Champagne

Location: Champagne, France (90 miles from Paris)

Grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier

Climate: Continental

Soil Type: Chalk

Wine Style: (Iconic) Sparkling Wine

Glassware: Flute, Coupe

Serving Temperature: 38-45 Degrees Fahrenheit

Cellar: 5-20 Years

Vineyards:

  • Montagne de Reims (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier)
  • Vallée de la Marne (Pinot Meunier)
  • Côte des Blancs (Chardonnay)
  • Côte de Sezanne (Chardonnay)
  • Côte des Bar (Pinot Noir)

Champagne Production Method: Traditional Method

  • Other Names: Méthode Champenoise, méthode traditionnelle, Methode Cap Classique, Metodo Classico, klassische flaschengärung
  • Examples: Cava, Champagne, Crémant, Sekt, Italian Metodo Classico wines (including Franciacorta and Trento)
  • Bottle Pressure: 5–7 Atmospheres / 75–99 PSI   

How Is Champagne Made?

  • Step 1: Harvesting And Crushing The Champagne Grapes.
  • Step 2: Conducting The First Fermentation.
  • Step 3: Blending The Base Wines.
  • Step 4: Inducing The Second Fermentation.
  • Step 5: Aging The Wine In Cellars.
  • Step 6: Riddling The Lees.
  • Step 7: Disgorging The Lees.

Fun Facts:

  • Champagne is only considered ‘true champagne’ if it comes from Champagne, France. Otherwise, it is classified as a sparkling wine.

  • Champagne made in the traditional method is the transformation from a still to a sparkling wine which occurs entirely inside the bottle. It undergoes a secondary fermentation during which natural carbon dioxide gas trapped inside the bottle and eventually becomes the champagne’s fine stream of bubbles.

  • All champagnes are blends from 30-60 still wines spanning several years.

  • The name ‘Champagne’ is derived from Campagnia, a Latin term for the countryside north of Rome, Italy.

  • Although champagne has produced wine since Roman times, it was first made as the 17th century drew to a close.

  • Legend has it Champagne was invented by Dom Pierre Pérignon, a Benedictine monk, and the cellar master at the Abbey of Haut-Villers.

  • The first saucer-shaped Champagne coupe was a porcelain version invented by Marie Antoinette, who reportedly used her left breast as the mold because it was closer to her heart.

  • Biblical Bottles: For unknown reasons, in the late 1800’s, 9 different bottle sizes were given names of biblical kings:

  • Split (187.5mL, about 1.5 glasses)
  • Half Bottle (375mL, about 2.5 glasses)
  • Bottle (750mL, about 5 glasses)
  • Magnum (2 Bottles, about 10 glasses)
  • Jeroboam (4 Bottles, about 20 glasses)
  • Methuselah (8 Bottles, about 40 glasses)
  • Salmanazar (12 Bottles, about 60 glasses)
  • Balthazar (16 Bottles, about 80 glasses)
  • Nebuchadnezzar (20 Bottles, about 100 glasses)