The Champagne region is the most northern wine region of France, where grapes struggle to reach full ripeness, but this lively acidity is necessary when making the most well-known sparkling wine of the world!
Apart from the cool to cold climate, it is mainly the soil consisting of limestone that makes the wines and grapes there so memorable. The limestone not only retains heat, which is perfect in this climate, but does provide with a beautiful touch of salinity and minerality in the aromas of the wine. For this particular region the cellars will be carved into the limestone, so that the champagne bottles can ripen at a constant temperature and humidity.
Several varieties can be used for the production of this sparkling wine and for the whites we find Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Arbane and Petit Meslier to be allowed and Pinot Noir and Meunier to be allowed as red varieties. However, in today’s production we do find that only the blend of Chardonnay, Meunier and Pinot Noir is used. This so called ‘Champagne Blend’ has its focus most on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with Meunier more as a supporting role. Pinot Blanc is mostly used to produce still white wines elsewhere in France and the world and the varieties of Arbane and Petit Meslier are very rare not much seen anywhere anymore.
In terms of appellations the Champagne region is rather simple, for the sparkling there is only one AOP, the one of Champagne itself. Sometimes the additions of Premier Cru or Grand Cru can be mentioned on the label. The grapes can come from anywhere in Champage. Apart from this appellation, the region does hold two more for non-sparkling wines, but those are far lesser known. We have the AOP Coteaux Champenois and the AOP Rosé de Riceys for still rosé wines. Coteaux Champanois can come from the whole Champagne region and is used for still red wines, mostly made of Pinot Noir grapes. Sometimes it gets released to the market as a still Pinot, but sometimes it will get used to complement the white Champagne so that a rosé Champagne can be made. The Rosé de Riceys comes from the sub-region Côte de Bar in the southeastern part of the Champagne, for a rose made of Pinot Noir grapes.
The process of making Champagne will be fully described in a different section, but the wines always will have a second fermentation in the bottle (making it sparkle) and must age for a minimum of 15 months on its lees. A process called Methode Traditionelle or Methode Champegnoise (only for Champagne). Mostly a normal Champagne will have no vintage written on the label, due to its blend consisting of different regions and vintages, so a consistent product can be created.
Where the normal Champagne blend will always have the three varieties in them, there are some classifications or special notifications that can be found on the label of a bottle, however they are not legally part of the AOP.
- Grand Cru: 17 villages grow grapes of the highest quality, think of Bouzy, Aÿ, Meilly and Tours-sur-Marne.
- Premier Cru: A quality below the Grand, good for 44 villages in the region:
- Millesimé or Vintage: Champagne made of a certain vintage that will represent an excellent year. The minimal aging period is up to 36 months, but some houses choose to age longer. Some of these creamy and brioche Champagnes can even age to 10 years, they are available in white and rosé.
- Prestige: a specific and high-quality Champagne of a certain house, that is sometimes a Millesimé, think of Cristal of Louis Roederer.
- Rosé Champagne: can be made by mixing red and white wine (Champagne is the only region in Europe that allows this!) or made with red grapes only. Mostly of high quality.
- Blanc de Blancs: meaning white wine made of white varieties, Champagne made only of Chardonnay grapes.
- Blanc de Noirs: white wine made of red varieties. Made only with Pinot Noir and/or Meunier.
For the AOP Champagne the region will be divided into 4 different sub-regions:
- Montagne de Reims
- Vallée de la Marne
- Côte des Blancs
- Côte des Bar
Montagne de Reims
This subregion is surrounding the capital of the region, Reims. Here the Pinot Noir is mostly planted, and the region is home to a number of Grand Crus, Premier Crus and Blanc de Noirs and the normal Champagne blends
Vallée de la Marne
To the west of both Reims and Epernay, the two most important cities of the region, we find a lot of Meunier grapes. Here we find Blanc de Noirs, Premier Crus and vintage champagnes. Some Champagne houses even use a majority of Meunier over the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Côte des Blancs
Just south of Epernay we find the Côte des Blancs that, as the name suggests, is home to the Chardonnay grape. Some of the most beautiful Blanc de Blancs comes from this region, as well as some elegant Grand and Premier Cru and vintage Champagne, along with the Champagne blends. The Côte de Sézanne is geographically seen as part of the Côte des Blancs, but most connoisseurs will see it as a different region, as it focusses on Vintage Champagnes and Champagne blends, rather than solely on the Chardonnay.
Côte des Bar
This sub-region is known to have lesser quality of grape varieties, so some cheaper Champagnes will come from this area. Some Vintages as well, but mostly the common Champagne blend.
Champagne is not only produced in different styles, but also in different levels of sweetness, which increases the flexibility of food matching. Back in the 19th century, sweeter styles were all the fashion, yet in the late 20th century and to this day the dryer styles are more in fashion, especially in Europe. Brut Nature will have zero dosage of sugar, where the more common Brut will have up to 12 grams. After that we have Extra Dry and Sec, then the Demi-Sec and finally the overly sweet Doux, that has over 50 grams of sugar! The demi-sec will work perfectly with vanilla style desserts and cheese platters. The brut goes hand in hand with smoked salmon or oysters! More information about the food matching with Champagne will be discussed in a different section.
Discover more from Gettinghotforwine
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
