Champagne Flashcards
1
Q
What are the white grapes permissible in champagne?
A
Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane, Petit Meslier
2
Q
What step in the method champagnoise is at the heart of champagne’s character?
A
secondary fermentation in bottle
3
Q
What is assemblage?
A
Blending
4
Q
What does the word mousseux imply?
A
Effervesence
5
Q
Which is the oldest champagne house still in operation today? When was it founded?
A
Gosset (founded as a still wine house)
1584
Reuinart (founded as a sparkling wine house)
1729
6
Q
In days past, before sparkling wine in Champagne, which wine region was the Champenoise competing with?
A
Burgundy
7
Q
At the turn of the 19th century, what inventions and discoveries helped solidify the champagne industry and turn it into a huge industry?
A
Veuve Clicquot - Remuage discovery
Jean-Antoine Chaptal - identifying the relationship between sugar and fermentation
André François’ - Ability to measure amount of sugar that could be added without breaking the bottle
In tandem, there were improvements in both cork and glass making
8
Q
Which Champagne house put the first brut nature on the market? When?
A
Pommery put the first brut Champagne, Pommery “Nature,” on the market in 1874
9
Q
After 1908, when was Aube reinstated in the Champagne region?
A
1927 - Aube was reinstated as a full region within the appellation
10
Q
On a Champagne label, does AOP/AOC need to be stated?
A
No.
It’s the only AOC/AOP that does not need to state so on the label
11
Q
When did phylloxera first strike the vineyards of champagne?
A
1890’s
With phylloxera, some producers imported sparkling wine and then tried to pass it off as champagne leading to a major Fraud problem and heightening tensions between merchants and growers
12
Q
Who harvested the vineyards in the 1914 vintage?
A
Women, children, elderly and those unfit for service. 1914 was considered one of the best vintages of the 20th century despite men being called to war for the start of WW1 which pummeled the Champagne vineyards for 4 years.
13
Q
Who organized Comité Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne (CIVC) and when?
A
1941
Robert-Jean de Vogüé of Moët et Chandon
de Vogue created it be a new, broader consortium of growers, producers and shippers to represent the Champagne industry and protect its interests in the face of Nazi occupation.
That organization, the Comité Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), remains a powerful force in the complex mediation between the large Champagne houses and the numerous smaller growers from whom they source grapes.
Today, merchant houses own just over 10% of Champagne’s vineyards, as the Contrôle des Structures prohibits any firm from farming more than fifteen owned or rented hectares. As a collective, the approximately 20,000 growers have a very powerful voice, despite selling under a quarter of all wine produced.
14
Q
When was the inaugural vintage of Moet and Chandon’s “Dom Perignon”?
A
1921
This tete de cuvée release, prompted others to release their own tete de cuvees.
15
Q
What are the largest markets for champagne?
A
UK, USA, Germany, Japan - these account for half of all champagne exports
16
Q
What parallels does the champagne region lie on?
A
48th and 49th
17
Q
What are major concerns for champagne growers?
A
Frost, rain, fungal disease and hail.
Underripe grapes
18
Q
What is bouvreux?
A
Bouvreux is reference to a second crop of grapes when the first ones get rained on and reflowering occurs. Bouvreux grapes generally get left on the vine and as they almost never ripen and, hence, never get picked.
19
Q
What is the primary soil type champagnes slopes?
A
Porous belemnite chalk subsoil.
Belemnite is a soil derived from millions of fossilized remains of extinct cephalopods that has a high limestone content which allows vine roots to dig deeply and is linked to an increase in acidity.
20
Q
What is the primary soil type in the valleys of champagne?
A
Micraster chalk, named for an extinct sea urchin, characterizes the valley vineyards
21
Q
What is the dominant soil type in Aube?
A
Clay
22
Q
What is the most planted grape in Champagne?
A
Pinot Noir
23
Q
What is a “Marc” of grapes?
A
4,000 kg - the amount held in a traditional Coquard basket press
24
Q
What are the 4 pruning methods permitted in Champagne?
A
Cordon de Royat
Chablis
Vallée de la Marne
Guyot (double and simple)
25
Which cities are many of the major commercial champagne houses located in?
Reims, Épernay and Aÿ
26
How many villages are authorized to grow grapes for Champagne?
357
27
What are the 5 districts of Champagne?
```
The Montagne de Reims
Vallée de la Marne
Côte des Blancs
Côte de Sézanne
Côte des Bars (the Aube)
```
28
What's a synonym for Côte des Bars?
Aube
29
What is the dominant grape in Vallée de la Marne?
Pinot Meunier
30
What regions predominantly grow Chardonnay?
Côte de Sézanne & Cote de Blancs
31
Which regions predominantly grow Pinot Noir?
Montagne de Reims & the Aube
32
In Champagne, is crus status awarded to vineyards or villages or both?
Villages
| However, the areas authorized for cultivation within each commune are strictly defined
33
How many grand cru villages are there?
17 villages have grand cru status
42 are classified as premier cru according to their rankings in the Échelle de Crus.
34
What is the CIVC?
The regulatory body responsible for mediating relations between growers and producers.
It oversees the production methods and promotion of Champagne.
The CIVC regulates the size of harvests, authorizes blocage and deblocage—respectively the reserve and release of wine stocks for use in future vintages—and safeguards the protected designation of Champagne
35
What was the Échelle de Crus system?
Échelle de Crus was a true percentile system.
Until 1990, a village’s échelle rating represented the set percentage of price that a grower could receive for fruit. Thus, growers in grand cru villages would receive the full price set by the CIVC, and other villages would receive a percentage equivalent to their échelle rating
36
What is a Négociant Manipulant?
A Négociant Manipulant (NM) is 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.
Large Champagne houses with the most international presence are invariably in this category: Moët et Chandon, Louis Roederer, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Billecart-Salmon, Lanson, Taittinger, Pol Roger, Perrier-Jouët, Mumm, and Laurent-Perrier.
Quality varies widely, although prices are uniformly high. Many houses often fall under the same corporate parentage; for example, Moët et Chandon, Krug, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, and Mercier fall under the umbrella of the luxury conglomerate LVMH.
37
What is a recoltant manipulant?
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.
38
What percentage of grapes must originate from a producers vineyard for them to call themselves a recoltan manipulant?
95%
39
What is a cooperative manipulant (CM)?
Coopérative Manipulant (CM) is a growers’ co-operative that produces the wine under a single brand.
40
What is a Récoltant Coopérateur?
A grower whose grapes are vinified at a co-operative, but sells the wine under his own label.
41
What is a 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.
42
What is a Négociant Distributeur?
A middleman company that distributes Champagne it did not make.
43
What is a 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.
44
What is the extraction limit for champagne?
102 liters from 160kg grapes or 2,550 liters from 4,000 kg
45
The first 2050 liters of extracted juice is called?
Vin de cuvee
46
What is the last 500 liters of extracted juice called?
Vin de taille (which is usually richer in pigment and tannin than vin de cuvee).
Many producers sell off this lesser component of the must or include it in a minor proportion as a structural element in a blend
47
What is rebêche?
A third extraction (after vin de cuvee and vin de taille). This 3rd extraction is required by law and must comprise of 1%-10% of the total
The rebêche is use for distillate, not champagne
48
What happens after the initial pressing of the grapes?
After pressing, the juice is allowed to settle (débourbage) at a cool temperature for eight to fifteen hours, so that remaining solids (bourbes) in the must can be removed by racking prior to fermentation.
The must, which is often chaptalized, will then undergo primary fermentation, resulting in high-acid base wines (vins clairs) with an approximate alcohol content of 11%
These base wines often undergo malolactic fermentation, although this is not a universal practice. After both the primary and malolactic fermentations have concluded, the base wines will generally be clarified, through fining, filtering, or centrifuge.
The clarified base wines remain in either stainless steel or barrel (or, in rare cases, bottles) until late February or March of the year following the harvest.
49
What type of vessel does primary fermentation happen in?
It can happen in stainless steel or oak (generally old, but some producers utilize a percentage of new wood).
50
What is liqueur de tirage? When does it take place?
Liqueur de tirage is a mixture of still wine, yeasts, sugar, and fining agents that will serve to ignite the second fermentation.
Liqueur de tirage takes place after the assemblage and cold stabilization has happened and will be added with the assemblage to the bottle.
51
What is the prise de mousse?
The second fermentation - the heart of the champagne method
52
How long does the second fermentation take?
Up to 8 weeks
53
What is a bidule?
A bidule is a plastic capsule that will serve to capture the sediment during remuage
54
During secondary fermentation, does the alcohol content change?
What about the atmospheric pressure?
The alcohol content increases by about 1.2%-1.3% ABV
The atmospheric pressure builds to 5 to 6 atmospheres
55
In secondary fermentation, what does "sur latte" refer to?
The bottles being stored on their side.
56
What is the minimum time a non-vintage champagne needs to age on lees prior to degorgement?
12 months
57
What is a pupitre?
A pupitre, invented by Veuve Clicquot, is two large wooden planks fastened together in an upright “A” shape, with sixty angled holes cut into each plank of wood.
A remuer would fractionally turn and tilt each bottle over a period of about eight weeks, slowly inverting the bottles with the neck pointing downward. Despite the fact that a top remuer is rumored to handle upwards of 70,000 bottles a day, Champagne is an industry, and more efficient methods are required.
The modern remuage operation is shortened to a week or less through the use of a Spanish invention, the gyropalette, an automated device that holds 504 bottles. The gyropalette has replaced hand-riddling at all of the major houses, although some prestige cuvée bottlings are still handled manually.
58
In champagne making, what does "Sur pointe" refer to?
After riddling, once the sediment is successfully collected in the neck of the bottle, the bottles remain in the upside-down vertical position (“sur pointe”) for a short period of time prior to dégorgement, although some houses will age the wine in this position for a number of years—Bollinger’s “RD” (“Récemment Dégorgé”) is kept sur pointe for a number of years, and only disgorged upon order.
59
What is the modern method of degorgement?
Dégorgement à la glace involves dipping the neck of bottle in a freezing brine solution. The bottle can then be turned upright. The force of internal pressure will expel the semi-frozen sediment (and a small portion of wine) as the crown cap is removed.
60
What is dégorgement à la volée?
An older degorgement method that utilizes the same principle as degoregement a la glace however, without freezing the sediment excess wine is invariably lost along with it.
61
what's a synonym for dosage?
liqueur d’expédition
62
What is dosage /liqueur d’expédition?
Added after wines are degorged, dosage/liqueur d'expedition is a liquid mixture of sugar syrup and wine.
Rarely, bone-dry non-dosage styles are produced. The amount of sugar in the dosage is determined by the desired style of the wine. Brut is the most common sweetness level and the level at which most houses bottle vintage and prestige cuvées.
63
At what sweetness levels do most houses bottle vintage and prestige cuvees?
Brut
64
```
What are the corresponding sugar limits for:
Brut Nature/Non-Dosé
Extra Brut
Brut
Extra Dry
Sec
Demi-Sec
Doux
```
Brut Nature 0-3 grams per liter, no added dosage
Extra Brut 0-6 grams per liter
Brut 0-12 grams per liter
Extra Dry 12-17 grams per liter
Sec 17-32 grams per liter
Demi-Sec 32-50 grams per liter
Doux 50+ grams per liter
65
What is a muselet?
Wire cage that closes the champagne bottle with 6 and a half twists
66
What are the minimum aging requirements for non-vintage champagne?
15 mos, 12 on lees
67
What are the minimum aging requirements for vintage champagne?
36 mos
68
What is transvasage?
Transvasage, or Transfer, method is permitted in bottles larger than a Jeroboam and smaller than a 1/2 bottle.
In this method, remuage is unnecessary, as the wine is disgorged into a pressurized tank and filtered. Dosage is added, and the wine is transferred to a clean bottle under pressure.
69
What are common attributes of non-vintage champagne?
Non vintage champagne is generally brut in style, the NV cuvée represents a house’s signature style, and the blender’s job is to ensure its consistency from year to year. Non-vintage Champagne makes up at least three-quarters of the market.
70
What are common attributes of vintage champagne?
For vintage champagne, 100% of the blend must come from the stated vintage, yet a maximum 80% of a year’s harvest may be sold as vintage Champagne. The better houses declare a vintage only in exceptional years. These are usually brut in style, and good examples can age for a decade or more.
71
What is the maximum percentage of a years harvest that can be sold as vintage champagne?
80%
72
What is blanc de blancs champagne?
Blanc de Blancs: 100% white grapes, this generally means 100% Chardonnay but could also include Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane, Petite Meslier is required.
It is not always sourced from the Côte des Blancs.
Blanc de blancs may be vintage-dated or NV. The Blanc de Blancs category represents some of Champagne’s most ageworthy bottlings; while austere and often steely in youth, better examples develop an intense bouquet with maturity.
73
What are the characteristics of blanc de noirs?
Blanc de Noirs: White wine produced solely from black grapes. The wine usually displays richness, intensity, and weight, although it can lack the supreme elegance and finesse of Blanc de Blancs.
74
What are attributes of prestige cuvees or tete de cuvees?
Prestige Cuvée (Tête de Cuvée): Usually the finest and most expensive bottling that a house offers, the prestige cuvée is typically (but not always) vintage-dated and aged for a number of years prior to release.
Prestige Cuvées are usually only released in superior vintages, and may undergo more traditional vinification procedures, such as barrel fermentation, riddling by hand, and cork-finishing during the second fermentation.
Many of the large houses produce prestige cuvées from their own vineyards—even single vineyards in exceptional cases. Prestige cuvées may be Blanc de Blancs, Blanc de Noirs or rosé in style.
Not all houses produce a prestige cuvée, and some produce several. Classic examples include Moët et Chandon "Dom Pérignon," Taittinger "Comtes de Champagne," Louis Roederer "Cristal," Laurent-Perrier "Grande Siècle," Perrier-Jouët "Belle Époque" (bottled as "Fleur de Champagne" for the US market), Pol Roger "Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill," Ruinart "Dom Ruinart," and Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin "La Grande Dame."
75
What is Perrier-Jouët "Belle Époque" bottled as in the US?
Fleur de Champagne
76
What are the characteristics of single vineyard champagne?
Single Vineyard Champagne bottlings may be produced by a large house or a smaller grower-producer, and may or may not be advertised as a prestige cuvée.
Single Vineyard wines are not required to carry a vintage date, although they invariably do, and the style represents a stark departure from the blending philosophy of the region.
Philipponnat’s “Clos de Goisses,” originally released for the 1935 vintage from one of the few walled vineyards of the region, remains a benchmark bottling
77
What is a considered a benchmark bottling for single vineyard champagne, first released in 1935?
Phillipponnat's "Clos de Goisses"
78
What is Special Club Prestige Cuvée?
The “Special Club” concept originated in 1971, with a dozen grower-producers. Lacking the marketing budgets of larger houses, these producers banded together to promote their prestige cuvées through identical packaging.
Today, the Club Trésors comprises over 29 RM producers as members. The Special Club bottlings are estate-bottled, vintage-dated wines that represent the pinnacle of each individual grower’s style and production. Special Club bottles and labels share identical design.
Current members include Marc Hébrart, Pierre Gimmonet, Paul Bara, J. Lassalle and Gaston Chiquet.
79
When did the special club concept originate?
1971 with a dozen grower-producers, so smaller grower/producers (recoltant manipulants) could also release prestige cuvees. The smaller producers banded together so it could be more economically feasible to produce.
80
What are the attributes of Rose Champagne?
Vintage, NV, and prestige cuvées may also be produced in pink versions (rose champagne).
The traditional saignée method, in which the wine gains its hue through extended skin contact, is less common than blending. Champagne is the only AOP in France that allows a rosé to be produced by blending red and white wine. A rosé prestige cuvée, a novelty in years past, is usually the most expensive and rare product a house offers.
81
Is blending or the saignee method more common in making rose champagne?
Blending is more common
| Champagne is the only AOP in France that allows a rose to be produced by blending red and white wine.
82
Name 2 still wine appellations within Champagne.
Coteaux Champenois and Rosé de Riceys.
Coteaux Champenois covers still red, white, and rosé wines from the entire appellation
Rosé de Riceys is reserved for 100% Pinot Noir rosé wines produced in Les Riceys, a cru village in the Aube.
83
Rose de Ricey is produced in which champagne region and with which grape?
Les Riceys - a cru village in the Aube
| 100% pinot noir
84
What are the 7 AOP regions in France that produce traditional method sparkling wine (Cremant)?
```
Crémant de Bordeaux
Crémant de Bourgogne
Crémant de Loire
Crémant de Limoux
Crémant de Die
Crémant du Jura
Crémant d’Alsace.
```
85
What does encépagement mean?
Grape varieties
| Varietal blend
86
What does pétillant indicate?
Lightly sparkling wines
87
What grapes are used in Blanquette de Limoux AOP?
Blanquette de Limoux AOP wines from the Languedoc region are also produced by the traditional method, from a minimum 90% Mauzac, Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc.
88
Which two estates in England lead the way in traditional method sparkling wine?
Nyetimber and Ridgeview Estate, both located in Sussex.
89
Where in the US did Roederer establish and estate?
Anderson Valley, Mendicino
90
Where is Moët et Chandon located in the US?
Yountville
91
Where is Taittinger located in the US?
Carneros
92
What is Méthode Ancestrale?
Méthode Ancestrale is also known as the méthode rurale, and is the oldest and most rudimentary of sparkling winemaking procedures.
A single fermentation begins in tank, but the wine is transferred to bottles before the process is complete—liqueur de tirage is unnecessary. Yeasts continue to ferment the remaining sugars in the bottle, giving the wine its sparkle.
The residual sweetness of the finished wines varies by appellation, but dosage is not allowed. Typically, the wine is disgorged, filtered and rebottled in clean glass prior to sale.
Bugey Cerdon, Clairette de Die Méthode Dioise Ancestrale, and Gaillac Mousseux Méthode Gaillaçoise are examples of the style.
93
Is liqueur de tirage necessary in Méthode Ancestrale?
No - because the wine previously in tank is transferred to bottle before fermentation ends, so it continues to ferment in the bottle and produce sparkle.
94
Is dosage allowed in Méthode Ancestrale?
No
95
Who developed the charmat method?
Eugene Charmat
96
Describe the charmat method.
Developed by Eugene Charmat in the early 20th century, the Tank Method is quicker, cheaper, and less labor-intensive than the traditional method.
After the wine undergoes primary fermentation, liqueur de tirage is added to the wine, provoking a second fermentation, which occurs in a pressurized enamel-lined tank, or autoclave, over a matter of days. Once the appropriate pressure is reached (usually 5 atmospheres), the wine is chilled to arrest fermentation.
Some appellations require the wine to remain in tank for a minimum period of time, such as one month for Asti DOCG. The wine is then filtered and bottled, usually with a dosage. The lack of extended lees contact in the tank method is not suitable for making quality wines in the style of Champagne.
97
What is the bead (bubbles) like in charmat (tank) method champagne vs traditional method champagne?
The bubbles, or bead, in tank method wines will be larger and coarser, and the wine will have a less uniform texture than wines made by the traditional method.
98
Aside from cost, when would the charmat (tank) method be preferred over the traditional method?
The tank method is appropriate and even preferred for sparkling wines emphasizing fruit and varietal aromatics rather than the flavors derived from autolysis. Most Asti DOCG and Prosecco bottlings are produced in this method.
99
What is continuous method sparkling wine?
Developed in the USSR, this method is similar to the tank method, but the base wine is pumped through a series of interconnected (continuous) tanks while undergoing the second fermentation. Liqueur de tirage is constantly added to the wine, and lees accumulate in the first several tanks, offering a higher degree of autolyzed flavors than the standard tank method. The majority of German Sekt is produced by either the tank method or the continuous method.
100
What is the cheapest method to make sparkling wine?
Carbonation.
This involves a simple injection of carbon dioxide into still wine. The bubbles do not integrate into the texture of the wine at all, and fade quickly upon opening. This method is not used for quality wines.
101
What is Louis Roederer tete de cuvee?
Cristal
102
Which grape accounts for the largest acreage in Champagne?
Pinot Noir
103
How many bottles does a gyropalette hold?
504
104
How many bottles does a pupitre hold?
60
105
Select the year in which a Champagne producer would be LEAST likely to bottle a vintage-dated Champagne.
2000
2001
2002
2003
2001
A generally poor vintage characterised by rot and underripeness thanks to a wet and gloomy September.
106
The second fermentation, is also called....
Prise de mousse
107
In which country does the Jansz estate produce sparkling wine?
Tasmania, Australia
108
By what method are Bugey Cerdon AOP wines produced?
Method Ancestrale
109
Which region contains the village of Aÿ?
Vallée de la Marne
110
Which of the following training methods is not permitted in Champagne?
```
A. Chablis
B. Guyot
C. Cordon de Royat
D. Gobelet
E. Vallée de la Marne
```
D. Gobelet
111
What is the name of a growers' co-operative that produces the wine under a single brand?
Coopérative Manipulant
112
Name a single vineyard champagne.
Krug: Clos de Mesnil
Inaugural vintage: 1979
113
When was the inaugural vintage for Moet and Chandon, Dom Perignon and Dom Perignon Rose?
Dom Perignon: 1921
| Dom Perignon Rose: 1959
114
What grapes is Diebolt-Vallois "Fleur de Passion" made from?
100% Chardonnay
Inaugural vintage: 1995
115
When was the inaugural vintage of De Venoge "Grand Vin des Princes"?
1961 - it is made from 100% chardonnay
It was discontinued in 1994 with the creation of the "Louis XV" label (a 50/50, chard/pinot noir blend) but produced again for the 2000 vintage.
In 1961 it was an NV wine, but it has been vintage-dated in every following release.
