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NEW NORMAL

CHAMPAGNE

and the others...

Bubbles on the run!

The IWSR prediction is, the sparkling wi- to nearly 60% in some areas. The subsoil in
nes and Champagnes will recover from the Champagne is predominantly limestone. Out-
pandemic crisis as first from all wine styles. cropping sediments are likewise composed
I would like to remind, people what me- of 75% limestone (chalk, marl and limestone
ans Champagne and what is the difference proper). This type of terrain provides good
comparing to sparkling wines. drainage and also explains why certain Cham-
Many people think Champagne is the name pagne wines have a distinctly mineral taste.
for any white sparkling wine. Not so. Cham- It is the special nature of the Champagne te-
pagne is a specific region of France and only rroir that determines the choice of plantings.
wine that comes from there, made from a spe- Black Pinot noir (38%) and Pinot Meunier
cific assortment of grapes and prepared fol- (32%), and white Chardonnay (30%) are the
lowing very specific rules can carry that name main allowed varieties.
under French and European Union, worldwide Harvesting is entirely manual, every year for
respected law. about three weeks, around 100,000 pickers,
The Champagne production zone (AOC vi- porters, loaders and press operators descend
neyard area) is defined and delimited by the on the vineyards of Champagne for the har-
law of 22nd of July 1927. It lies some 150 ki- vest – the moment every winegrower has
lometres to the east of Paris, extending into been waiting for.
the departments of the Marne (66% of plan- Pressing centres are very strictly regulated,
tings), Aube (23%), Aisne (10%), Haute-Mar- in line with more than 20 approval criteria that
ne and Seine-et-Marne. The zone stands at were introduced in 1987. Juice extraction is
roughly 34,000 hectares of vineyards, spread strictly limited to 25.5 hectolitres per 4,000kg
across 320 villages (‘crus’) of which 17 traditio- marc, separating the first pressing juice (the
nally rank as ‘Grands Crus’ and 42 as ‘Premiers cuvée, representing 20.5 hl) from the second
Crus’. Nowhere else is allowed to produce (the taille, representing 5 hl). Each has quite
sparkling wine called Champagne. Yes – specific characteristics. The cuvée is the purest
sparkling wine, Crémant, spumante, Sekt, juice of the pulp – rich in sugar and acids (tar-
Cava, pezsgőbor, vin spumant, köpüklü şa- taric and malic). Cuvée musts produce wines
rap, espumante … whatever you want, but with great finesse, subtle aromas, a refreshing
not Champagne. palate and good aging potential.
The Champagne region lies at the northern- The the juice ferments in stainless vats or
most limit of vine cultivation (latitudes 49°5 wooden barrels. The result is still wine with
and 48° North for Reims and Bar-sur-Seine re- about 11% alc.vol. Once fermented, is time for
spectively). The vineyards in Champagne are assemblage, which is the art of blending wines
planted at altitudes of 90-300 metres, on pre- from different grapes, vineyards and vintages,
dominantly south, east and southeast facing so as to produce a wine that is greater than the
slopes. Average gradient is around 12%, rising sum of its parts. The aim of the cellar master
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