related growers, who share resources to make their wines and collectively market several brands
ND (Négociant Distributeur)
A middleman company that distributes Champagne it did not make
MA (Marque d’Acheteur)
A buyer’s own brand, often a large supermarket chain or restaurant, that purchases Champagne and sells it under its own label
NM (Négociant Manipulant): Large Champagne houses
Moët et Chandon Louis Roederer Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Billecart-Salmon Lanson Taittinger Pol Roger Perrier-Jouët Mumm Laurent-Perrier
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Quarter Bottle (Piccolo)
187 ml
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Half Bottle (Demi)
375 ml
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Bottle/Imperial
750 ml
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Magnum
1.5 L (2 bottles)
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Jeroboam
3 L (4 bottles)
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Rehoboam (discontinued in 1989)
4.5 L (6 bottles)
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Methuselah
6 L (8 bottles)
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Salmanazar
9 L (12 bottles)
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Balthazar
12 L (16 bottles)
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Nebuchadnezzar
15 L (20 bottles)
Champagne Bottle Sizes: Solomon
18 L (24 bottles)
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Bollinger
Aÿ
“La Grande Année”,
“R.D.”,
“Vieilles Vignes Françaises”
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Charles Heidsieck (Reims)
“Champagne Charlie” (discontinued after 1985 vintage),
“Blanc des Millénaires”
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Laurent-Perrier
Tours-sur-Marne
“Grand Siècle”
typically NV
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Moët et Chandon
Épernay
“Dom Pérignon”,
“Dom Pérignon Oenothèque”
(both Brut/Brut Rosé)
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Pol Roger
Épernay
“Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill”
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Louis Roederer
Reims
“Cristal”
Brut and Brut Rosé
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Ruinart
Reims
“Dom Ruinart”
Blanc de Blancs and Rosé
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Taittinger
Reims
“Comtes de Champagne”
(Blanc de Blancs and Rosé)
“Taittinger Collection”
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin(Reims)
“La Grande Dame”
Brut and Brut Rosé
Champagne Prestige Cuvées: CM producer: Nicolas Feuillatte
Chouilly
“Palmes d’Or”
Brut and Brut Rosé
