Salu2food(Home) Wine Regiions Old World France Champagne
ABOUT CHAMPAGNE
In other wine regions blending is frowned upon, and the best wines aremade on one estate and from a single vintage. In Champagne the traditionalview could not be more contrasting-classic non-vintage Champagnes are ablend of different grapes, from different areas and different harvests.Whether for cracking on the bow of a ship. toasting the bride and bridegroomor celebrating the winner of a Grand Prix. Champagne is the first choice.
Indispensable it might be yet many people feel curiously disappointed whenthey drink it. Perhaps they have drunk a cheap bubbly which may be all fizzand no flavor, or have been given a glass to wash down a slice of weddingcake? The intense sweetness of the cake abuses the dry flavor of the wineand makes even the best Champagne taste sharp and unpleasant. No one shouldfeel they have to like Champagne, but it is, however. one of the most remarkabledrinks man has managed to produce with the fruits of the vine-a pale colored,richly, flavored, yet delicate wine, made vivacious by a constant streamof ultra-fine bubbles. Champagne's limited production, relatively high priceand superb promotion do help to create the image of an inimitable product,but good Champagnes have a quality and finesse that no other sparkling winehas yet been able to match.
What is Champagne?
Champagne is a specific appellation reserved for the product of three grapevarieties, the Chardonnay, Pinot noir and Pinot meunier, grown in a legallydelimited region of northern France. Within the EEC no other sparkling winemay be called Champagne; other countries, which have in the past sold wineslabeled Champagne without a blush, are now beginning to take pride in theorigin and individuality of their home products and are voluntarily phasingOUt the term.
HOW CHAMPAGNE IS MADE
The harvest in Champagne usually takes place in mid-October, although inexceptional years it has commenced as early as August and as late as November.
Although modem horizontal presses, both hydraulic and pneumatic, are used,the most popular press is a small, vertical one with a capacity of 4,000kilograms (8,818 pounds) and a shallot base which allows the lid of thepress to squeeze a thin mass of grapes. The grapes are not destalked and,when they are pressed, their fibrous material forms a network of cartelsthrough which the grape juice drains. It is essential that the pressingis carried out quickly; particularly with the black Pinot varieties, wherethe coloring matter in the grape skins give the juice an undesirable taint.Each 4,000 kilograms (8,818 pounds) of grapes is called a marc and one marcmust yield no more than 2,666 litres (704 gallons) of juice. The first pressingextracts 2,050 litres (541 gallons) called the cuvee, which is the highestquality juice, the next 410 litres (108 gallons) is called the premieretaille end the remaining 205 litres (54 gallons) the deuxieme taille.
Because the taille is of inferior quality to the cuvee, it is common practicefor many houses to declare they never use vins de taille in their Champagnes,preferring to sell them on to houses that specialize in BOB (Buyer's OwnBrand Champagnes.
The first alcoholic fermentation
There is nothing mysterious about the initial fermentation of Champagne,which results in a dry still wine, very acid to taste with a quite unremarkablecharacter. Like Port, the base wine must be intrinsically out of balanceif the final product is to achieve a correct balance. Historically, thefirst fermentation took place in oak casks, but now stainless-steel vatshave largehy replaced them, although a few of the most traditional houses,and many thousands of grower producers,, still ferment some or all of theirwines in cask
Malolactic fermentation
Champagne normally undergoes what is called malolactic "fermentation",this is not strictly speaking a fermentation, but another biochemical processwhich converts the hard malic acid to soft lactic acid. Those who cask-fermenttheir wines usually bottle without this conversion having taken place, becauseit is difficult to achieve in wood and is generally believed not to occurin bottle during or after the second fermentation. A Champagne which hasnot undergone malolactic conversion is quite often austere in characterand hard to appreciate until properly matured, but once it has developedit will have the capacity to remain at its peak for far longer than otherChampagnes.
Blending the wine
The critical operation of assemblage, or blending, is highly skilled andpainstaking. To consistently blend together a non-vintage Champagne of aspecific house style from as many as 70 different base wines each of whichchanges in character from year to year, is a remarkable feat. Even a vintageChampagne has to be blended, albeit from one year's wines, so as to conveyboth the quality and character of the year, and also the style of the house.
The second alcoholic fermentation
After the blended wine has undergone its final racking, what is known asthe liqueur de tirage is added; this is a mixture of still Champagne, sugarand selected yeasts. The amount of sugar added depends on the degree ofeffervescence required and the amount of natural sugar in the wine. Dosedwith a suitable amount of liqueur, the wines are bottled and capped witha temporary closure. This used to be a cork secured by a metal clip calledan agrafe, but a crown-cap (which is the same as a beer-bottle cap) is nowin common use and this holds in place a small plastic pot to catch the sedimentproduced by the second fermentation.
The wines are then stacked in the deepest cellars, often in the famous crayeres,or chalk pits, dug by the Romans to provide
building materials. In the cool depths of these cellars the l fermentationis very slow and this creates \Nines with great aromatic properties. complexflavors and minuscule bubbles. The carbon dioxide remains imprisoned inthe wine and only when the bottle is opened will it be able to escape, rushingto the surface in the to mm of a stream of bubbles. The French use the termprise de mousse. or capturing the sparkle . for this second fermentation.
Remnage
When the second fermentation is over, which can take between ten days andthree months. the bottles are transferred to pupitres. two-hinged, heavy,rectangular boards containing 60 holes, each l allowing a bottle to be heldby the neck in any position from horizontal. through 90°; to vertical.Remuage, a method of shaking and twisting the bottles to loosen the sedimentand l encourage it to move to the neck of the bottle. then rakes place.BN hand this takes about eight weeks. but a number of companies have installedcomputerized equipment which operates 500 bottle pallets. and performsthe task in eight days.
Remnage versus yeast capsules
Experiments have been taking place with a new technique which obviates theneed for remuage Yeast capsules are inserted into the bottles to inducea secondary fermentation and the sediment produced is imprisoned insidethe porous capsules. If these pills gain official approval, they may supersedethe very expensive computerized gyropalettes in the 1990s. A rival to theyeast capsule, an agglomerating yeast which requires no special dispensingsystem, is also under development.
Aging the wine
After remuage many bottles will undergo a period of aging before the sedimentis removed. The minimum period for non vintage Champagnes is one year (fromthe January following the harvest) and this is extended to three years forvintage Champagnes. The longer the Champagne is aged the better, becausethe sediment contains dead yeast cells and the gradual breakdown of thesecells gives Champagne its special flavor and bouquet. This process, | knownas autolysis, is largely responsible for the superior quality | of prestigecuvees.
Degorgement
This is the removal of the sediment which has collected in the plastic potheld in place by the crown-cap The method used today is known as degorgementa la glace. It involves the immersion of the bottle neck in a shallow bathof freezing brine. This causes the sediment to adhere to the base of theplastic pot attached to the crown-cap enabling the bottle to be turned uprightwithout disturbing the sediment. Then, the crown-cap is removed and thel sediment is ejected by the internal pressure of the bottle. Only a littlewine is lost, as the pressure is reduced by the freezing brine.
Adding the liqueur d'expedition
Before corking, the bottles are topped up with the liqueur d'expeditionwhich may include a small amount of sugar-the addition of branch: is nowvirtually non existent. The younger the wine, the greater the dosage ofsugar required to balance the youthful acidity. High acidity is crucialto a fine Champagne; it carries l the flavor to the palate through the tactileeffect caused by | thousands of bursting bubbles. But this acidity roundsout with l age; the older the Champagne the less sugar needed.
Corking
The next stage is the insertion of a cork by machine. A protective | metalcap is placed on the cork with a pulverizing blow, giving the I cork itsspecial mushroom-like appearance. A wire muzzle secures the cork to thebottle, which is then automatically shaken to homogenize- l the wine andliqueur The best cuvees are often kept for a while to help marry the liqueurIt is always worth giving any good Champagne a year or two of extra agingbefore drinking it.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF CHAMPAGNE VINEYARDS
All the vineyards of' Champagne are quality rated on a percentage systemranging from 100 down to X0 per cent. This is known as the echelle descrus. Before each harvest. the price a grower gets for his grapes is fixedby a committee made up of officials. growers and producers. Villages with1()0 per cent rating have grand cru status and must receive the full pricefor their grapes while the premiere crus. rate-d between 99 and 90 per cent.and other lesser villages. receive a pro-rata price for their grapes.
The map below. shows the positions of all the grand cru and premier i cruvillages in the Champagne region. It includes the three all important districtsof the Montagne de Reims. the Vallee de Marne and the- Cote- des Blancs.There are 17 villages possessing official grand cru satus. Until 1985 therewere only 12; the five villages elevated to grand cru in 1985 were Chouilly,le Mesnil sur-Oger, Oger,. Oiry and Verzy. This upgrading has meant changesin the proportions of grape varieties grown . In particula, the cultivationof the- Chardonnay has risen from nearly one-third to over ode-half of thevines cultivated in grand cru villages. while it has dropped around tenper cent in the permier cru sector.
STYLES OF CHAMPAGNE
Non-vintage
Non-vintage Champagne accounts for three-quarters of the regions production.The hulk of a blend will he from the current harvest but between 10 and20 per cent reserve wine from as few as two, or JS many JS seven, oldervintages may he added. By IJ\\: a non-vintage Champagne must be aged fora minimum of one year (from Januaury 1 the harvest), but the best houseswill give their wines at least three years in bottle. Non-vintage Champagnesarc not usually the finest Champagnes, yet they are capable of being so,and in years when either the character of the wine is not to an individual'staste ( for instance, the 19-6 could be too heavy for lovers of elegantChampagne), or in poor harvests, the non-vintage is a better buy than themore expensive vintage.
Vintage
The only reason vintage Champagne is superior to non-vintage is that itsrelatively small production allows a tar stricter control over the qualityof base wines selected,, and because it is sold when it is approximatelytwice .IS mature. No more than x0 per cent of the harvest may he sold asvintage Champagne; this conserves at least 20 per cent of the best yearsfor future blending of non-vintage wines. Some houses stick rigidly to declaringa vintage only in years of exceptional quality; others sadly do not.
Blanc de blancs (non-vintage and vintage)
Literally "white of whites", these wines, which are water whitein color, are produced entirely from white Chardonnay grapes and have thegreatest aging potential of all Champagnes. Blanc de blancs may be madein any distinct of Champagne, but the best come from a small part of theCote des Blancs between Cramant and le Mesnil-sur-Oger. If consumed tooearly, a blanc de blancs can appear austere and lacking in fruit, vet withproper maturity this style of Champagne develops a toasty, lemony bouquetand trills the mouth with an intensity of ripe-fruit flavors.
Blanc de noirs (non-vintage and vintage)
Literally "white of blacks", these are Champagnes made entirelyof black grapes: either Pinot noir or Pinot meunier, or a blend of the two.A pure Pinot noir blanc de noirs is golden-yellow in color and has a richand fruity taste. Only a few producers make these Champagnes: Bollingerproduce tiny amounts of the expensive Vieilles Vignes Francaises made entiretyfrom ungrafted Pinot noir grapes; while the small house of Collery in Ay-Champagneproduce two fine examples of blanc de noirs
Rose (non-vintage and vintage)
The first record of a commercially produced pink sparkling Champagne isthat of Clicquot's in 1777' and this Champagne has enjoyed ephemeral burstsof popularity ever since. It is the only European rose which may be madeby blending white wine with a little red; all other roses, whether stillor sparkling, must be produced by macerating the skins and juice to extractpigments. More pink Champagne is produced by blending than through skincontact and in blind tasting it has been impossible to tell the difference.Most pink Champagnes have a higher proportion of black grapes than white,and some are pure Pinot noir, but many houses simply add a little red wineto their basic non-vintage or vintage cuvees. A good pink Champagne willhave an attractive color, perfect limpidity and a snow-white mousse.. Manytaste no different from white Champagne: their particular appeal is visual.
Cremant (non-vintage and vintage)
Most Champagnes are fully sparkling or mousseux; that is they have an internalpressure of 5 to 6 atmospheres. A cremant or "creaming" Champagnehas a noticeably softer sparkle, taditionally 3.6 atmospheres and the mousseshould possess minuscule bubbles which unfold very slowly These qualitiesare difficult to achieve and true cremant Champagnes are hard to find, butBesserat de Bellefon. Alfred Gratien. Abel Lepitre and Mumm all make fineexamples of this style. As the Chardonnay grape is thought to give tinierhubbies than the Pinot. the best cremant Champagnes often contain a highproportion of this grape variety.
Non-dosage (non-vintage and vintage )
Non-dosage or unsweetened Champagne is not new Laurent Perrier sold a GrandVin Sans Sucre"' .IS long ago as 1889, hut under various names-fromBrut Zero to Brut Sauvage, Ultra Brut and Sans Sucre a wave of these Champagnesemerged in unison with the fashion for lighter, drier wines in the early1980s. - Too tart '. ungenerous ' .and even unpleasant to drink are | criticismswhich have been leveled at this style, but a good Champagne needs eithera little sugar or eight to ten years aging, thus these Champagnes onlyattain depth alla complexity with age. They are now officially designatedJS Extra Brut.
Cuvees de prestige (non-vintage and vintage)
These Champagnes arc- the flagships of the Champagne houses I offering whatshould he and sometimes is-the ultimate in Champagne. A typical prestigecuvee may be made entirely of wines from grands crus vineyards and. if not.a vintage Champagne made only in the greatest years,, it \\ill claim notto he non-vintage but a "blend of only the finest vintage years"- fine distinction indeed. Many of these wines are produced by the- mosttraditional methods, aged for longer than normal and sold in special bottlesat very high prices. Some are over refined and have too much | mellownessfor a wine which should have dash and flair Others, such as Bollinger'sGrande Annee Rare .and Philipponat's ''Clos des Goisses", are trulyexciting Champagnes of the highest quality.