Champagne Flashcards
What is assemblage?
`Blending
Wines made in the fashion of Champagne but produced elsewhere may be labeled as ?
traditional method (méthode traditionnelle) or classic method (méthode classique)
Is someone else but Champagne allowed to label their wines as Champagne?
Particularly in the US, but such wines are banned from the EU.
What is the oldest Champagne house still in operation today?
Gosset, founded in 1584 as a still wine producer
Which house can claim to be the oldest sparkling Champagne house?
Ruinart, established in 1729
What is vin gris ?
Vin gris is simply a term for a very light (we’re talking pale pink) rosé wine made from red grapes.
What is vin de cuvée and vin de taille?
1st press: Cuvee = 2050 liters
2nd press: Taille = 500 liters
What is rebeche?
3rd press: Rebeche = remaining juice extracted after the 2550 liters
must be either distilled by Dec 15th following the harvest and is often used to make ratafia. It can also be used in vinegar production.
Name 2 Champagne houses founded in the 18th century
Ruinart, Taittinger, Moët et Chandon, Delamotte and Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin
What is remuage?
Riddling
Who is considered to have pioneered the remuage process?
Madame Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, the Veuve (“widow”) Clicquot,
The process of chaptalization is named after who?
Jean-Antoine Chaptal, a French chemist and statesman
Who firstly identified the relationship between sugar and fermentation?
Jean-Antoine Chaptal, in a seminal 1801 work.
What was the difference in Champagne production from the early 1800 to the 1880s?
Champagne production jumped from 300,000 bottles in 1800 to 20 million bottles by the 1880s.
Were many small growers making Champagne in the 19th Century?
No, it was too costly.
Many were selling grapes to the big houses
Which Champagne house created the first Brut Champagne? When?
Pommery put the first brut Champagne, Pommery “Nature,” on the market in 1874.
When was the Champagne region delimited?
In 1908
When was the Champagne winemaking production and viticulture regularised ?
in 1927
What happened in Champagne in 1911?
Vignerons from the southern Aube region, who had long supplied Champagne houses with base white wine, protested and nearly rioted in 1911 after being excluded from the region.
In which year The Aube was reinstated as a full region of the appellation?
1927
What was the Commission de Châlons?
When was it formed?
In 1935
a consortium of growers and merchants formed to develop quality standards and regulate pricing.
In which year Champagne was granted AOP?
1936
Which is the only AOC/AOP that does not need to include Appellation Contrôlée (or Protégée) on the label?
Champagne
What happened in the 1890s?
Phylloxera