Champagne Flashcards
State champagne sweetness levels
2 6 12 17 32 50
0-2 Brut Zero, nature, sauvage 2-6 Extra Brut 6-12 Brut 12-17 Extra Dry 17-32 Sec (Dry) 32-50 Demi Sec 50+ Doux
What’s the name of the river that passes thru Champagne?
Marne river
Name all of Champagne regions
N-S
Montagne de Reims -PN Valle de la Marne -PM Cote de Blancs -CH Cote de Sezame -CH The Aube (Cote de Bar) -PN
What’s champagne’s Latitude?
49-49.5
What’s the soil in Champagne?
Chalk (Belemite)
Kimmeridgian
What’s Champagne vintage aging requirement?
3 years total (36 mnts)
9 mnts on lees
What’s Champagne AOC aging requirement?
15 months total
9 sur lié + 3 mnts in bottle
Champagne AOC grapes
7 total (3+4)
Pinot Noir
Pinot Meunier
Chardonnay
Arbane Petite Meslier Pinot Blanc Pinot Gris -Basically all the Pinots
Champagne AOC’s
3 total
Champagne AOC -sparkling
Coteaux Champenois AOC -Still (same area as champagne AOC)
Rose de Riceys -Rose of PN in the Aube
What’s the maximum amount of wine (total production) that may be use for vintage champagne?
80%
Champagne bottle sizes
Michael Jackson Really Makes Small Boys Nervous
Meth -speed up x4btls (1st take it then speed up)
Magnum -2 btls 1.5 L
Jeroboam -4 btls 3L
Rehoboam -6 btls 4.5L
Mathuselah - 8 btls 6L
Salmanazar -12 btls 9L
Balthazar -16 btls 12L
Nebuchadnezzar -20 btls 15L
Name the different processes to make Champagne Rose?
Blending small quantities of Red wine
Saignee
What’s does NM mean on a label of champagne?
Negotiant Manipulant
The big houses, they buy the grapes and make their own wines/ blends
What does RM mean on a label of champagne?
Recoltant Manipulant
“Grower Champagne” farmer fizz
The vitner makes the wines
What does RC mean on a champagne label?
Recoltant -Cooperateur
Grower makes the wine at the co-op
What does SR mean on a label of champagne?
Societe de Recoltants
Group of growers that jointly “pool” their grapes and vinified/ sell their own brands
What does CM mean on a label of champagne?
Cooperative de Manipulation
Co-op cellar that vinifies grapes from member and sells it
What does MA mean on label of champagne?
Marque Auxilliare/ d’Acheteur / Autorisee
A private label sourced by any method
What does ND mean on a label of champagne?
Negotiant Distributeur
A firm that purchases finished wines for his own label
What does RD mean on a label of champagne?
Recently Disgorged
An alternative to older champagne
Extra aging on the lees
How many Grand Crus in Champagne?
17 total
9 Montagne de Reims
2 valle de la Marne
6 cote de Blancs
Name all the grand crus of the Cote de Blancs
6 GC Villages
- Chouilly
- Cramant
- Avize
- Oger
- Les Mesnil Sur Oger
- Oiry
What’s ratafia de champagne?
A mistelle, a mix of Marc and unfermented juice of grapes
What’s the Echelle de Crus?
Champagne classification system for villages. It ranked the villages according to how much they should be pay
Name the 2 grand crus of the valle de la Marne
- Ay
* Tours Sur Marne
What’s Champagne most planted grape?
Pinot Noir
Followed by Pinot Meunieur and Chardonnay
What’s the name of the largest Grand Cru in Champagne?
Chouilly in the Cote de Blancs
Name all of montagne de Reims grand crus
- verzennay
- mailly champagne
- verzy
- Bouzy
- Ambonnnay
Who makes Clos de Goisses?
It’s a single vineyard from the Marne made by Philipponnat
Who makes Clos de Mesnil?
Single vineyard made by Krug
Name two champagnes that are typically dry within the bruts
Ayala -for a lighter elegant style
Krug -for a richer powerful style
Who makes Clos de Ambonnay?
Krug -a Blanc de noirs from montagne de Reims
Which champagne house doesn’t use any oak at all?
Dom Perignon
Which champagne houses use more oak (fermentation)?
Krug and Henry Giraud
Jacquesson -large oak barrels
What’s special about Jaquesson champagne?
Large oak fermentation and no house style, instead they make a vintage/ terroir based wine every year.
What’s Vin Claire?
It’s the wine that makes champagne before the second fermentation
Champagne best vintages
86 88 90 95 96
02 04 08 12
Which one is the oldest champagne house?
Ruinart 1729
Which countries do not honor the name Champagne?
4 total
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Russia
- USA
What’s MCR??
Mout Concentre et Rectified
Concentrated and rectified grape must, used in place of the typical liqueur d’expedition or dosage in champagne, used by many small growers
What does talento mean on an Italian wine?
Traditional method
What’s the biggest size of champagne bottles?
Melchizedek 40 btls (30lts) and double a Nebuchadnezzar (20 btls)
How big is a Primat champagne bottle?
AKA Goliath
36 btls 27 lts
How big is a sovereign bottle of champagne?
Equivalent to 35 btls
Named after a cruiser
How big is a Solomon bottle of champagne?
24 btls or 18 lts
Name one champagne that has some of the minor grapes
The minor grapes being:
- petit meslier
- fromentau
- arbanne
••••••Aubry•••••••
What are Krugs 2 single vineyards?
- Clos d’Ambonnay ($k’s) Blanc de noirs
* Clos de Mesnil (Blanc de Blancs)
What’s the difference between Liqueur d’expedition and liqueur tirage?
- Liqueur de tirage creates the secondary fermentation (sugar n yeast)
- Liqueur d’expedition aka dosage is sugar and wine to top it off after disgorgement and add sweetness (Brut 12-17, Extra Dry 17-32)
Name of the billecart salmon fermented in Oak
BS “sous bois”
Name 3 champagnes that are oaky
- Bollinger (RD)
- Krug (clos de mesnil)
- Henri Giraud (Argonne)
What are the “blood vintages”?
1914 n 1915, champagne
Who was Champagne Charlie?
George leybourne, he promoted Moët et Chandon, and made in a way Champagne famous in the US in 1889
