General Champagne questions Flashcards
How many communes of production are in Champagne AOP?
357 villages
What is the minimum potential alcohol of Champagne?
9%
What is the maximum RS of Champagne?
10 g/l
What are the time constraints for tirage?
Tirage may not occur until January 1 of the year following the harvest.
Volume of wine may not increase by more than what percent per 1% alcohol increase?
1.12%
Wines may not be disgorged until when?
At least 12 months after the date of tirage.
Which bottle sizes are not sold in the same bottles in which tirage occurred?
Bottles smaller than 375ml and larger than 3 liters.
For NV bottlings, how much of 375ml bottles can be transferred into new bottles?
20%
How much of a vintage’s harvest can be sold as vintage Champagne?
80%
How much of the stated vintage must make up the bottle?
100%
What is the minimum must weight of Champagne?
143 g/l
What is the minimum planting density of Champagne?
Max 2.5 square meters per vine
What are the permitted training methods in Champagne?
Chablis
Cordon de Royat
Vallee de la Marne (for Meunier only)
Guyot (simple or double)
What is the maximum yield of Champagne?
10,400 kilograms per hectare
What is rebeche?
The end of the pressing
When was Champagne AOC established?
1936
What are the sweetness levels for Extra Brut Champagne, Pre-2010 and current?
0-6 grams per liter for both.
What are the sweetness levels for Brut Champagne, pre-2010 and current?
0-15 grams per liter, 0-12 grams per liter.
What are the sweetness levels for Extra Dry Champagne, pre-2010 and current?
12-20 grams per liter, 12-17 grams per liter.
What are the sweetness levels for Sec Champagne, pre-2010 and current?
17-35 grams per liter, 17-32 grams per liter.
What are the sweetness levels for Demi-Sec Champagne, pre-2010 and current?
33-50 grams per liter, 32-50 grams per liter.
What are the sweetness levels for Doux Champagne, pre-2010 and current?
50+ grams per liter.
How many Champagne Grand Cru Villages are there?
17
How many Premier Cru Villages are in Champagne?
42
How many Premier Cru Villages are in Montagne de Reims?
26
How many Premier Cru Villages are in Vallee de la Marne?
7
How many Premier Cru Villages are in Cote de Blancs?
9
What does NM mean?
Negociant Manipulant
responsible for the majority of champagne produced, houses that buy in grapes and wine with a huge variation in quality
What does RM mean?
récoltant manipulant, a grower who makes champagne out of their own grapes which includes some very good (value) and some pretty dire wine
What does CM mean?
A co-op
What does RC mean?
récoltant co-opérateur, someone who’s a member of a co-op and buys back wine from them to sell under their own label
What is the encepagement of Rose de Riceys?
100% Pinot Noir
What are vinification requirements of Rose de Riceys?
Grapes are vinified as whole bunches (semi-carbonic macearation)
What is the city that’s essentially in the middle of the 3 Champagne subregions?
Epernay
What are the known and most relevant contributions by Dom Perignon?
assemblage (blending) and viticulture.
What issues did Dom Perignon have with bottles, and where?
As cellar master at the Abbey of Hautvillers from 1668-1715, bottles would explode after refermenting.
What kind of glass is stronger, good for use with Champagne?
Coal-fired glass
How for back do Champagne vineyards date to?
5th Century
What is the oldest Champagne house still in operation?
Gosset
What would the Champenoise color their red wines with?
Elderberry
Who pioneered remuage (riddling)?
Veuve Cliquot, under the leadership of Madame Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin
Who and when identified the relationship between sugar and fermentation?
Jean-Antoine Chaptal in 1801.
When did the French government delimit Champagne?
1908
What was the first Brut Champagne on the market?
Pommery Nature
What consortium of merchants and growers was formed to develop quality standards and regulate pricing?
Commission de Chalons (1935)
When did growers revolt against producers?
1911
What outstanding Champagne vintage happened as tragedy/chaos was happening around them (and in Reims)?
1914
What consortium started in 1941?
Comite Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne
What is Dom Perignon’s inaugural vintage?
1921
What is the mean annual temperature of Champagne?
50 degrees F
What is bouvreux?
The second crop of Champagne that rarely ripens and is left on the vine.
What kind of Champagne subsoil is pushed to the surface?
Porous, belemnite chalk.
What kind of soil is the Champagne valleys?
Micraster chalk
Champagne’s natural cellars hover around what temperature?
53-54
What is the dominant soil in Aube?
clay
What limit did the CIVC set in 1992 for grape pressing?
102 liters of must for every 160 kg of grapes
What direction are the slopes of Cote des Blancs?
southeast and east
What is the difference between “vin de cuvee” and “vin de taille”
Vin de cuvee = the first 2,050 liters
Vin de taille = the following 500 liters
The vin de taille is generally rich in what?
Pigment and tannin
What third extraction is required by law? What is the required percentage of total?
Rebeche, 1-10%
What are vins clairs?
High acid base wines
How long is debourbage (settling)?
8-15 hours
What is prise de Mousse?
Second fermentation
How long does the secondary fermentation last?
Appx 8 weeks
How much does the alcohol generally rise in Champagne’s secondary fermentation?
1.2-1.3%
What is the pressure during secondary fermentation?
5-6 atms
What is the minimum requirement for lees aging in bottle, for non-vintage wines?
1 year
What is the name for the mostly antiquated practice of briskly shaking bottles so yeast don’t stick to the bottle, so they can be more easily degorged?
Pointage
What is a bidule?
A small plastic cup that fits into the bottle’s neck and into which the sediment eventually settles.
Who developed the pupitre? What is it?
the “Widow Cliquot”. A frame of two large planks with 60 holes, used for aging bottles.
Which large format bottle was discontinued in Champagne, and when?
Rehoboam - 4.5L - 1989
300 years ago, what was Champagne largely planted with?
Pinot Gris
What are generally considered the best vintages from Champagne in the last 20 years?
1996, 2002, 1995, 1998.
What does “Grand Marques” mean?
Famous brand
How many Grand Marques are there?
24
What is the name of the co-op that produces Nicolas Feuillate?
Centre Vinicole de la Champagne (CVC)
What co-op group produces Jacquart and Pannier?
Alliance Champagne
What are the steps to Methode Champenoise production?
- Pressing
- First fermentation
- Blending
- Second fermentation (prise de mousse - liqueur di tirage is added)
- lees aging
- remuage/riddling
- disgorgement
- dosage
- recorking
