Champagne Flashcards
Maximum amount of RS in a Brut Nature
3G/L
Range of Sugar (in g/l) in champagne designated as Extra Sec
12-17g/l
Minimum RS for champagne labelled Doux
50g/l
Champagne designated demi-sec can have RS ranging between what
32-50g/l
Levels of Sweetness in Champagne
Brut Nature: 0-3 Extra Brut: 0-6 Brut: 0-12 Extra Sec: 12-17 Sec: 17-32 Demi-Sec: 32-50 Doux: 50
What is a Bidule
A small plastic “cup” inserted into the neck of the champagne bottle to collect the sediment that forms during secondary fermentation
What is the Carnet de Pressoir
It is the logbook that keeps a record of the weight of the grapes heading to the press
What is “wet champagne/champagne humide”
Referring to the Kimmeridgean marls of the Aube that retain water
What is dry champagne/champagne pouilleuse
Areas of champagne with a chalk soil. This sucks the moisture from the overhead soil, making the land devoid of most plant life but great for vine growing
What is a Coquard
A wide shallow version of the traditional basket press
How many litres of juice are allowed to be used from the first press
2050
Cuvée has two meanings in champagne. Name them
1) the blended wine before secondary fermentation
2) the first 2050 litres of juice, drawn from the first pressing
Dégorgement a la Glace vs Dégorgement a la Volée
Disgorging via brine bath vs disgorging by hand
Define Première Taille
After the first press/cuvée, the next 500 litre
“First cut”
Define Deuxième Taille
After the First Cut, the next 116 litres of juice. This is not allowed in the production of champagne, but can be used for still wine production
The name for the trash that was used as fertilizer in Champagne from 1960-1998
Gadoux
Define the term Late Disgorged
A champagne that has undergone extended time aging sur pointe before being released to the market
Define Liqueur de Tirage
A mixture of yeast and sugar added to start the secondary fermentation
What is Marque Auxillaire
A private label bottling
The french name for the wire cage that holds the cork down
Muselet
Define Poignetage
The act of shaking a bottle as it is moved in order to dislodge yeast that is sticking to the sides of the glass
Define Ratafia
A combination of grape spirit and unfermented grape juice (fortified to 20%)
What is Remplissage
When one tops up a bottle of disgorged wine with more of the same champagne
Define Vin de Goute
Free run juice
Min aging for NV champagne
15 months from time of tirage
12 months on lees
Min aging of Vintage Champagne
36 months from date of Tirage
What are the 6 Grand Cru communes of the Cote des Blancs
Chouilly Oiry Cramant Avize Oger Mesnil-Sur-Oger
1 Grand Cru of the Vallée de la Marne
Ay
What are the 9 GC of the Montagne de Reims
Sillery Puisieuix Beaumont-Sur-Vesle Verzenay Mailly-Champagne Verzy Louvois Bouzy Ambonnay
How many members of Special Club are there
28
What would RC tell you on a label of champagne
A wine made by a co-op, then sold under a grape grower’s individual label
What would SR tell you on the bottle of champagne
Wine made and sold by a co-op of growers
A private label champagne would have what initials written on the label
MA
What is the governing body of Champagne
CIVC
Allowable amount of Pinot M in Rosé des Riceys
Zero
Must be 100% Pinot NoiR
What is the maximum amount of a year’s harvest that can be sold as vintage champagne
80%
Inaugural vintage for Bollinger’s R.D.
1952 (released in 1967)
Bollinger is located in what village
Ay
The prestige cuvée of Perrier-Jouët
Belle Époque
Who produces La Grand Dame
Veuve Clicquot
Selosse’s Substance is what style of champagne
Blanc de Blancs
Selosse is based out of what village in champagne
Avize (in the Aube)
Who produces Clos du Mesnil
Krug
Who produces Cuvée Spéciale les Chétillons
Pierre Peters
100% chard
What was the inaugural vintage of Clos des Goisses
1935
Clos des Goisses is primarily what grape
70% pinot
30% chard
Which Champagne house invented the Muselet
jacquesson
The quantity of fruit in a coquard is known as what.
How much juice can it yield
The Marc
At approximately 4 tons, it yields 2666 litres of juice
Name 3 champagne houses that prefer fermentation in oak
Krug
Bollinger
Gratien
What is the limit of sugar permissible during the Liqueur de Tirage
27g/l
What is the maximum amount of additional alcohol created during the secondary fermentation
1.5%
Roerderer’s Cristal was originally made for what important figure
The Czar Alexander The 2nd
Drapier is a producer in what region
Cotes des Bar
Selosse is located in what village
Avize
Vilmart is based in what subzone
Montagne de Reims
Most planted grape in Ambonnay
PN
Trellising system in Champagne
Cordon de Royat for PN/PM
Chablis for Chardonnay
When would you classically harvest in the region
Late October
How big is Clos de Goisses
5.5 ha
First vintage of Clos des Goisses
1935
Clos des Goisses overlooks what river
The Marne
Clos des Goisses is in what village
Mareuil-Sue-Ay
Paul Bara Grand Rosé is a mono cru from what village
Bouzy
What was the first mono cru wine in Champagne
Salon In Le Mesnil sur Oger
When was Louis Roederer founded
1776
Sugar choices for Chanpagne and their contribution to the wine
Cane Sugar - easily dissolves though some feel it oxidizes too easily
Beet Sugar - adds richness/earthiness
MCR - can use less and still does the same job
Characteristics of Pinot Meunier in the vineyard
Late budding
Early ripening
Resistant to frost and mildew
Likes clay soils
The special club bottling by Champagne Moussé is based on what grape variety
100% Meunier
Define Jetting
Injecting nitrogen after dosage to ensure reductive characteristics
The Marne Valley is known for what grape
Meunier
Characteristics of Arbane
Low yielding
Small bunches
Produces a weightier style of wine
What is Sur Latte Purchasing
The purchase and relabelling of a finished bottle of champagne
Frowned upon tho does continue to a small degree
Alfred Gratien is based in what village
Epernay
- makes a very oxidative style of wine, fermented in wood, manually riddled and disgorges
What style of champagne does Ruinart make
Reductive
- younger reserve wines
- stainless steel (was first house to go all stainless)
- lower dosage
Define importance of Professor Robinet
Discovered correct proportion of liqueur de tirage to begin secondary fermentation
In what year did king Louie first allow wine to be shipped in bottle
1728
The Butte de Saran is a topographical feature in what subzone
Cote des Blancs (bordering Oiry and Cramant)
How do wines sourced from grapes from Avize differ from Oger
Oger is austere, linear
Avize is powerful, riper
Diebolt-Vallois is an estate in what commune?
Cramant
The champagne wine region consists of what three departments
Aube, Marne and Aisne (south to north, sort of)
How many villages are there in the Champagne Viticole
319
17 grand cru, 42 1er Cru
when was the first intentionally sparkling wine made in Champagne
approx 1695/1698
approx how many bottles of champagne are produced each year
312 million (2015)
what was the first prestige cuvee
Dom Perignan (1937)
minimum potential alcohol needed before harvesting can occur
9%
define débourbage
juice settling (particulate matter falls out of solution)
why might you add benonite clay when adding the liqueur de tirage
to help with the riddling process, it keeps lees from sticking to the bottles. It will be disgorged before final bottling
define “peptides”
2 or more amino acids bound together
typically, how much of the total volume of bottle does the dosage make up
1%
define peseur
the weighing of a harvest of grapes
what is the carnet de pressoir
the logbook by which grape harvest is measured each year
champagne in the only region in france with mandatory weight records