Champagne Flashcards
Annual Production
32 million cases or about 18% of the world’s sparkling wine production.
5 zones
Montange de Reims - mostly Chardonnay, Pinot Noir
Vallée de la Marne - Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier
Cote des Blancs, - mostly Chardonnay
Cote Sezanne - Chardonnay
Cote des Bar - Pinot Noir,
Soil type
Limestone subsoil rich in chalk - Cote des Bar - Kimmeridgian clay
Grape varieties
7 grape varieties
Primary varieties - Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinto Meunier
Other varieties - Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Pinot Meslier, Arbane
Total Acreage
83,000 acres
Pinot Noir - 32,500
Pinot Meunier - 26,500
Chardonnay - 24,000
Traditonal measurement for the quantity of grapes allowed in the press
Marc 4000 kilograms or 8,800 lbs
Maximum HL per Marc
25.5 HL or 675 gallons
Cuvée
20.5 HL free run and light first press juice. Used for premium Champagne production.
Taille
5 HL juice from later pressings. Used for Demi sec and Extra dry production
Rebeche
remaining juice residue not used in Champagne. Often sold to a distillery.
Vintage Champagne
Only produced in best years
all wine form the same year
No Reserve wine
Aged a min. of 3 years
Non-Vintage
House style, 3/4 of Chamagne production
May not be bottled until Jan. 1st the year after the harvest.
Once bottled stored underground for the secondary fermentation. Min 15 months maturing with at least 12 months on the lees
Riddling
turning the bottles so the sediment settles in the neck
Liqueur d’expédition
dosage to top off the bottle after its disgorged. Adjusts the level of sweetness;
Levels of sweetness from dry to sweet
Brut nature extra brut brut sec demi sec doux
Prestige Cuvée or Tete du Cuvée
Top of the line - best grapes and techniques
Blanc de blanc
Uses only white grapes
Blanc de Noir
Only red grapes - primarily Pinot Noir but sometime Pinot Meunier
Rose
Usually created by blending a small amount of red wine into the cuvée or liqueur d’expidition
Champagne classification
Echelle des crus rating based on the quality of grapes
Grand Crus - score of 100 - 17 villages
Premieur Crus - score of 90-99 - 44
Crus - scores of 80 - 89 -296
How many Champagne houses are there?
300
RM
Recoltant Manipulant - growers that produce their own Champagne
How many Champagne appellations are there?
3
Champagne AOC
Coteaux Champenois - Whiote, Red, or Rose still wine
Rose de Riceys - Still Rose wine made from Pinot Noir in the commune of Riceys in the far south of Champagne.
History
Deliberate inter of bubbles started in the end of the 17th century - Christopher Merret created the glass bottle that could withstand the pressure and documented the second fermentation.
Term used for the juice extracted from the free run and the first light pressings of grapes for Champagne
Cuvee
Juice from the later pressings of grapes - generally used for demo-sec or extra-dry champagne
Taille
Juice and residue from the last pressings of grapes in champagne production
Rebeche
Minimum lees aging for champgne
12 months
Minimum lees aging time for vintage champagne
3 years
Classification system for the villages of Champagne
Echelle des crus
Number of Grand cry villages
17
RM
Recoltant Manipulant “grower that makes champagne”
AOC for still pink wines located at the south end of the champagne region
Rose de Riceys
AOC for still wines that covers most of the land within Champagne
Coteaux Champenois
