Champagne — 19/07/2007

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Champagne the wine comes from the north east region of France of the same name. It is the most northerly of the great wine regions and has a marginal climate, potentially leaving it exposed to spring frosts, cold summers and wet autumns.

The resulting grapes are low in sugar, fine in flavour and high in acidity, the ideal material for making sparkling wine. It is also a scenario of massive variations between years, and to try to overcome this producers blend wines from different years to create a non-vintage wine. These wines form the basis of the individual ‘house style’ and leaves Vintage wines, the norm elsewhere, to be produced in great years only.

Information on the Region

Vintage champagne poster

Montagne de Reims: The hill between Reims and Epernay is the main Pinot Noir area, (with some Chardonnay, mainly on east facing slopes, and some Pinot Meunier on northern slopes). The top villages are Aÿ and Verzy (classic), Verzenay (vinious), and Bouzy and Ambonnay (powerful).

Côte des Blancs: The east-facing slope south of Epernay is the finest area for Chardonnay. The top villages are Cramant and Avize (classic), and Oger and Mesnil sur Oger (more mineral).

Vallée de la Marne: Runs west of Epernay towards Paris and planted mainly with Pinot Meunier and in the vineyards around Reims.

The Aube: Nearly 100 miles south of the main vineyards, the Aube is mostly planted with Pinot Noir (plus some good, if over-ripe Chardonnay).

The Vines

Black grapes make up some 75% of the total vines planted. A still white wine is made from these, by quickly pressing the grapes so that no colour comes through from the skins. The three grape varieties used in Champagne are:

Chardonnay: This gives finesse, elegance, lift and acidity to the blend. It is the sole constituent in Blanc de Blancs Champagne.

Pinot Noir: Gives body, strength of flavour and richness that is the essence of Champagne. It is planted throughout the region.

Pinot Meunier: Easy to grow, it is less prone to spring frost damage than Pinot Noir, it displays an easy fruitiness that is welcome in early drinking non-vintage blends. It doesn't as a rule age well.

History

In the 16th and early 17th century the wines of Champagne became popular in England, having long been so at the French Court. The difference was, that in England the wines were sparkling.

The wines were shipped as still wines to Britain and in the cellars of merchants they were bottled and became sparkling. Until recently people thought that this was all a fortuitous accident, the latest thinking however is that the merchants knew exactly what they were doing and that they added sugar or molasses to provoke the second fermentation.

Most winemaking in Champagne at this time was controlled by the monasteries, who initially seem to have been uninterested in what was going on in Britain. Eventually, winemakers such as Dom Perignon and Frère Oudart turned their attention to making sparkling wines, which became wildly popular in France too.

The French Revolution changed everything. The monasteries were abolished and their former vineyards were purchased by the rising merchant class. The vignerons in the villages may have secured the odd plot, but were too impoverished to buy up much more than this.

The merchants such as Clicquot, Moët, Heidsiek et al, (many of them neither local nor French), set about opening foreign markets. Champagne became a great export commodity. Their job was complicated by the Napoleonic wars, but this was a confident and dynamic era for France and her culture and wines reigned supreme.

Under the dynamic merchant Houses a new era of mass production of high quality wines dawned. This was made possible by technical advances notably at the house of Clicquot then under the young widow, Nicole Clicquot-Ponsardin (who had opened up the important Russian market). Small bubbles and star bright wines were her obsession. Her team perfected ‘remuage’, riddling the bottles, which was carried out prior to the wine’s degorgement, (the process of blasting out the sediments created in the second fermentation in the bottle). Legend has it, the Widow Clicquot had holes drilled in her kitchen table thus making the first remuage palette.

In the 19th century the Houses controlled the trade completely, and made huge fortunes, little of which it has to be said, filtered through to the villages. Although these were the glory days of Champagne a store of resentment was built up which would explode in the Champagne riots at the beginning of the 20th century and in ‘grower-power’ at the end.

In the 20th Century the Houses’ grip loosened, due to the collapse of the export markets of the USA, Russia and Germany in the 20’s & 30’s. The market became largely domestic, so Houses were no longer the vital middlemen in an international trade, merely the established producers. Times were tough, grapes went unsold or were sold for rock bottom prices and Growers, Co-ops and a new breed of less quality-focused Merchants set about supplying the French domestic market.

All the same a few new quality Houses such as Taittinger, Laurent-Perrier and Salon carved out their niches, and firms such as Pol Roger, Krug and Bollinger managed to thrive by remaining focused on supplying top quality wines to the remaining export markets.

Things did improve through the 50s, 60s and 70s but it was in the 80s when Champagne found herself again, or rather the export market, in particular the UK, rediscovered Champagne in a big way.

Things have not run smoothly since, the growers drove the price of grapes up to an unsupportable price just when the world economy took a dive in the early 90s, thus visiting financial problems on the Houses. The run up to the Millennium was good for Champagne, but the actual event passed as a bit of an anti-climax, with the exception of the splendid parties that A&C held there!

The Towns and Villages of Champagne

Reims, the heart of the Champagne trade is the base for most of our tours and is home to many of the great names in Champagne: Roederer, Krug, Pommery and Taittinger. It was important in the later Roman Empire, as evidenced by a Triumphal Arch, Forum and stone quarries (or crayères), which are used as cellars by Champagne Houses.

The 13th century Cathedral has gargoyles, statues including ‘the Smiling Angel’ and stained glass windows, including some by Marc Chagall. The early Frankish Kings were all crowned here and the Kings of France continued this tradition. Reims was badly damaged in the First World War, but thankfully, some of the most beautiful buildings, the Cathedral and the Palais de Vergeur, remain. The rebuilding gave rise to many fine buildings with ‘art nouveau’ touches.

The villages were drab, dowdy places until recently, but suddenly are looking cheerful even pretty.

Grand Cru Villages: The Champagne vineyards are subject to a rating system, with scores allocated accordingly. The vineyards of the top villages are given Grand Cru, meaning they have a score of 100%. ‘Grand Cru’ villages give wines with perfect, interesting or particular flavours.

Premier Cru Villages: Villages with a score of 90 - 99%. The best Premier Crus are of Grand Cru quality, others are just slightly less interesting or more ‘particular’ than the Grand Crus. Individual vineyards in Premier Cru Villages can be of ‘Grand Cru’ quality.

Glossary

Brut: A dry wine, with only a low ‘dosage’ of sugar before being released on the market.

Ultra Brut, Brut Integrale, Brut Zero: Champagne with no dosage. Unless the wine is old vintage it will probably seem very dry and acidic.

Sec: A medium dry wine (rarely seen).

Demi-Sec: A medium-sweet wine.

Non-Vintage: The vast majority of Champagne, created from grapes grown in a number of years. The majority of the grapes will have come from a harvest about 3 years before the champagne was released on the market.

Blanc de Blancs: A white wine made solely from white grapes, in this case Chardonnay.

Blanc de Noirs: A white wine made from 100% black grapes, i.e. Pinots Noir & Meunier.

Vintage: A superior quality wine made from a single year’s harvest. None of the blending or winemaking techniques which make Non Vintage drinkable young have been used. The Vintage has almost certainly been made from superior grapes, with high natural acidity.

Cuvée de Prestige: A notional title given to the best wines of the producer. They are normally special vintage wines, perhaps from an older vintage than the current one. They may be a blend of vintages or occasionally they are from single vineyards.

Côteaux Champenoise: Still wine made from Champagne grapes. The whites are acidic and fresh. The reds, Bouzy Rouge, Aÿ, Ambonnay, Cumières Rouge etc are made from Pinot Noir which could have gone into Vintage Champagne. The best are medium bodied, with a penetrating aroma and good length. All are expensive, about the same price as a village wine from Burgundy.

Rosé: A dry wine made by either the addition of a small amount of red wine or by allowing the wine contact with red grape skins.

Champagne Houses: The majority of Champagne is made by the large producers or ‘Houses’ who buy grapes or wine from growers and co-operatives. Quality ranges from ‘average’ to ‘great’.

Grower-Producers: The minority of growers who make their own Champagnes, some are serious ‘domaines’ of several generations standing.

Co-operatives: The powerful grower’s co-operatives market their own brands and supply own label wines to supermarkets and wine merchants.

We have happily dealt with Growers and Houses alike and have found warm welcomes and fine wine at both. Indeed the difference is becoming blurred, with some Growers we visit actually becoming small Houses. Some major Houses have also become self sufficient in grapes, or have started producing single village or single vineyard Champagnes. In our view this diversity enriches the area, making it an even more interesting place to tour.

Gastronomy in Champagne

Rich, classic French cooking with sauces, wild mushrooms, and seafood, (especially oysters) are favourites of this region. Cooking à la champenoise, with a Champagne sauce, is popular for such dishes as chicken and fish. Brie, Chaource and Maroilles are favoured local-(ish) cheeses.

The traditional food of the region is hearty paysan fare, it doesn’t necessarily work with Champagne. Here are a few examples:

Pieds-de-cochon: Stuffed pigs trotters.
Potage or Potée Champenoise: A stew of ham, sausage and bacon, served with potatoes.
Andouilletes: Chitterlings sausages. For many these are a once in a lifetime experience.
Choucroute, or Sauerkraut is a semi-local dish.
Biscuits de Reims. Very sweet pink biscuits that don’t work with Champagne. Brioche is better.

Champagne & Food

Champagne is often viewed as a wine to go before or after meals, but rarely with it. A pity, as it can be a delight with all sorts of food as Claude Taittinger has kindly illustrated here:

Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs
As an aperitif with Iranian Caviar from Petrossian.

Taittinger Brut Reserve NV
Poularde and Truffles à la Rémoise.

Taittinger Vintage
Jambon avec epinards, Sauce Madère.

Taittinger Prestige Rosé
Turbot à la manière du Grand Vefour-Paris.

Comtes de Champagne Rosé
Gratin de Fruits Rouges et Glace à la Vanille