Session 2 Flashcards
What is a terroir
An area in which the collective knowledge of the interactions between an identifiable physical and biological environment and wine growing practices applied to it has developed into a distinctive set of characteristics on the product (wine)
Latitude of Champagne region
~49 degrees north
Climate of Champagne
Dual: Oceanic: provides water with little continentality || Continental: frost in winter, sunshine in summer
Does Champagne get more or less rain than Burgundy or Bordeaux.
Less than both
Does Champagne got less or more sunshine than Burgundy or Bordeaux
Less than both
Average annual temp for Champagne
11.38 C. (About same as Burgundy but 3 degrees cooler than Bordeaux)
What is unpredictable about Champagne weather
Spring frost: destroy buds if during bud break; winter freeze: destroy vines; summer and fall hail
How is Champagne contributing to sustainable development
Reduce weight of bottle (20% reduction in Carbon footprint); 50% reduction in use of pesticides (using mating disruption) and N fertilizer, 90% of waste recycled, 100% of wine effluents recycled. Use of electric vehicles
Explain Champagne’s topography
Steep, undulating hillsides 12 to 59% slopes. Most vineyards face S, SE, E. For optimal exposure to sun
In 17th Century Champagne wine was known by which moniker
Vin the Coteau. Wine of the hills
Subsoil of Champagne is primarily ____.
Limestone
Outcropping sediments are composed of ?
75% Limestone, 25% sand, clay and silt
What is the composition of limestone
Limestone proper, chalk, and marl
Name ideal soil for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Meunier
Chardonnay: Chalk; Pinot Noir: Clay-limestone with deep chalk; Meunier: sandy clay, slight silt
Which areas lie on outcropping of chalk
Cote des blancs, cote de Sezanne, vineyards of Vitry le Francois, Montgeux
Which areas lie on deep layer of chalk
Montagne de Reims
Which areas lie on Marley, clayey, sandy soils
Vallee de la Marne and some small massifs around Reims
What kind of soil does Cote des Bar have
Marl (mostly)
Describe Champagne’s chalk
Calcite granules from the skeleton of marine organisms and belemnite fossils. High porosity is ideal for water storage (300-400 liters per cubic meter).
Describe impact of chalk on vine growth
Chalk retains water through capillary action. So vines have to work hard to extract water from soil which creates moderate water stress, favoring balance between the different acids in the fruit, which impact sugar and phenolic development, then eventually revealed in the final product.
Which are early ripening and late ripening: Chardonnay, Pinot, Meunier
Early: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay ; Late: Meunier
Meunier: Soils and regions
Clayey, sandy soils; Vallee de la Marne
Pinot Noir soils and region
Clay limestone with deep chalk; Montagne de Reims and Cote des Bar
Chardonnay soils and region
Outcropping chalk; Cote des Blancs, Cote Sezanne, Coteaux du Vitryat
