CREMANT Flashcards
CREMANT
- Denote some regional French traditional method sparkling wines made outside of the Champagne
region. - Crémant had referred to a semi-sparkling style within Champagne, however, when in 1985 the EU banned the term méthode champenoise as a description of the traditional method for making sparkling wines, Crémant came to be used exclusively
of traditional method sparkling wines outside of Champagne. More regions created a Crémant, and production grew. - There are eight Crémant appellations in France, but the Diploma specification only deals with the three largest: Alsace, Bourgogne and the Loire.
- The permitted grape varieties for the various Crémant wines reflect the typical varieties of their regions.
- While Alsace and the Loire are the largest and most important sources of Crémant category wines, the production of each is still
only about 10 per cent of the production of Champagne.
common features for all the Crémant wines
- whole-bunch pressing (and therefore hand harvesting)
- maximum yield at pressing of 100 litres per 150 kg of grapes
- minimum of nine months’ ageing on lees during second fermentation in the bottle
- minimum 12 months’ maturation between tirage and release, which includes the nine months’ ageing on lees
- maximum 13% abv in the finished wine
- minimum 4 atmospheres pressure.
Crémant d’Alsace
- 25 per cent of total production of wine in the
region. - The area of vineyard declared for Crémant has grown by 15 per cent over the last ten years to 3,600 hectares, reflecting increased demand for sparkling wine in general.
- The most important variety for sparkling wine is Pinot Blanc.
- Pinot Blanc-based Crémant has a medium intensity, ripe, apple and pear fruit, medium (+) to high acidity and a light to medium body. The wines that have had longer ageing on the lees have medium intensity biscuit, autolytic notes. Most wines are in
the Brut style.
CLIMATE
The vineyards for both still and sparkling wine are mainly on the eastern flanks of the Vosges foothills at elevation ranging from 200
to 400 m. The Vosges protect vineyards from prevailing western winds.
- the climate is sunny, continental, often rather
dry and hot during the growing season. Shortage of water can be a problem, as irrigation is not permitted.
- In this climate, grape
ripening progresses with hot days and cool nights (due to the continental climate), giving fruit ripeness while retaining high acidity that is ideal for traditional
method sparkling wine. Spring frost can be a problem and has become worse in recent years with warmer and earlier springs
resulting in in early bud break. This in turn makes the vines more vulnerable to spring frost and leads to reduction in yields.
SITE LOCATION
Growers reserve their best sites for Riesling and the other noble varieties to be made into still wines. Pinot Blanc is grown on a
range of sites – usually lower level elevations (high fertility and therefore not suited to top-quality grapes for still wines) and some
cooler sites in the higher valleys where grapes for still wines would struggle to ripen. For example, Pinot Blanc for Crémant has
been planted in the Munster valley, with its cool airflows retaining acidity in the grapes.
GRAPE VARIETIES
- Pinot Blanc, Auxerrois, Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir. This group of
mostly low aromatic varieties is well known for its suitability for traditional method sparkling wine. The other common aromatic
varieties of Alsace, such as Gewurztraminer and Muscat, are not permitted. Riesling is allowed, but little used as growers prefer to
use it for still wines. - Pinot Blanc is an inexpensive variety, and some top growers will put the more valuable Pinot Gris (with its
more prominent fruit) in their blends to raise quality.
Crémant d’Alsace is the only Alsace appellation allowing the use of Chardonnay that is a tiny part of the total vineyard area (1 per
cent). - Crémant d’Alsace Rosé can only be made from Pinot Noir. These wines can be of very good quality with medium to medium (+)
flavour intensity of red-berried fruit. - Pinot Blanc, 20 per cent of the total Alsace vineyard area, is a major ingredient. (This figure is for Pinot Blanc and Auxerrois
combined, as the two varieties are not distinguished in the record keeping; in reality, most of the vines are Pinot Blanc.) - Pinot Blanc
is early budding, making it vulnerable to spring frosts. It is prone to fungal diseases. It is also early ripening, combined with the
early picking necessary for sparkling wines, means that the harvest is much earlier than for other varieties. - Pinot Blanc contributes floral and
green apple aromas and high acidity to Crémant.
VINEYARD MANAGEMENT
In general, vines for grapes intended for Crémant are pruned to a greater crop load than for still wine, as the base wines do not
need a high concentration of flavours.
- The maximum yield is 80 hL/ha (hectolitres per hectare). (For the sake of comparison, the
maximum yield in Champagne is 65–75 hL/ha.)
- Growers have to declare in July that they are going to make Crémant from
particular vineyards.
- Harvest for Crémant is early – last days of August to first part of September – because just-ripe fruit with high acidity is sought.
- Harvest is by hand, as whole-bunch pressing is mandatory. This is with a view to producing high-quality juice with low phenolic
content.
WINEMAKING
As potential alcohol is low (minimum potential alcohol of 8.5 per cent), the must is often chaptalised. Winemaking then follows the
standard procedure for traditional method to produce a fully sparkling wine.
- Wines are typically 100 per cent of a single vintage, i.e.
no reserve wines.
- Time on the lees during second fermentation is typically relatively short (e.g. 12 months), resulting in wines that
show mainly primary green apple fruit. However, better producers, including the top cooperatives (e.g. Cave de Turckheim),
increase the time on lees substantially (e.g. two years for Cave de Turckheim’s most inexpensive sparkling wine). This results in
wines with biscuit autolytic notes and more complexity. The vast majority of wines are Brut.
- Rosé wines are made by maceration on the skins for 12–24 hours to get the desired depth of colour.
- Dosage levels are typically in the 8–10g/L range with the sugar balancing the high acidity.
Crémant d’Alsace Emotion
This prestige category was launched in 2012 to create a top-quality category for Alsace sparkling wine.
- This category requires a
minimum 75 per cent Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, separately or together, and a minimum 24 months on lees.
- However, while some very good, long-lees-aged wines are made in the region (e.g. Domaine Jean-Claude Buecher), the new
category has not proved popular.
