"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty." - Mme. Lily Bollinger.
As early as 79 A.D.in the area round Epernay was cultivated by roman. they also quarried the chalky hillsides (called crayeres natural cellars). The wines was used for the sacrament, for coronations, for the royal table. Rather than imitating the wines of Burgundy, the Champenois sought to create a new style of wines. these new wines, made with care, were not only unusual but also delicious. The Champenois had discovered how to vinify light-coloured wines from the Pinot Noir grape. Frère Jean Oudart and Dom Pierre Pérignon (1639 – 1742). “Come quickly, I am tasting the stars!” at the moment he discovered champagne but , It was england who really discovered champagne when shipped abroad in cask, the warm spring weather frequently set off a secondary fermentation. The new wines were bottled immediately upon arrival, and retained a lively sparkle. The phenomenon aroused interest on the part of the Champenois. the abbeys of Saint-Pierre aux Monts de Châlons and Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers became the birthplace of naturally sparkling wine in its purest and most perfect form The technique of blending from various vineyards to obtain a finished wine superior to any of its parts, the process of clarifying sediment from the wine. Chaptal(chemist) advocated adding sugar at fermentation, rather than to the finished wine, to increase alcohol content.(Chaptalisation=addition of sugar).Effectively there are just three grapes used to make Champagne. Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. The first two are black grapes, the latter is white. Firstly, most houses will take a selection of still wines made from the grapes of more than one area. Once the wines are assembled, the cellar-master of the house will decide how they should be blended, before the bubbles are created by the Méthode Champenoise.
Veuve Clicquot 1772 by Philippe Clicquot ( textiles and finance) a small area of vineyards at nearby Bouzy and Ambonnay. 1801. François the son married to Nicole-Barbe Ponsardin in 1799, when he died aged just 30 years she took control in a move unprecedented in a world where business was still the domain of men. At the time the appearance of Champagne was still marred by the lees, the sediment of dead yeast cells that remained suspended in the wine. Her new chef de cave conceived the system of remuage,
Ruinart Many Champagne houses would like to lay claim to the accolade of being the longest established house, but only one may do so in truth. Established in 1729 by Nicolas Ruinart. In reality there can be no older house; the Royal decree which permitted the transport of bottled wines was only passed in 1728. The Ruinarts were not without connections when helpful advice with their new venture was needed; Nicolas' uncle was Dom Thierry Ruinart, close friend to Dom Pérignon himself. Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, obviously 100% Chardonnay which is all from Premier Cru vineyards,
MOET ET CHANDON Established in 1743 based in Epernay . During the Revolution the House flourished and grew further during the Napoleonic era. The concept of vintage Champagne made of exceptional grapes from the same year was introduced in 1840 with Moet producing their first vintage Champagne in 1842. The words “dry” and “sec” to indicate dryness (see our Types of Champagne section) first appeared on Moet labels in 1856. This was as a response to the British market who wanted a dry Champagne to drink with their meals.
”No government could survive without champagne. Champagne in the throats of our diplomatic people is like oil in the wheels of an engine”.
PERRIET-JOUET Founded in 1811 by two lovers who fell in love with each other. the House soon forged into the British market becoming a favourite of both Queen Victoria and Edward VII. from vineyards in the Cote des Blancs, the Montagne de Reims and the Marne Valley. All of the fruit is pressed in traditional wooden screw presses. In the cellar, stainless steel vats allow perfect temperature control, essential for proper fermentation. The historic cellars, carved deep into the chalk bedrock under Epernay, keep the ageing Champagne at a constant 11C as it matures in bottle, taking rich flavours from the yeast lees. 0-12-17
The cava was introduce around the XIX only by rich merchant who wanted to copy france, it was popular only around the 50 after the civil war. Made in the same way as the « champenoise » ou « traditionnelle », metod. The first cava was elaboret around 1872 by José Raventós i Fatjó, from Codorníu family, in Catalogna. In 1972 (la Denominación Específica de los Vinos Espumosos) gives a real name and region to cava, essentially in Penedés, beetween Barcelone and Tarragone, in Catalogne. Espagne half is consume in décembre and january ,but also fresh for apéritifs, starter shelfish and foie-gras, wihte meat. Il accompagne aussi à merveille les desserts.
Could be used for the elaboration of cava :
- Macabeo dense with fine skin, gives primary aromas and fruity acidity.
- Xarel-lo, good resistance gives acidty and structure
- Parellada, floral, aromatic, subtle perfum.
- Chardonnay, more aromas with lots acidity.
- for the rose the garnacha tinta, la monastrell, la trepat, and pinot noir are used as well.
The one that you enjoy the most is the best suited for you, I taste hundreds this year and so I know which ones suit my palate , but don't forget the way champagne Non-Vintages is made means the quality (and tastes) is the same every year, meanings If you loved one stick to it , all the others will taste and smell differents to your palate.
In the case of super-prestige and super-priced Champagnes like Louis Roederer Cristal, you are buying the dream more than the champagne it is more a fashion statement than a desire for fine Champagne.
Autumn: October: Leaf Shedding- the vine take a golden and purple appearance.
November: Pre-runing: clearing and cleaning
December: Period of Rest: hibernation and could be seen covered with a mantel of snow.
January: Frost can cause extensive damage
February: Pruning: according to strict rules in order to generate the grapes and restrict the yield.
March: Fastening: shoots from the previous year are fastened to the wires.
April: Opening of the Buds:
May: Debudding: shoots are selected and the rest are removed.
June: Flowering: A balmy fragrance covers the vineyards
July: Training topping and cutting: control; the growth allows the sun to reach the grapes
August: Ripening: take on colour and swell with sweetened juice. They continue to ripen in the languorous warmth of the late summer sun
September: Harvesting: Champagne is one of the few regions in the world where the harvest has not been mechanised.
Pressing: Once harvested, the grapes are brought to the wine presses. Pressing is a gentle gradual process to ensure that only the best juice and aromas are extracted. Great care must be taken with the red grapes because their skins can irrevocably affect the colour of the juice.
Fermentation: The intense activity surrounding the presses shifts to the vat house. The must derived from the pressing is allowed to settle thus clarifying the juice for vat fermentation. This stage gives the wine its freshness, suppleness and roundness. The still wine is then drawn off from the sediment.
Blending: Starting in November, the cellar master and winemakers taste, evaluate and grade the wines.blend and adjust varieties of grape.
Second fermentation: As the wine ages, the yeast that contributes to its effervescence release aromatic substances.
Step 1: take one bottle of still wine, Ensure the glass is thick and strong to resist the increased pressure that will be created in the bottle.
Step 2: add a dose of sugar solution and yeast, known as liqueur de tirage, and seal the bottle with a good fitting cap - like a beer bottle cap.
Step 3: wait for the yeast to ferment the added sugar, creating more alcohol and, more importantly, carbon dioxide. As this gas cannot escape and is held under pressure, it will dissolve in the wine. This is where the bubbles come from.
Step 4: leave the wine for some time, perhaps several years. The lees (dead yeast cells) will impart richness to the wine.
Step 5: gradual turn and tap the bottle over time, so that eventually it is facing neck down, with the dead yeast cells sitting in the neck. This is known as remuage, or riddling.
Step 6: dip the neck in freezing brine to create a frozen plug of wine, containing the dead yeast cells, in the neck of the bottle. Pop the cap and the plug, complete with lees, flies out. This is known as dégorgement.
Step 7: top up with a dosage of sweetish wine, seal with a cork, wire capsule and foil, and sell it for a handsome profit.
STYLE:
NV-Blended from wines of several years to achieve a constant "style de maison" House style. (blend of thirty or forty different wines) Vintage is a blend of wines from a particular year, when the quality of the harvest was sufficient to declare a "Vintage" some houses declare a vintage Champagne in a year where others did not feel the quality justified it.Vintage Champagne must be 39 months old before it is sold ROSEby maceration of black grapes during pressing, so that the colour leeches out from the skins (the juice from black grapes is white)
BrutMost Champagnes come into this category. The sugar content is from 0-15 grammes per litre. In exceptional harvests the grapes have enough natural sugar to be a "Brut" style without any dosage.
Demi-SecThe sugar content is between 35-50 g. per
l.CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES:
Quarter 18.75cl Half-Bottle 37.5 cl Bottle 75 cl Magnum 1.5 l Jeroboam 3 l 4BTL Rehoboam 4.5 l 6BTL Methuselah 6 l 8BTL Salmanazar 9 l 12BTL Balthazar 12 l 16BTL Nebuchadnezzar 15 l 20BTL.
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