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Champagne and Sparkling Wine

Table of Contents
  1. From Still to Sparkling Wine in Champagne
  2. Viticulture and Climate in Champagne
  3. The Regions of Champagne
  4. The CIVC and Échelle de Crus
  5. Types of Champagne Producers
  6. The Méthode Champenoise
  7. Styles of Champagne
  8. Still wines of Champagne
  9. Other Traditional Method Sparkling Wines
  10. Other Sparkling Winemaking Methods
  11. Review Quizzes

From Still to Sparkling Wine in Champagne

The techniques of sparkling winemaking did not originate with the Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon, nor was the first purposely sparkling wine produced in the region of Champagne. Regardless, through centuries of refinement Champagne has become the world’s leading sparkling wine and the vinous embodiment of luxury and celebration.

The méthode Champenoise, a complicated process involving secondary fermentation in the bottle, is at the heart of Champagne’s character and has been adopted by sparkling winemakers worldwide. The term, like “Champagne” itself, is protected by the EU, and may only be applied to sparkling wines produced according to the prescribed method within the Champagne AOP. Wines made in the fashion of Champagne but produced elsewhere may be labeled as traditional method (méthode traditionnelle) or classic method (méthode classique). Some producers, particularly in the US, continue to label their sparkling wines as Champagne, but such wines are banned from the EU.

Dom Pérignon’s lasting contributions to modern Champagne lie in the techniques of assemblage (blending) and viticulture, despite the persistent myth that anoints him as the inventor of sparkling winemaking. As cellar master at the Abbey of Hautvillers from 1668 until his death in 1715, Pérignon struggled with the problem of natural refermentation. The irrepressibly cold winters of the region created a danger: as the weather cooled off in the autumn and the yeasts became dormant, fermentation would sometimes prematurely stop, and the wines
Comments

  • Matt,

    I recently received the new version of Christie's World Encyclopedia of Champagne and Sparkling Wine and they claim that as of 2007 Chouilly and Tours-sur-Marne are grand crus whatever authorized grape variety is grown (and the same applies for 1er crus Cuis, Etrechy, and Grauves).

    I tried poking around the CIVC's website but couldn't find anything to verify.

    Brian

  • Ryland, the stated minimum for lees aging is for any wine bottled as Champagne AOP.

  • Are both non-vintage and vintage champagne required a minimum 12 months on lees after tirage? Or is there a higher requirement for vintage?

  • David, its a bit semantic. One could read the cahier des charges as stipulating that the rebeche falls between 0-10%, meaning that something must be discarded, however small. Either way, 10% or less is probably what you need to know.

  • Hi there, perhaps another typo, in the french aop regulations, as well as in the compendium, the percenages for the third pressing are listed as 0-10%, whereas in the guide here they are listed as 1-10%.  slight difference I know, but it seems to imply that officially, there does not need to be any rebeche for distillation, as opposed to a mandatory 1% discard.  I keep on resisting but i'm reminded that the 1% do matter....

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