The Language Of The Label Flashcards
What it means Blanc de blancs?
Champagne made exclusively from Chardonnay.
What it means Blanc de noirs?
Champagne made exclusively from dark-skinned grapes (Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier).
What it means Cuvée?
A blend, which most champagne is.
What it means NV (Non-Vintage)?
Champagne containing wines from more than one year.
What it means Réserve? And Cuvée de Prestige?
Much used but meaningless term, is referred to some reserved wine of the maison which is added to the cuvée.
A producer might also indulge in a cuvée de prestige, normally a vintage champagne made from premium grapes and aged for an even longer period.
What it means Vintage?
Wine from a single year.
Talking about sweetness levels, what it means Brut nature or zero dosage?
<3 g/l residual sugar levels, and no sugar additions of any sort.
Extra brut?
Blonde-dry: 0-6 g/l
Brut?
Dry: <12 g/l.
Extra dry?
Dry: 12-17 g/l.
Dry or Sec?
Dryish: 17-32 g/l.
Demi-sec?
Medium sweet (despite the name): 32-50 g/l.
Doux?
Positively sweet: >50 g/l.
Talking about bottler codes, what it means NM?
Négociant-manipulant: champagne house that buys in grape.
RM?
Récoltant-manipulant: grower who makes his or her champagne wine.
CM?
Coopérative de manipulation: a co-op.
RC?
Récoltant-coopérateur: grower selling wine made by a co-op.
MA?
Marque d’acheteur: buyer’s own brand. ND (négociants-distributeurs) is similar, even if MA is applied to a finished champagne marketed under the label of a retailer such as a supermarket group or celebrity.
What is it prestige cuvée?
One of several names given to a champagne house’s highest-quality wine.
All the major firms have now followed the example of Roederer with their Cristal bottling and Moët & Chandon with Dom Pérignon and produce ‘luxury’, ‘de luxe’, or prestige cuvées to show their house styles at their best.
SR?
Other entities in the champagne industry are sociétés de récoltants (SR), growers who group together to produce a champagne outside the co-operative system.
ND?
Négociants-distributeurs (ND), négociants who buy a finished champagne and market it under their own label.
What it means “grandes marques”?
Obsolete, self-imposed term for some of the major houses or brands of champagne. The original Syndicat des Grandes Marques was founded in 1882 but was disbanded in 1997. The term means literally ‘big brand’ in French and is still used informally.
Which are some of the most important investments of the maison Bollinger?
The Bollinger family company, Société Jacques Bollinger, acquired Burgundy producer Chanson in 1999. It also owns a majority stake in the saumur house Langlois-Chateau, as well as a minority stake in the cognac house Delamain. In 2005 the company bought their neighbouring house in Aÿ, Champagne Ayala, one of the original grandes marques.
