Champagne - Traditional Method Flashcards
How are the grapes traditionally pressed?
Using a basket press loaded with 4000kg of grapes (a Marc)
What is the first 2050 litres of the Marc called ?
Cuvée and it consists of the free run juice and the first press
How is the cuvée characterised?
It has high acidity and makes wine of high ageing potential
What is the Taille of the press fraction?
The last 500 litres of juice gently pressed from the Marc
How is the juice and resulting wine characterised?
Lower acidity but richer in color pigments and phenolics
In what style of wine would one expect the Taille to be used?
Non-vintage wine for early consumption
What is the usual yield and the maximum to which the Comité Champagne may raise it?
79 hl/ha and 98 hl/h
In high quality productive years, what happens to the excess wine?
The are kept as reserve wines for blending
Does EU law permit chaptalisation in the region? If yes, to achieve what min/max alcohol
Yes. In cooler years it is permitted to create minimum alcohol levels of 11 % abv to a mx of 13% abv
What other presses are also used in Champagne?
pneumatic and hydraulic horizontal
It is the winemakers choice to use MLF after primary ferment? When would he not use it?
- If the sharper acidity assisted in providing the desired style of wine
- in warmer vintages
The Chef de Cave does what?
He is the master blender
What does the assemblage blend ?
Different grape varieties, plots, vintages, press fractions
What style of champagne depends upon blending the most?
Non vintage as year on year, they must produced a consistent style irrespective of the vintage variation
How many reserve wines might the large champagne houses have to choose from?
over 100 which makes blending easier and mitigates risks from a variety of hazards. There will always be wine produced no matter what
Large brands typically use what % of reserve wine in a NV?
10-15%
Prestige brands may use old reserve wines to do what?
Add complexity to the final wine
How does storage effect the characteristics of the reserve wine?
Refer to stainless steel, vs old oak vs solera vs magnum
- stainless steel storage gives a wine which adds small but significant difference in complexity to the final wine
- old oak gives the final wine small oxidative notes
- solera system drains off older reserves from stores and adds newer reserve to the perpetual reserves to add complexity
- magnum ageing of reserve for many years to provide depth and complexity (eg. Bollinger)
Aside from non-vintage style, what other style often depends heavily on blending?
Rosés. Red and white base wines are often blended before the 2nd fermentation.
What does yeast do to the color in each ferment and how does this contribute to the price of the wine?
Yeast absorbs some of the color pigment from black grapes and therefore the final rosé color is tricky to predict. An EXPERIENCED winemaker must make that judgement which is risky an may add to the price
What is the difference in stipulated maturation times for non vintage and vintage
- non vintage 15 months with at least 12 on the lees
- vintage hold for min 3 years after tirage (movement into bottle for 2nd ferment) with at least 12 months on the lees
When will time on the lees cease to make any more autolytic notes?
After a decade
Yeast co opts O2 from the wine which protects against oxidation and so wine may remain on lees for a long time. What is the resulting wine called?
Late disgorged wine ($$$)
The sugar in the Liqueur de Expedition does what?
- determines the sweetness of the final wine
- interacts with autolytic notes in the Maillard reaction to create toasty, roasted umami notes
