Champagne and Sparkling Wine

Question 1

Wines that are produced outside of Champagne AOP, but in the same manner may use what terminology on the label to indicate the method of production used?

Answer 1

méthode traditionnelle (traditional method)

méthode classique
classical method

Question 2

What is the name of the abbey where Dom Pérignon presided as cellar master? When was this?

Answer 2

Abbey of Hautvillers

1668-1715

Question 3

In the 17th century, French glass was considered inferior for Champagne. Why was this? What was the solution?

Answer 3

French glass was weak because it was wood-fired.

The solution was to use English coal-fired glass which was stronger.

Question 4

When did “mousseux” first appear in connotation with the wines of Champagne? What other terms were used?

Answer 4

1724

Pétillant
Demi-mousseux (crémant)
Grand mousseux

Question 5

What is the name of the oldest Champagne house in operation which was originally founded for still wine? Oldest Champagne house for sparkling? Years?

Answer 5

Gosset (1584)

Ruinart (1729)

Question 6

Why did the Champenoise initially produce white wine from red grapes?

Answer 6

It was an effort to improve wine quality in Champagne and the wine’s ability to compete with the wines of Burgundy.

Question 7

What is rémuage? Who discovered the technique and at what Champagne house was this? When?

Answer 7

Riddling.

Procedure that allows sediment to be easily removed from a bottle during disgorgement.

Discovered by Antoine Müller, the cellar master of Veuve Clicquot.

Question 8

Who identified the relationship between sugar and fermentation? When was this?

Answer 8

French chemist Jean-Antoine Chaptal (1801)

Question 9

Who is André François and what contribution did he provide to the understanding and advancement of Champagne production?

Answer 9

French pharmacist who determined the precise measurement of amount of sugar required to induce secondary fermentation in the bottle w/out breaking the bottle.

Question 10

Why were grower producers (RM) so rare in the early days?

Answer 10

The cost of production and marketing were too steep for small individual growers.

Question 11

What is the difference between vin de cuvée and vin de taille?

Answer 11

Vin de cuvée - the brighter, clearer free-run juice drawn off at the beginning of pressing

Vin de taille - the juice extracted from the end of pressing which is darker and more full of impurities

Question 12

Among other things, Champagne was linked to what in the age of poster advertising?

Answer 12

Women, leisure, sport, history, and all things celebratory.

Question 13

When did the French government originally delimit the Champagne region? When was the last and final revision of this?

Answer 13

1908 originally

Revised and largely finalized in 1927 (revised again in 2009)

Question 14

When did Champagne officially gain AOC status?

Answer 14

1936

Question 15

What was the Comission de Châlons? When was it founded?

Answer 15

Consortium of growers and merchants formed to develop quality standards and regulate pricing.

Founded in 1935

Question 16

What is unique regarding Champagne AOP and labeling in relation to all other AOPs in France?

Answer 16

It’s the only AOP that does not need to include Appellation Contrôlée on the label.

Question 17

In what decade did phylloxera strike the vineyards of Champagne?

Answer 17

1890’s

Question 18

How did phylloxera eventually lead to a riot and French military intervention to quell it in 1911?

Answer 18

Phylloxera caused unscrupulous producers to import sparkling wine and pass it off as true champagne. Struggling growers who sold grapes to these producers weren’t happy about this and when producers began colluding to drive down grape prices in the already struggling Champagne viticole the growers took action by ransacking production houses of suspected colluders and rioting in the streets.

Question 19

Who was Otto Klaebisch?

Answer 19

Nazi-appointed agent nicknamed the “Weinführer” who took up residence at Veuve Clicquot during WWII and who demanded huge sums of Champagne for Germany

Question 20

What is the CIVC, when was it created, by who, and for what reason?

Answer 20

Comité Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne

Created in 1941 by Robert-Jean de Vögué of Möet et Chandon from the existing framework of the Comission de Châlons as a new, broader consortium of growers, producers, and shippers to represent the Champagne industry and protect its interest in the face of Nazi occupation.

Question 21

How does the Contrôle des Structures limit vineyard ownership by merchant houses and thus insuring a healthy coexistence of both grower and merchant in Champagne?

Answer 21

Contrôle des Structures prohibits any firm from farming more than fifteen owned or rented hectares. The big merchant firms must source from growers for the rest of the grapes used for production.

Question 22

What is a tête de cuvée or prestige cuvée

Answer 22

Considered the top wine of a Champagne house. Usually carries a vintage date.

Question 23

What led major Champagne houses to establish sparkling wine making operations in other parts of the world?

Answer 23

Limits of finite production in Champagne could not satisfy the world’s appetite for the wines. Rather than drastically increase the prices of the wines it made more sense to produce a higher volume. The best way to do this without sacrificing quality was to seek out other areas of production.

Question 24

When was the last revision of the boundaries of Champagne viticole? How many villages can now produce grapes for Champagne production?

Answer 24

2009

357 villages

Question 25

1 in how many bottles of sparkling wine produced worldwide is Champagne?

Answer 25

1 in 12

Question 26

Who is responsible for producing the first successful brut Champagne? When was this and what was it called?

Answer 26

Pommery

1874

It was called “Nature”