France - Champagne & Sparkling Wine Flashcards
What are the Grand Cru villages of the Montagne de Reims?
Sillery Puisieulx Beaumont-Sur-Vesle Verzenay Mailly-Champagne Verzy (added after 1985) Louvois Bouzy Ambonnay
What are the Grand Cru villages of the Vallée de la Marne?
Aÿ
Tours-sur-Marne
What are the Grand Cru villages of the Côte des Blancs?
Choilly Oiry Cramant Avize Oger Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
What are the four ‘other’ Champagne grape varieties?
Petit Meslier
Arbane
Pinot Blanc Vrai
Pinot Gris
What are the four authorised pruning methods of Champagne?
Cordon de Royat
Guyot (single and double)
Chablis
Vallee de la Marne (Meunier only, not allowed for Grand Cru)
What are the two types of chalk found in Champagne?
How does this differ from the Côte de Bar?
Belemnite - younger soil, on slopes, retains acidity
Micraster - older soil, valley floor
> Belemnite is all right, micraster is a disaster!
Kimmeridgean soil - clay and limestone
Why does chalk soil cause chlorosis?
Prevents uptake of iron, copper and magnesium
What is the minimum amount of time between tirage and degorgement?
12 months (ie. aged on the lees minimum 12 months - the rest of the time can be aging in bottle on cork)
What is the maximum amount of a harvest that may be sold as vintage Champagne?
80%
What is the élevage requirement for NV Champagne?
15 months
What is the élevage requirement for vintage dated Champagne?
36 months
What is the minimum amount of pressure for a quality traditional method sparkling wine produced in the EU?
3.5 bars
What is the traditional basket press of Champagne called?
Coquard
What is blocage?
A portion of each Champagne harvest that is put aside (reserve wines)
What are the matriculation numbers found on Champagne and what do they mean?
Hint: There are seven.
NM (Négociant Manipulant): A house that purchases grapes and or base wines from growers and other smaller houses. Some NM houses own a significant portion of their own vineyards; others own none at all.
RM (Récoltant Manipulant): A grower-producer who makes Champagne from estate-grown fruit. 95% of the grapes must originate in the producer’s own vineyards.
CM (Coopérative Manipulant): A growers’ co-operative that produces the wine under a single brand.
RC (Récoltant Coopérateur): A grower whose grapes are vinified at a co-operative, but sells the wine under his own label.
SR (Société de Récoltants): A firm, not a co-operative, set up by a union of often related growers, who share resources to make their wines and collectively market several brands.
ND (Négociant Distributeur): A middleman company that distributes Champagne it did not make.
MA (Marque d’Acheteur): A buyer’s own brand, often a large supermarket chain or restaurant, that purchases Champagne and sells it under its own label.
What are the Crémants of France?
Crémant d'Alsace AOP Crémant de Bourgogne AOP Crémant de Loire AOP Crémant du Jura AOP Crémant de Die AOP Crémant de Limoux AOP Crémant de Bordeaux AOP
Crémant de Savoie is also allowed, and is a designation within Vin de Savoie AOP
From which region is Crémant de Die sourced?
Rhône Valley
From which region is Crémant de Limoux sourced?
Languedoc
How long is Seyssel Mousseux aged in the bottle? Which region is it from?
Minimum 9 months
Savoie
What does the matriculation number CM mean?
CM (Coopérative Manipulant): A growers’ co-operative that produces the wine under a single brand.