Champagne Flashcards
What is Champagne?
Champagne is a wine appellation located in north-east France. It is widely considered to produce the most prestigious sparkling wine in the world, also called Champagne.
Champagne is a protected region and wine style. In the past many producers from other regions and countries labelled their sparkling wines ‘Champagne’ (and some countries still do) to bask in the glory of this French region. The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC, now known as the Comité Champagne) has worked tirelessly to ensure that Champagne remains a traditional method sparkling wine from grapes grown within the appellation. Champagne and the styles it produces have served as the model for traditional method sparkling wines around the world.
What styles of champagne are there?
There are several styles of Champagne. Most Champagne is a white, fully sparkling, non- vintage Brut wine made from a blend of the three main varieties, Pinot Noir, Meunier and Chardonnay. These wines typically have medium intensity aromas and flavours of apple and lemon fruit with biscuit autolytic notes, high acidity and medium alcohol. They are typically good to outstanding quality and mid- to premium-priced. Vintage and prestige cuvée wines command premium and super-premium prices.
There is a range of styles of Champagne, the most common of which are detailed below. The EU labelling terms for sweetness in sparkling wines are used for all these wines.
- Non-vintage or NV – This is a wine blended from a number of vintages. The wine usually follows a set house style. Blending of different parcels of base wine with some wines from earlier vintages can smooth out vintage variation, creating a product with the same profile every year.
- Vintage – By law, 100 per cent of the wine must come from the year indicated. Theoretically, these wines are only produced from the best vintages; however, there is often some variance as different producers rate some vintages more highly than do others. In some years, the growing conditions have been so favourable that a vintage is almost universally declared, for example 2002 and 2008. The vintage wine will still reflect the house style, but can be a unique wine, showing the characteristics of the year without having to meet a set mould.
- Rosé – In Champagne, these pink wines are usually made by blending red wine with white. In French, these wines are known as Rosé d’assemblage. However, skin maceration of black grapes is also permitted and then the wine is ‘bled off’, i.e. drawn off the skins. Hence, in French, these wines are known as Rosé de saignée.
- Blanc de Blancs – A white wine made from white grapes only. These wines can be leaner and more austere in youth, but often have an unmatched ageing potential.
- Blanc de Noirs – A white wine made from black grapes only. The wines are fuller bodied than Blanc de Blancs are. However, they are generally thought to age more rapidly than Blanc de Blancs wines.
- Grand Cru – This term is often mentioned on the label as a quality statement. All the grapes must have been grown within the vineyards belonging to grand cru villages.
- Premier Cru – This term is often mentioned on the label as a quality statement. All the grapes must have been grown within the vineyards belonging to premier cru and/or grand cru villages.
- Prestige Cuvée – This is usually the top wine in a Champagne producer’s range. However, some houses, such as Krug, specialise in making a range of prestige cuvées. These wines should be the product of a strict selection of the best grapes, together with meticulous winemaking techniques. They can be non-vintage or vintage wines.
- Late release, recently disgorged wines – These are wines that have seen extended ageing on lees, and are disgorged just before release onto the market, ready to be consumed immediately. The wines have a different flavour profile from wines of the same vintage that were disgorged earlier, and they initially seem more youthful. However, after their disgorgement they age more rapidly than standard vintage wines. It is thought that the impact of disgorgement (the ingress of oxygen and disturbance of the liquid) is greater in older wines. Bollinger’s R.D. or Dom Pérignon’s P2 are examples of this style.
In addition, in the Champagne region there are appellations for still rosé wine from Pinot Noir (AOC Rosé des Riceys, a tiny appellation in the Côte des Bar) and still wine, AOC Coteaux Champenois, which can be red, white or rosé but in practice is mainly a light-bodied, high acidity, pale ruby Pinot Noir.
What are the key developments in the history of champagne?
Historically, wine produced in Champagne was pink and still, made from the Pinot Noir variety, which has remained one of the main varieties of the region. In the cold winters of this northerly region, fermentation would halt but it could start again as temperatures rose, resulting in sparkling wine. These slightly fizzy wines became fashionable in the English market. In the mid-seventeenth century, the glass produced in coal-fired ovens in England enabled bottles to be created which could reliably withstand pressure.
Dom Pierre Pérignon (died 1715) contributed to the development of Champagne as it came to be by producing the first white wine from black grapes, inventing the still widely used Coquard press and by blending wines (assemblage) to make a superior wine from grapes grown in different areas of the region. He also is thought to have re-introduced the cork stopper into France and pioneered the use of stronger, English glass, in the production of Champagne. However, the wines in his period were still only slightly fizzy, with Dom Pérignon himself regarding fizziness as a fault.
In the nineteenth century further developments included controlled second fermentation in the bottle using a measured amount of added sugar and yeast to produce a known pressure in the bottle. In addition, riddling (remuage) using pupitres, was developed by Madame (known as Veuve, ‘widow’) Clicquot.
This enabled the next step of disgorgement, following the dipping of the neck of the bottle in an ice-cold bath of salty water, enabling the rapid production of clear wine on a large scale. Due to this, in the last quarter of the century, a dry style of Champagne was created. This established itself first in the English market, alongside the, then popular, sweet style.
In the early part of the twentieth century the vineyard area of Champagne was defined, with the current AOC boundary being set in 1927. This was critical in terms of the latter defence of the Geographical Indication (with the later slogan, ‘Champagne only comes from Champagne, France’, Comité Champagne). The concept of échelle des crus (literally ‘ladder of growths’), a rating system used to determine grape prices, was introduced. Although the market now determines prices, the ratings of the échelle des crus system were used to define the grand cru and premier cru villages.
The blocage system, later called reserve wines, was also introduced. Initially, a portion of the young wines was set aside as an insurance policy against future disasters that might reduce yields. However, it become a system of storing reserve wines to enable vintage variation to be reduced and quality raised by blending for non-vintage wines. The practice of keeping reserve wines has contributed to higher overall quality by adding depth and complexity and thereby raising the average quality of non-vintage Champagne.
Explain the location and climate in Champagne?
Champagne is in north-east France, just south of the 50th parallel, directly east of Paris. It is a large region that extends 150 km from north to south and nearly 120 km from east to west. There are five sub-regions: three around Epernay (the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne and the Côte des Blancs), the Côte de Sézanne (south of the Côte des Blancs) and the Côte des Bar, 100 km south and closer to Chablis than to Epernay.
The climate is cool continental, with some oceanic influence. Rain, 700 mm per year, is adequate for grape growing. While it would only be possible to ripen grapes successfully a couple of years in each decade for table wine, the low average annual temperature of 11°C (52°F) results in the low-alcohol, acidic base wines that are ideal for the production of traditional method sparkling wine. Rain is spread throughout the year. Rain during flowering or fruit set can reduce yields and can also be a problem during harvest due to the spread of fungal disease and dilution of the crop.
Over the last 30 years the climate has warmed, harvest dates have moved forward on average by 18 days, average acidity has dropped and potential alcohol has risen by 0.7%. As Champagne is a cool region, the result has been the conditions to produce more consistently ripe grapes and fewer poor vintages.
Explain the topography and soils in Champagne?
The wider region of the Paris basin has a thick layer of chalk, an old seabed. The chalky hillsides of Champagne in the northern part of the region have proved the most valuable for growing high-quality grapes suitable to make base wines. High chalk content is widely posited to be beneficial in the production of high-quality Chardonnay in particular.
The most common soil types in the region are chalky soils with limestone subsoil and chalk itself. The latter is highly porous and stores water, providing a steady supply of water even in dry periods. Most vineyards are at 90–300 m above sea level. Well- drained soils and planting on slopes mean that rainfall provides sufficient water to survive while avoiding water logging which would be negative for vine health.
What are the five main production sub-regions?
Montagne de Reims
This sub-region is best known for its black grapes, especially the grand cru villages of Mailly, Verzenay, Verzy, Ambonnay and Bouzy. It is more of a wide plateau than a mountain. Unusually, some top villages face north, providing excellent cool-climate sites, though they are more frost prone. The wines tend to have very high acidity and are austere in youth. There are also important vineyards of Chardonnay in this sub-region. Soils types vary, but the grand crus are on chalky soils, providing an excellent balance between water retention and drainage.
Vallée de la Marne
The major plantings here, west of Epernay, are Meunier on clay, marl and sandy soils, producing fruity Meunier. Bud break for Meunier is later and the ripening earlier than for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, making it well-adapted to this frost-prone valley. Chardonnay is also grown and used to blend into early-drinking wines. The Grand Cru village of Aÿ is located here.
Côte des Blancs
The name of this sub-region, which runs at right angles to the Vallée de la Marne due south from Epernay, comes from the fact that it is almost exclusively devoted to the cultivation of white grapes. It has the purest form of chalk, providing an excellent balance between water retention and drainage, and is 95 per cent planted with Chardonnay. This area includes the four grand cru villages of Cramant, Avize, Oger and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. These can produce wines of great intensity and longevity, which tend to be somewhat austere in their youth.
Côte de Sézanne
This sub-region is a continuation of the Côte des Blancs, with mostly clay and clay/silt soils and some pockets of chalk; mostly planted with Chardonnay on warmer south-east facing slopes, leading to fruitier, riper grapes. In general, the quality of the grapes is rated lower than those from the three sub-regions listed above.
Côte des Bar
A large area in the south of the Champagne region that has nearly a quarter of the vineyard area mainly planted with Pinot Noir. The soils here, Kimmeridgian calcareous marls, are also found in nearby Chablis and Sancerre. The steep slopes and soils with stony limestone elements have excellent drainage, helping Pinot Noir to ripen well. The relatively small plantings of Pinot Noir in the other sub-regions makes this a very important source of full flavoured, ripe Pinot Noir to blend into non-vintage blends. Merchants based in the northern part of Champagne buy much of the wine.
What are the grape varieties?
The three principal varieties account for over 99 per cent of the nearly 35,000 hectares of vineyard in the region. While there is still more Pinot Noir (38 per cent) and Meunier (32 per cent) planted, Chardonnay (30 per cent) is increasingly being planted. This is because there is demand for it from the big Champagne houses. It commands a slightly higher price per kilo for growers and it produces larger yields. Tiny amounts of other varieties – Pinot Blanc, Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Fromenteau – are grown and are either blended into wines or contribute to niche cuvées; for example, Champagne Laherte’s Les 7 is made with all seven permitted varieties.
For Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, see Grape Growing in Standard Options in Sparkling Winemaking.
Explain the grape variety Meunier?
Meunier, often called Pinot Meunier, is a black grape variety. It is a mutation of Pinot that has white hairs on its leaves giving it a ‘floury’ appearance (meunier means miller in French). Meunier is an early budding variety, but it buds later than Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. As a result, it is less prone to spring frosts in the cool Vallée de la Marne. Meunier also does well on heavier soils (more clay) where the other varieties would not succeed. As it ripens earlier than Pinot Noir, Meunier can be helpful in seasons where the harvest is interrupted by rain. However, it is particularly sensitive to botrytis infection.
Meunier is a reliable producer of typically fruity wine and contributes softness to the Champagne blend. This is particularly important for non-vintage wines, which are often aged on the lees for shorter times than vintage wines and are often drunk on release rather than being cellared and bottle aged.
Meunier tends not to be used in wines intended for long ageing, though it has champions at Krug and among growers (e.g. Egly-Ouriet).
Explain the planting in champagnes vineyard management?
Regulations specify a maximum inter-row spacing of 1.5 metres and an intra-row spacing of 0.9–1.5 metres, with total spacing (the combination of these two figures) never reaching more than 2.5 metres. This produces an average planting density of around 8,000 vines per hectare. Generally, grapes for sparkling wines can be grown at high yields because it is not necessary for tannins to be ripe or flavours and colours to be particularly concentrated.
Explain the training, pruning and trellising in Champagne?
The training, pruning and trellising of the vine has been regulated in Champagne since 1938. There are four approved systems:
- Taille Chablis – This system is widely recognised as the best for Chardonnay. It usually has 3–4 cordons (old wood) but may have up to a maximum of five. At the end of each cordon is a spur with up to five buds. It is a form of spur pruning, retaining a large proportion of permanent wood, which can protect against frosts. Spurs are grown at yearly intervals and must be trained to a maximum of 0.6 m above the ground to ensure that the ripening fruit gets the benefit of solar energy (heat and light) reflected from the soil, especially on chalk.
- Cordon du Royat – This system is used for Pinot Noir and Meunier. The vine has a single cordon that is spur-pruned, and the shoots are vertically positioned.
- Guyot – This replacement cane system with vertical shoot positioning is permitted in lesser-rated vineyards for all three varieties. Single or double Guyot is permitted.
- Vallée de la Marne –The method is similar to Guyot, but with a higher number of buds. It is being used less now than in the past.
The average number of fruiting buds per vine for all these systems must not exceed 18 per square metre.
Explain hazards, pests and diseases?
The main climatic dangers come from:
- occasional severe winter frost, which can kill vines or parts of vines
- spring frosts destroying new buds and reducing yields
- disruption to flowering and fruit set due to cold and rainy weather in June, which can reduce yields or lead to the production of ripe and unripe grapes together
- violent storms and hail in summer, which can damage grapes and vines
- hot and humid weather in summer, especially after heavy rainfall, leading to the rapid spread of botrytis.
As in other regions, downy and powdery mildew have to be dealt with as the need arises. The dagger nematode, which spreads fanleaf virus, is also common.
Explain sustainable viticulture?
Sustainable viticulture is promoted by the Comité Champagne.
Champagne is one of the first regions where this approach has been promoted at a regional level. The use of pesticides has been reduced with sexual confusion techniques increasingly used to control pest populations. Soil protection methods have been put in place, such as the management of groundwater on slopes and the increased use of cover cropping to enhance biodiversity.
Sustainable practices are carried forward to the winery as well, where water management schemes have often been put in place as well as the recycling of waste and by-products. In 2010 the Comité Champagne introduced a lighter weight Champagne bottle for non-vintage cuvées. Many producers prefer to use different bottle shapes, which are often heavier, to distinguish their vintage and prestige wines. The new bottle is nearly 60 g lighter than the original and the estimated annual reduction in CO2 output is 8,000 metric tonnes.
Explain harvest?
The Comité Champagne is responsible for setting harvest dates and yields each year. It does this by taking grape samples from approximately 450 control plots from the time of véraison, and measuring the rate of colour change, the average weight, the sugar concentration and acidity and the incidence of botrytis. These findings also determine the permitted yield for the year and the required minimum alcohol by volume (e.g. minimum potential alcohol of 9.5 per cent). The harvest dates are only start dates, and individual producers can choose to start picking a day or several days later. Alternatively, by derogation, they can apply to the INAO (Institut national de l’origine et de la qualité) to start picking their grapes earlier than the official opening date for their particular village. For example, a derogation may be sought if botrytis is threatening the crop and it is necessary to pick at below the minimum alcohol by volume normally required.
The setting of yields by the Comité Champagne seeks to protect the quality of wine (by avoiding over-cropping, which could result in dilution of fruit flavour). It also seeks to protect the price of Champagne and regulates supply and demand.
In good vintages, a proportion of the crop may be set aside as reserve wines, a precaution against future crop failure or lower quality vintages. The Comité Champagne is also responsible for managing the levels of these reserve stocks. The upper limit of yields is controlled by EU law at 15,500 kilos/hectare, yields achieved in the big production years of 2006 and 2007. Part of this was put into reserves.
The Champagne AOC regulations specify whole bunch pressing, and grapes are handpicked. Picking whole bunches by hand can avoid crushing and oxidation and microbial spoilage, thereby preserving fruit quality. The harvest generally lasts around three weeks. It is thought to require the labour of around 100,000 people each year. The grapes are collected in perforated bins with a maximum capacity of 50 kg. Approximately 1,900 pressing centres located throughout the Champagne region keep transportation times to a minimum.
Hand harvest is carried out by a mainly travelling workforce. Workers often return loyally year after year to the same producers, the best of whom pay the pickers a premium for quality rather than just by weight.
Explain winemaking in Champagne?
Champagne is made by the traditional method, historically often known as the méthode champenoise.
Whole bunches of grapes are pressed with a gradual increase of pressure. This is to ensure high juice quality, low phenolics (avoiding extracting tannins from the skins and seeds) and to make white wine from black Pinot Noir and Meunier grapes.
Traditionally, 4,000 kilos of grapes, a unit known as a marc, were loaded by hand into a basket press. While many wineries work in this way, pneumatic and hydraulic horizontal presses are also used. The maximum yield is normally 79 hL/ha, but as noted previously this can be raised to 98 hL/ha and the surplus put into reserve if this is agreed by the Comité Champagne.
The juice is separated into fractions. Juice extraction is strictly limited to two parts, the cuvée, the first 2,050 litres (per 4,000 kilos of grapes) made up of free run juice and the first pressing, and the second part, the taille, of 500 litres. Limiting total pressing protects wine quality by avoiding over-extraction of phenolics and maintains fruit flavours.
The two fractions have markedly different qualities. The cuvée is rich in acids and produces wines with great finesse and long ageing potential. The taille has lower acidity but is richer in colouring pigments and phenolics. It can be a useful addition to some blends, helping to produce wines that are more expressive in youth but do not have the same ageing potential. As a result, a higher proportion of taille is used in non-vintage rather than vintage or prestige cuvée wines. If the natural levels of sugar in the juice are not high enough, chaptalisation is permitted to produce a wine with a minimum alcohol level of 11% abv. The alcohol level of the final wine may not exceed 13% abv, a stipulation of EU wine law.
Explain alcoholic fermentation with Champagne?
Many producers choose to ferment their wines in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks. However, an increasing number of quality producers are re-introducing some oak, particularly in the form of large oak foudres, for the first fermentation. This is being done largely to introduce more textural richness and mouthfeel. For fermentation temperatures and choice of yeast, see the section on Primary Fermentation in Standard Options in Sparkling Winemaking.
Many Champagne winemakers will encourage malolactic conversion to take place at this stage, to reduce and soften the acidity of the final wine. Some winemakers choose to avoid malolactic conversion, feeling their style of Champagne is better without this modification; others will use it as and when they consider it to be beneficial, for example in cooler years. With warmer harvests, putting the base wine through malolactic conversion is very much the choice of the producer.
