Champagne: Grape varieties & vineyard management

Question 1

Champagne: grape varieties

Grape varieties

Answer 1

• 99% of the nearly 35000 hectares are planted with the 3 main varieties:
  Pinot Noir = 38%
  Chardonnay = 30%
  Pinot Meunier = 32%
• Other varieties: Arbanne, Voltis, Petit Meslier and Fromenteau (ancestor of Pinot Gris), Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris

Question 2

Champagne: grape varieties

Pinot Meunier

Answer 2

• Meunier: mutation of PN (white hairs on leaves)
• Early budding variety (Though later than PN and Chardonnay = lees prone to spring frost
• Does well on heavier soils (more clay)
• ripens earlier = helpful in seasons where harvest is interrupted by rain
• sensitive to botrytis infection
• fruity wines = contributes softess to the blend (important for NV blends that are aged on lees for shorter time and meant to be drank right after release
• not intended for long ageing

Question 3

Champagne: vineyard management

Planting

Answer 3

• max inter-row spac ing of 1.5m
• max intra-row spacing of 0.9-1.5m
• total spacing never reaching more than 2.5m
• avarage planting density of 8000 vines per hectare
• generally high yealds = not necessary for tannins to be ripe or flavours and colours to be particularly concentrated

Question 4

Champagne: vineyard management

training and trellising

Answer 4

• Training , pruning and trellising in CHAMPAGNE has been regulated since 1938
  4 approved systems:
• Taille Chablis: the best for chardonnay / Form of spurred cordon: usually 3-4 cordons (max 5) / end of each cordon theres a spur with up to 5 buds / large amount of old wood = protection from frost / spurs must be trained to a max of 0.6m above the ground to ensure reflection of solar energy from the soils (especially on chalk)
• Cordon du Royat: Used for Pinot Noir and Meunier / 1 single cordon / spur pruned / VST position of the shoots
• Guyot: Replacem,ent cane system with VST / permitted in lesser-rated vimneyards for all 3 varieties / single or double Guyot permitted
• Vallée de la Marne: Similar to Guyot but with higher number of buds / now used less than in the past

Avarage number of buds must not exceed 18 per square meters

Question 5

Champagne: vineyard management

Hazard, pest and disease

Answer 5

• Occasional severe winter frost (can kill vines or parts of it)
• spring fronst (destroy new buds reducing yealds)
• Disruption to flowering and fruit set due to cold and rainy weather in June (can reduce yealds or lead to production of ripe and unripe grapes together
• Violent storms and hail in summer (can damage grapes and vines)
• Hot and humid weather in summer, especially after heavy rainfall ( leads to spread of botrytis)

Question 6

Champagne: vineyard management

Sustainable viticolture

Answer 6

• Promoted by the Comité Champagne at a regional level
• reduced use of pesticides (Sexual confusion techniques used instead to control pest populations)
• soil protection methods put in place : groundwater on slopes / increased use of cover crops to enhance biodiversity
• water management scheme and recycling of waste and by-products in the winery
• lighter weight champagne bottle for NV cuvées introduced by Comité champagne in 2010 (nearly 60g lighter = annual reduction in C02 emission of 8000 metric tonnes)

Question 7

Champagne: vineyard management

Harvest

Answer 7

• Harvest dates (start date only) and yealds ( to protect the quality by avoiding over-cropping = dilution of flavour) are set by the Comité Champagne every year (by taking samples from 450 control plots from veraison and measuring the rate of colour change, the average weight, sugar concentration and acidity and the incidence of botrytis)
• Also set the minimum potential alochol
• Individual producer can decide to harvest later / by derogation, they can apply to the INAO (insitut national de l’origine et de la qualité) to start picking earlier (e.g. if botrytis is threatening and is necessary to pick earlier below the min abv required)
• set yealds also protect price and regulates supply and demand
• good vintages = some crop may be set aside as reserve wine (precaution against future crop failure and lower quality vintages)
• Max yealds set by EU law (15000 kilos/hectare)
• Handpicked grapes (to avoid oxidation and microbial spoilage)
• 50kg perforated bin
• Whole bunch pressing
• usually 3 weeks harvest
• harvest labour requires around 100000 people per year