Champagne Flashcards
Campania
Champagne name derived from campania originally used to describe the rolling hills north of Rome
Phylloxera
- intensified competition from other sparkling wines as well as from other French winemakers and intensified fraudulent practices
Fraud + Phylloxera
near civil war in 1911. led to:
- attempts to define region which excluded Aube and sparked riots
- Suppression of attempts to delimit region which led to April 1911 riots in the Marne
- Commision de Calons set up in 1935
- CIVC 6 years later
French Market for Champagne
accounts for 2/3 sales. Brands less dominant. Growers and Co-ops account for 1/2 of sales domestically.
Export Market for Champange
Brands account for 90%
competition from co-ops
added pressure to conglomerate. Moet acquired Mercier, Ruinart, Krug, Veuve, … 1
1990 Grape Market Freed
led to increasingly concentrated trade with 7 biggest houses accounting for 70% of the total
Crus
17 Grands 42 Premiers (44 according to WSET)
Grapes
99% + Pinot Noir, Champagne, Meunier
also some Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane, and Petite Meslier
Yields
from 3,670 kg/ha (24 hl/ha) in the 40s to 9.910 kg/ha (66 hl/ha) in the 80s. CIVC sets max yield each year. since 1992 160 kg grapes required to produce 102 l of juice meaning max permitted yield is 65 hl/ha
Vertical Basket Press
also known as a Coquard press. holds 4,000 kg or a marc which is also a standard unit of measurement in the region. Hydraulic and pneumatic horizontal presses also allowed
Pressing
Traditionally 2,666 l extracted from every marc. First 2,050 l were cuvee, next 410 l were premieres tailles, final 206 l were deuxiemes tailles. Now reduced to 2,550 l per marc (or 102 l per 160 kg) and deuxiemes tailles abolished. Taille is remaining 5hl
Taille Chablis
fan shaped bush vine
Rachet. 2 bud spur. Will not bear fruit in current season but will grow shoots to use the following season
Lancement. fruitful shoot bearing 5 buds from last years Rachet
then one to four older branches composed of two parts: lower part called charpent (was a lancement) made by wood more than a year old, and a higher fruitful part called prolongement with 5 buds. the following year the prolongement will be more than one year old and will become part of the charpent.
When the charpent becomes too long it is cut altogether
Taille Chablis pros/cons
Pros:
retains good amount of old wood but at same time cordons are relatively young. This provides carb reserves and frost resistance while minimizing disease risk.
Good for Chard because 1st two buds are frequently unfruitful.
Cons:
requires skill, more time consuming than guyot
41B
81% of Champagne plantings
berlandieri x vinifera
poor phylloxera and poor nematode resistance. promotes early ripening and highly lime tolerant
SO4
in champgne used on moderately limestone soils
berlandieri x riparia
3309C
in champagne used on soils with very little limestone
rupestris x riparia
Champagne Vine Spacing
Inter-row 1.5m
Intra-row 0.9 - 1.5m
total spacing never more than 2.5m
8,000m/ha
of fruiting buds
regardless of pruning method, no more than 18 fruiting buds per square meter of vineyard
NM
Negociant-Manipulant
Champagne House
RM
Recoltant-Manipulant
Grower/Producer
SR
Societe de Recoltants
two or more growers who share the same winery
CM
Cooperative-Manipulant
RC
Recoltant-Cooperative
A grower that sells wine made from his grapes that are made by the cooperative
ND
Negociant Distributeur
A broker who buys and sells finished wine
MA
Marque d’Acheteur
a brand owned by a retailer or restaurant
liqueur de tirage
the addition of sugar and yeast at botling
degorgement
literally disgorgement or to dispell
liqueur d’expedition
sweetens the final product
champagne with dessert?
originally a sweet wine and after drier styles emerged custom persists
Merret’s Paper
English invented second fermentation and described it in Royal Society Paper dated 1662
coquard press
flattened adaptation of the medieval basket press
pneumatic press
programmed with CIVC chip which replicates coquard’s complex series of pressing and breaking up
coquard PAI
automatic tilted plate press
cuvee vs taille
out of 4,000kg of grapes, 20.5h can be pressed for cuvee and 5hl for taille
oxidative juice handling
in order to oxidize the parts of the of the must prone to oxidation prior to fermentation
first fermentation
short and simple often carried out at higher temperatures
ML
most champagnes undergo ML. lowers overall acidity, adds some complexity, adds stability
No ML houses
Krug, Roederer, Gosset, Lanson. When the fruit is ripe, preventing ML allow’s for bright fruit and highlights bright acidity
Oak: Krug vs. Bollinger
Krug uses relatively new wood for short periods of time. Bollinger old wood for 6 month +
jetting
creates effect of foaming by squirting wine or sulphited water at high velocity which causes foaming to continue until bottle is corked
vins sur lattes
lees spread over 80 square centimeters rather than 60 square centimeters if standing upright
poignetage
essentially moving and re-stacking vins sur lattes
gyropallette and girasol
gyropallette is a champenois development of the girasol invented in 70s
degorgement a la glace
immersion of neck in shallow bath of freezing brine. way faster than degorgement a la volee
liqueur de expedition
wine and perhaps sugar
maillard reaction
takes place between sugars and amino acids. process normally takes place at high temp but can take place over a much longer period of time at low temp. contributes to the toasty, biscuity, and patisserie aromas of fine champagne
high yields
generally less harmful to white than red, and even less harmful to sparkling
malic acid
can be troublesome in sparkling wines for 2 reasons, harsh acid if no ML and overtly lactic quality if ML
fast first fermentation
18-20Cv to avoid development of esters
slow second fermentation
around 10C
chalk
chalk is limestone but limestone is not necessarily chalk. In fact chalk is rare. Chalk very high in active lime (40%) other limestone rarely exceeds 20%
15% NV
by law 15% of harvest must be used for NV
Vintage Champagne
100% current vintage.
Other Sparkling EU sines
85% current vintage for vintage designation
autolytic character of vintage champagne
more pronounced no reserve wine mellowness
rose champagne acidity
generally lower due to higher PN content or additional of red wine
Brut Nature
LP Ultra-Brut launched in 1981
sparkling wine storage
should be stored upright. CO2 in the headspace provides sufficient humidity to keep cork moist
Madame Cliquot’s kitchen table
was the basis for Antoine Muller’s Pupitre system
