Champagne Wine Guide

 

Champagne is the only wine growing region specialized in effervescent wines. Indeed, its production is considered as some of the greatest sparklings in the world.

The vineyards of Champagne are situated in five areas of the region. Montagne de Reims, vallée de la Marne, Côte des Blancs are the three viticultural areas near the cities of Reims and Epernay, the major centers of champagne's production. The last two important wine areas are Côte de Sézanne and Côte de Bar.

The region has a cool continental climate. The common winter and spring frosts with the high rainfalls make it more difficult to grow vine. The vineyards produce grapes with a low concentration of acid and sugar so the fruit is not suitable to make still wines. The vines lie on south-facing slopes and the producers use short pruning method to make them more frost resistant. However, the vintners have to use fertilizers on the poor chalky soils.

The Traditional Method

The Champagne's effervescent production employs a particular process. The reglementation forbids mechanical harvesting. The grapes have to be pressed as gently as possible to avoid extracting the tannins. After they are put inside inox barrels for the first fermentation. The new wine is blended with reserve wines or the base wine from the previous year. The style and quality of the champagne depend heavily on the blending. The great wineries called champagne houses produce their own identifiable champagne style thanks to their large range of base and reserve wines.

After the blending, the second fermentation lasts six to eight weeks. Here the producers add a small proportion of liqueur before the wine is bottled. The slow fermentation is used to develop the aromas. The CO2 level generated by the yeast dissolves into the wine leading to the creation of the sparkle. After the fermentation, the yeast forms a sediment of lees in the bottle. The wines ageing a long time on lees have sharp toasted notes of bread and biscuit thanks to the yeast. The wine is riddled and disgorged to remove the sediment of lees.            

Grape varieties used in Champagne

Champagne wines are made of a few grape varieties.

Chardonnay is more common on Côte des Blancs and Côte de Sézanne where it produces lighter acid wines than the Burgundy ones. Here the sparkling wines have floral notes and citrusy flavors.           

Pinot Noir grows mainly on the vineyards in Montagne de Reims and Côte des Bar. It confers to the blend wines their body, length and subtle flavors of red fruits. 

Pinot Meunier is found on the Vallée de la Marne. It is used to make lovely fruity wines. It is more used in young blend wines.

The different styles of Champagne

Overall, the winemakers produce non-vintage champagne. It is a wine that blended reserve wines with the vintage one. It has to be matured at least 15 months with 12 on lees.

Vintage Champagne is made during the greatest vintages with the best grapes. It has to reflect the winery's style and the vintage's own characteristics. This champagne has to be matured on lees at least three years.

Rosé Champagne is the only European wine made of a blend of red and white wine. The best rosés have delicate notes of red fruits. They rarely are vins de garde because with age they lose their flavors.

Blanc de Blancs champagnes consist exclusively of Chardonnay. The young wines are light, acid, with subtle aromas of citrus fruits and green apple. With age, the best ones reveal rich buttered notes.

Blanc de Noirs blend Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The wines have more body and pronounced red fruits flavors.

All Premium Champagnes come from the best wines and are labeled « Cuvée Prestige ».

Some of the best Champagne producers

Champagne has many prestigious wineries like Deutz, Veuve Clicquot and Dom Pérignon, which produce the greatest sparkling wines in the world.