Champagne - Growing Environment Flashcards
Which line of latitude/parallel does champagne lie south of?
South of the 50th
Where abouts in France is Champagne located?
North East France, East of Paris
How many km N to S does the region extend vs E to W?
150km North to South vs
120km East to West
Name the five subregions in Champagne (North to South)
Montagne de Reims
Valleé de la Marne
Cotes des Blancs
Cote de Sézanne
Cote de Bar
What is the climate in champagne?
cool continental with ocean influence
What is the adequate average rainfall ?
700mm
What is the average annual temperature and what types of wine does that create?
11 oC making low potential alcohol, high acid wines (ideal for sparkling but not for still)
What hazards does rain present?
During flowering or fruit set, it can reduced yields.
During harvest it can yield to increase fungal disease and dilution of flavors
When does rain occur?
Throughout the year
Name four outcomes of global warming in the region over the last 30 years
- increase in potential alcohol of 0.7%
- fall in acidity
- harvest date moved by 18 days
- increase ripeness meaning fewer poor vintages
What is the most common soil in the champagne region?
Chalk over limestone and chalk subsoil
What does this former seabed provide in terms of water for the vines?
Ideal drainage from porosity but also ideal water retention feeding the vines water even during drier periods
What is the altitude range of most vineyards in champagne?
90m - 300m
How does the vine avoid waterlogging?
Vines are planted in chalk and on slopes
Which soils produce the most high quality grapes suitable for base wines?
Chalky hillsides in the north of the region
Which grapes are grown to the higher quality on high chalk content soils?
Chardonnay
How many subregions are there in champagne?
There are five of them in champagne
Name the northerly subregion to the east of the River Marne
Montagne de Reims
What is the location, climate, soil, topography and grape variety of the Montagne de Reims?
LOCATION: A region Northeast of R. Marne
CLIMATE: Cool Climate with
TOPOGRAPHY: North Facing Slopes (best sites)
SOILS: 9 Grand Crus sites are on chalky soil, rest of subregion varies
GRAPES: Black grapes are where its reputation lies but important pockets of chardonnay
Name 5 of the 9 grand cru villages of the Montagne de Reims
Bouzy, Mailly, Ambonnay, Verzy, Verzenay
Is Montagne de Reims a mountain?
No its a plateau
How would one characterise the wine in the Montagne de Reims?
very high acid and austere in youth
What is the LOCATION, CLIMATE, TOPOGRAPHY, SOILS and GRAPES in the Vallée de la Marne?
LOCATION: West of Epernay and the R. Marne
CLIMATE:
TOPOGRAPHY:
SOILS: cool clay, marl, sand
GRAPES: Pinot meunier is the major planting but there is also chardonnay
How does meunier face local hazards better than chardonnay and pinot noir?
Avoids spring frosts as its bud break is later than chardonnay and pinot noir
To what hazard is the Vallée prone?
Frosts
How many grand crus are in the Vallée and name them
Two. Aÿ and Tours sur Marne
How would one characterise the wine in the Vallée de la Marne?
soft fruity wines
What is the LOCATION, CLIMATE, TOPOGRAPHY, SOILS and GRAPES in the Cote de Blanc?
LOCATION: Due South from Epernay.
CLIMATE: cool continental
SOILS: Purest Chalk therefore ideal water retention and drainage
GRAPES: 95% Chardonnay
How many Grand Cru in the Cote de Blanc and name them
SIX and they include Cramant, Avize, Mesnil Sur Oger in the centre and Chouilly and Oiry in the North
How many Premier Crus lie in the Cote de Blanc?
SEVEN
How would one characterise the wine in the Cote de Blanc?
austere in youth but long ageing potential and complexity
What is the LOCATION, CLIMATE, TOPOGRAPHY, SOILS and GRAPES in the Cote de Sezanne?
LOCATION: Continuation of Cote de Blanc
CLIMATE: cool continental
TOPOGRAPHY: warming SE Facing slopes (makes ripe & fruity)
SOILS: CLAY dominant Clay/Silt blend with pockets of chalk
GRAPES: Chardonnay
Are there any grand cru in the Cote de Sezanne?
no
How are the grapes and wines compared in quality to the Montagne de Reims, Vallee de la Marne and Cote de Blanc?
rated as lower quality grapes and wine
What wines are produced in the Cote de Sézanne?
Rich , Round wines which are approachable in their youth and make good blending components
What is the LOCATION, CLIMATE, TOPOGRAPHY, SOILS and GRAPES in the Cote des Bar?
LOCATION: closer to Chablis (similar soil)than to the other subregions in the Marne
TOPOGRAPHY: Steep Slopes have excellent drainage
SOILS: Kimmeridgian soil and calcareous marl
GRAPES: Pinot Noir mostly (should be chard dominant but till WW2 Gamay dominant. When gamay was eventually phased out, another red variety was planted to replace it, Pinot Noir)
How would one characterise the wines of Cote des Bar?
Ripest of PN produced in Champagne region. Bought by northern négociant for blending into non-vintage wines
How many hectares of vineyard in the Champagne region?
35k hectares of vineyard
Chardonnay , Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier occupy what percentage of grapes grown in Champagne region?
99% of all grapes grown in the Champagne region
What percentage of each grape is grown in the Champagne region?
Chardonnay (30%), Pinot Meunier (32%), Pinot Noir (38%)
Why do red grapes dominate. How is this reflected in the price per kilo?
A lot of demand for them from northern big Champagne houses, the vines are more productive. This heightened demand makes their price slightly higher than chardonnay
Name the 4 other grapes grown which are permitted in champagne
Fromenteau, Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Pinot Blanc
Name 1 wine produced that use all 7 champagne grapes
Laherte Fréres Les 7
Where does Meunier get its name?
meunier means flour and its leaves are covered in fine white hair like flour
Meunier is a mutation of what ?
Pinot
Meunier buds early or late and how does this compare to its main two competitors?
Early budding.
It buds later than Pinot Noir and Chardonnay
Which hazard does the budding time avoid?
Spring Frosts are avoided by the grape
Meunier gives soft fruity wines and is usually used to blend what style of champagne?
What are the exceptions?
Non-vintage. It spends less time on the lees than vintage and is usually consumed early. Meunier lacks structure and so less suited for long term wine.
Exceptions include makers like Egly Ouriet and Krug
What is the planting density in Champagne?
Maximum spacing of no more than 2.5 m taking into account inter and intra row spacing
2.5m maximum spacing allows how many vines per hectare?
8000 vines/hectare
Name for four approved systems of training, pruning, trellising in the Champagne region
Taille Chablis
Guyot
Cordon du Royat
Vallée de la Marne
Name and describe the following system used in both Chablis and most often for Chardonnay in the champagne region
- Taille Chablis
- 3 to 5 cordons (old wood) carry a spur at its end with 5 buds
- the permanent wood protects against frosts and can be trained no higher than 0.6m from the ground to benefit from reflected heat from the chalk soil
Name this pruning system permitted in champagne region and describe it and which grapes use it
Cordon Royat
Single cordon with spurs arising from its length (spur pruned) (shoots vertically positioned )
What is the Guyot system and what are its advantages in terms of hazard avoidance?
What quality vineyards are they used in in the Champagne region?
Replacement cane trellising system with vertical shoot positioning. Typically used in cooler climates as avoids Spring frost
Used in the less rated vineyards in Champagne for all 3 main varieties
Valle de la Marne trellising differs from Guyot how?
Is this on the rise or trending downwards in use?
Valle de la Marne trellising has more buds than Guyot.
It is far less used today than historically
What the average nimber of fruitig buds per vine for all pruning and trellising systems?
18 buds per sqm
Which two types of frost threaten vines in Champagne?
Winter Frosts : - damages the vines which reduces the yield
Spring Frosts: Damages the buds andd reduces the yield
Yield reduction and millerandage from poor fruit set and flowering can by caused by what climate factor occurring when?
Rain in June
Name 6 possible hazards a winemaker must consider in the Champagne region
- Frosts
- June rains
- Hail in the Summer
- Humid Summer weather causing mould
- Dagger Nematode
- Fanleaf Virus
Who encourages SUSTAINABILITY in the vineyard and winery in Champagne?
Comité Champagne
How is Sustainability practised in the vineyard?
- Pesticides are being replaced with alternattives such as Sexual Confusion techniques
- Groundwater management on slopes to protect against erosion
- Biodiversity encouraged with the planting of covercropping
How is sustainability encouraged in the winery?
And how much CO2 production does it save annually?
Comité Champagne introduced a new champagne bottle in 2010 which was 60g lighter than the existing non-vintage bottles
8000 metric tonnes is the estimate
How does the Comité Champagne determine and set the harvest date, maximum yield and minimum potential alcohol each year?
Taking measurements of sugar , average weight, acidity and botrytis incidence
If producers disagree with the prescribed harvest date set for their village, what actions are open to them?
- go ahead and choose to pick a few days before the start date
- apply for an exemption from the INAO on grounds such as threat of botrytis
In controlling yield, what three things does the Comité Champagne hope to protect?
- QUALITY of champagne -CONCENTRATION of flavors from not overcropping
- PRICE of champagne
Name two recent large production years in the region
2006 and 2007
Handpicking for whole bunch pressing is stipulated in the Champagne AOC how does it increase the quality of the final wine?
Reduces crushing, oxidation, microbial spoilage. Preserves fruit quality
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