Champagne Viti and Extra Flashcards
Varieties destined for Champagne production require a decrease in this, compared with the same varieties in other wines
Decrease in Canopy gaps and
Cluster exposure
The vineyards of Trépail and Villers-Marmery in the Grand Montagne of Montagne de Reims are known for this grape?
Chardonnay
What is the name of the road of Montagne de Reims
D26
In Champagne, the distance between rows must not exceed this in meters?
not more than 1.5 meters
Minimum and maximum space between vines in a row in Champagne?
0.9 min 1.5 max
What is unique about Clos ste Jacques in Ay? (Bollinger)
Half is planted en foule or “in a crowd” with very high density air layering (25,000 vines/ha)
This producer is experimenting with Lyre training in Aube for greater exposure, higher acid, less rot
Moet
Max “spread” in Champagne: sum of space between vine rows and vines themselves
2.5m
Training systems in Champagne
Cordon (Head trained)
Guyot (cordon trained)
Chablis (cordon trained)
Valée de la Marne (cordon trained)
Only training methods permitted for Grand and premier cru vineyards in Champagne
Cordon (pinot)
Taille Chablis (chardonnay)
In Chardonnay, why do four shoots require five buds?
The first bud in Chardonnay is always infertile
Min interval between shoots in Cordon (cordon de royat) training
6 inches
In Valée de la Marne training, how many buds are on permanent spur, and how many on secondary?
six on permanent
nine on secondary
Why do large crops have advantage in the cool climate of champagne?
Delay flowering to avoid frost
Extend ripening to later, cooler months
Ideal harvest is in September in Champagne. Why would a grower delay harvest?
Less than perfect growing season, rot is probable
Max press yield for Champagne?
102 liters per 160 kilograms
(25.5 hectoliters per 4,000 kilograms, 25 hl after fermentation)
What is the maximum PERMITTED yield in Champagne since 2007, to ensure a safeguard
96.9hl/ha
What is “reserve personelle”
Not Champagne AOC. held as blocage as vins clairs, and used for emergencies.
What is déblocage?
Maximum personal reserve to be released. This is classified as Champagne AOC and used to combat small harvests.
In Champagne, what is the difference between average yield and actual yield
Average yield is the average of declared yields at pressing centers of what can be legally harvested.
Actual yield is the total volume grown.
What does the “ouverture de la vendange” determine in Champagne?
When harvest is allowed to start from village by village, determined by CIVC
When is Champagne harvest in relation to Bordeaux harvest?
Two weeks later. Acid ripeness occurs when grapes are at 9.5% potential abv
50/50 Tartaric/malic
In Champagne, though ripeness levels have increased since the 1970s, what remains consistent?
Total acidity and ph. Both remain optimal
Coquard’s PAI press is unique in this way?
pressoir automatique à plateau incliné
inclined plate, pomace falls via gravity. Reduces crushing and oxidation.
How are presses in Champagne regulated to ensure consistent Cuvée extraction?
CIVC chip installed
A coquard press holds 4000kg (a marc). What are the pressings, of 2666L of juice
2050L: Cuvée
500L: Taille
116L: Rebeche
What are “bourbes?”
Stalks, seeds, stems left after settling
Who developed the double débourbage, reducing need for sulfuring?
James Coffinet, cellar master at Billecart-Salmon in 1970s
With standard Chaptalization in Champagne, how much alcohol is added?
0.8-1.3% average.
Average base wine 9.7% abv
Liqueur de Tirage contributes 1.5%
Emile Peynaud consulted for this Champagne firm in the 1950s, bringing Malolactic fermentation to Champagne
Mercier
Why is tartrate stability essential for sparkling wine production?
Crystals serve as nucleation points for CO2 and causes gushing upon opening
How can a winemaker remove color from a base wine before second fermentation in Champagne?
Carbon is sometimes used
Is a reserve wine a “base wine?”
No. A vin clair is a base wine. An assemblage of vin clair and reserve wine for the final blend can be called a base wine.
This producer famously keeps reserve wine (for blending) in Magnum?
Bollinger
Difference between “reserve perpetuelle” and a true solera
A true solera is fractional, where exactly the same volume is removed and replaced with new wine each year.
Reserve perpetuelle differs year to year depending on size of crop, but same volume is removed and replaced.
Traditionally, Champagne is bottled between February and May following harvest, with these bottlings bottled first:
Nonvintage
In which phase of fermentation: aerobic or anaerobic, do yeast break down sugar and convert to CO2?
Anaerobic
Three phases in preparing yeast for liqueur de tirage?
Activation (rehydration with diluted base wine)
Assimilation (acclimation to sugar and alcohol)
Proliferation (5% of volume of base wine to be bottled as been achieved)
What is the most widely practiced method of adding liqueur de tirage to champagne?
Day long tank method
injecting directly into bottle mitigates oxygen exposure but more expensive
One yeast cell converts one molecule of sugar into these components?
two molecules of ethanol (alcohol), two molecules of CO2, and a dash of residual energy.
Only forms of bentonite relevant in liqueur de tirage fining?
sodium and calcium bentonite
In Champagne, the liqueur de tirage and blended wine contains this many g/l, resulting in 6.08 atm pressure or a “grand mousseux?”
24g/l
(Louis Roederer reduced it to 21g in recent years)
Lower in New world blends because of higher sugar content in base wines (18-22g/l)
Why are lower levels of sugar used in large format bottles for the liqueur de tirage?
Safety measure to reduce pressure
Most common sugar source for liqueur de tirage?
Sucrose from beet sugar: (4.2g creates one atm pressure)
Why is it unnecessary to use SO2 when using RCGM (rectified concentrated grape must) as the sugar source for tirage?
totally stable solution: odorless, colorless, neutral acid. Beneficial to yeast to not use sulfur
How do most Champagne houses cultivate yeast for second fermentation?
They culture their own: in house and proprietary. Second ferment yeast is most important.
What do active yeast cells require to produce fruity esters (aromas)
amino acids. Chef de Caves add YAN of at least two parts organic nitrogen to one part inorganic nitrogen for liqueur de tirage
Why do high levels of SO2 in base wines (more than 50ppm)create acetaldyhyde?
thiamine will be deactivated
What does the term “Remise en circles” mean?
“Return to hoops (barrel)”
secondary fermentation is ineffective, or when a batch of wine is technically correct but a decision has been made not to commercialize, the wine must be returned to the vat and reblended.
Why would a winemaker use an adjuvant (bentonite and alginate colloids) for liqueur de tirage?
easier riddling (commonly used for gyropallette)
“goût de lumière”
Light struck aromas in Champagne: Dimethyl sulfide
Though the majority of Champagne is in traditional dark green bottle (only blocks 50% of light) what color is best for blocking UV light?
Dark Amber.
increase in clear bottles last 20 years
As a Carbon emissions protective measure, Champagne bottle weight has changed from 900g to this weight?
835g
“Transversage?”
Transfer method (smaller than 375, larger than jeroboam)
Champagne bottle sizes
Why does a magnum oxidate twice as slowly as a 750ml?
greater ratio of wine to oxygen
Beside the wine to oxygen ratio, what else contributes to greater quality and ageability in Magnum and larger?
The yeast cells must convert twice as much sugar to alcohol in a magnum compared with a standard bottle, but with the equivalent oxygen availability. Thus, they stall the fermentation occasionally while the last dregs of oxygen are sought. Different Biochemically.
What is an agrafe?
Clip that holds the bouchon de tirage on a champagne bottle
Bollinger uses these corks with uniform oxygen ingress
Mytik Diam cork
What is a capsule couronne? Who patented it?
Crown capsule. Patented by William Painter in the US
Not adopted in Champagne until the 1970s
For a cellar with more than 70% humidity, what type of crown cap must be used
Crown caps made from AISI 430
When does Autolysis begin and end in Champagne production?
Begins two to four months after the second fermentation has finished, usually ends after four or five years
What is the scientifically proven peak of disgorgement for mousse retention?
18 months
Most important lactone created during Champagne autolysis?
Sotolon
(curry, green walnut aromas)
What are “deplacements?” in Champagne production
déplacements—the stacking, unstacking, and restacking of bottles resting horizontally, or sur latte during yeast aging
Pupitre (“desk”) has this many holes? Who patented it?
Michelot in 1864
two hinged, heavy rectangular boards, each containing 60 holes that have been bored at an angle of 45 degrees.
In Champagne production, what is “coup de poignet?”
The act of turning the bottle and adjusting pointage all in one fell swoop
What was the precursor to the girasol “sunflower” also invented by Cordoniu?
ticono
both turned manually
What is the ideal machine for riddling trial bottlings?
Pupi matic: Can riddle just a few bottles
Who invented the modern gyropallette in 1968?
Claude Cazals and Jacques Ducoin
504-bottle-capacity
What country was the first to use and order the Gyropallette?
Italy
Newest technicological advancement in riddling
ultrasonic riddling
piezoelectric effect
fine tune rate of vibration
conversion kits available for those with gyropalettes
Most common method of disgorgement?
dégorgement à la glace
Armand Walfard developed
1892 patent
What is commonly used in Champagne disgorgement in the a la glace method?
propylene glycol (low freezing point)
freezes neck and sediment
Champagne sweetness levels
what is the variation allowed between stated and actual RS in Champagne?
3g
What is the concentration of sugar for the liqueur d’expedition?
600g/l
Permitted additives in Champagne?
Ascorbic Acid
Citric Acid
Gum Arabic
SO2
Sugar
Spirit
Sulfiscorbate (SO2 and ascorbic acid)
What is the key aromatic compound of premox?
Acetaldehyde
What is the main purpose of SO2 addition in Champagne?
Bind with acetaldehyde
In Champagne, what is “jetting”
sulfited water is injected into the wine, exciting the CO2 on the wine’s surface. The bubbles rise, pushing oxygen out of the bottle, and then the cork is inserted, compressing the CO2
In a champagne cork, what is a rondelle, or mirrors?
pure cork disks that create the agglomerate body of a cork
A Champagne cork with “MDC” or “MDA” on it means this
Mytik Diam Classic and Mytik Diam Access, respectively.
Gold standard for technical cork in Champagne
After disgorgement, how long does it take for wine to merge with dosage?
3-6 months
