Wine from champagne

History

The culture of the Champagne vine goes up at the time gallo - Roman when the Romains plant the first stocks in the area. The vineyard is preserved thereafter thanks to the interest which the clergy carries to him, in particular that of Rheims and that of Châlons-in-Champagne.

During the feudal time, the wines from champagne are classified among the “wines of France” considered as products in the Paris basin. During the reign of Henri IV, it acquires the wine from champagne name on Paris (but this denomination is essential with difficulty in the area, the champagne term indicating of the nonfertile grounds, which can be used only as pastures with the sheep).

During the 17th century, the wines from champagne allure more and more amateurs in the courses royal of France and England under the impulse of certain Parisian families which have Champagne grounds. This century marks also an evolution of the “wines from champagne” corresponding to the desire of gray the wine consumers, very slightly coloured but which, according to the vine growers, age very badly out of barrels.

The champagne is thus quickly bottled (towards 1660) in order to ensure a better conservation of the flavors (with a pulling before the end of the first fermentation) but n the other hand becomes naturally semi-sparkling (especially for champagnes having little alcohol, being coloured little and whose pulling is made with the equinox spring). This effervescent character causes many concern to the vine growers, so much so that it is called “wine of the devil” or “change-stopper” because of the bottles which explode or the stoppers which jump under the pressure. For these reasons, if the English had not been conquered by this sparkling wine, the champagne would perhaps not be what it is today, because as of this time, the English buy with Champagne effervescent wine barrels in bulk which they were given the responsability to put themselves in bottles. They had as observed as the best time to cause the catch of foam was spring. In 1676, a London poet sang “the effervescent champagne which revives the poor languid lovers quickly. ” In 1670, Dom Pérignon (1638 - 1715), a Monk cellérier of the Abbey bénédictine of Hautvillers, will be the first to practice the assembly of the grape which improves quality of the wine and in makes disappear certain defects. It is also Dom Pérignon which introduces the use of the stopper of cork maintained with the bottle by an impregnated string of hemp of oil, which makes it possible the wine to keep its freshness and its foam. Moreover, it makes reinforce the bottles by adopting thicker glass to avoid than the bottle does not explode, but in spite of the efforts of the monk, the effervescence of the wine remains empirical until the searchs for Louis Pasteur on the Fermentation, at the 19th century. The chalk pits close to its abbey will be used to preserve champagne at temperature and constant moisture. Thereafter, other cellars will be dug into full Craie.

According to the canon Jean Godinot who wrote in 1718 that “for more than twenty years the taste of the French has been determined with the sparkling wine”, the effervescent champagne would have been thus marketed in specific bottles for the first time in France towards 1695. Other files attest that, in the year 1729, with Épernay, Nicolas Irenee Ruinart founds with Rheims, the first effervescent wine from champagne trade, the Ruinart house. In 1730 is founded the house Chanoine Brothers with Épernay.

During the 18th century, the champagne starts to acquire its international radiation, thanks to the owners of famous country cottages which ensure of it promotion like Florens-Louis HeidsiecK Champagne Heidsieck or Claude Moët, then at the 19th century thanks to Pierre-Nicolas-Marie Perriet-Toy and the family Bollinger. In the same way, certain women after the death of their husband continue the work of those, inter alia M {{me}} Pommery, Mrs. Perrier and M {{me}} Clicquot (called the “Champagne Great lady”) which also contributes they to the notoriety of champagne. The champagne was even described as being the “wine of civilization” by Talleyrand. Before one learns how to champagnize the white wines, those were sometimes (certain years) naturally semi-sparkling. One finds a production of natural sparkling wines to the four corners of old Champagne, as well in the Paddle (on the side of Bar on Paddle) as in Haute-Marne, where the wine the Silk ones (area of Bourbonne), type of vine wine produced starting from the gilded meslier had a typicity recognized, before the Phylloxéra. In 1928, name champagne related to only eight thousand hectares and forwardings were assembled to twenty-four million bottles.

Geographical data

The champagne is produced in the wine zone delimited by the law of the July 22nd 1927. This zone is not only one holding:

Zones

There exist 4 grape production zones which gathers the 17 champagne soils.

the Montagne de Reims (department of the the Marne): mainly exposed to the south, the slopes are established on grounds whose Craie is deeply hidden. The Cépage dominating there is the black Pinot. In the cellars of the mountain of Rheims rest champagnes considered for their power, their frame and their nobility.

Valley of the Marne (the Marne, Aisne and Seine-et-Marne): the slopes are established on grounds with dominant argilo-limestone, with marly tendency. The type of vine dominating there is the Pinot miller. The champagnes of the valley of the Marne, thanks to their great diversity, have a tempting bouquet, the fruity one and a great flexibility.

Coast of the white (the Marne): here, a single type of vine reigns as a Master: the chardonnay. The chalk levelling there is everywhere, genuine and heat water tank of the basements. The Coast of the white gives rise to snuffed, impressed champagnes promptness and of spirit, with the light and delicate flavors, symbols of smoothness and elegance.

Vineyard of the Paddle, Bar-sur-Aube, the Bar-on-Seine (Paddle and Haute-Marne): the basements with marly tendency are mainly planted there of black Pinot. The champagnes of the Coast of the Bar are wines of character, with the beautiful roundness and the complex flavors.

On a little less than thirty thousand Hectare S of Vine on the whole, it is the most septentrional vineyard of France with 60 to 80 days of freezing per annum. It owes its richness with its parcelling out, each village constituting a believed i.e. the product of a soil and of a climate, there exist 302 vintages. The largest Champagne cellars are with Épernay and Rheims.

Some pieces of name Champagne (20 ha) are in Île-de-France in the communes of Citry, the Nanteuil-on-Marne and the Saâcy-on-Marne (Seine-et-Marne). The department of Haute-Marne, can also assert to him the existence of a few tens of hectares of vines.

In 2007, a procedure aiming to the extension of the delimitation of name is launched, this new surface should be established from here approximately 10 years.

In 2008, a file aiming at registering the landscapes of the Champagne on the list of the World heritage of UNESCO will be subjected to the French authorities.

Technical data

The champagne presents several originalities among the French high-class wines:

the vintage or gathering is manual ( the machine to be gathered the grapes is prohibited|date=04.09.2007 ) because it is essential that the grape bays arrive in perfect state instead of Pressurage. The champagne is indeed a white wine resulting in major part of a black grape - the pinot - and it is appropriate for that the colorless juice is not stained in contact with the outside of the skin. The dates of the grape harvest are fixed by the CIVC grace in particular to taking away carried out in the weeks previous harvest in order to determine the maturity of the grape installed with Rheims gathers the Champagne traders as of 1882 installed with Épernay gathers since 1904 the vine growers has his seat with Épernay; it has in particular as a role to manage the Appellation of controlled origin Champagne. Officially created by the law of the April 12th 1941, this inter-profession between the traders and the Vigneron S exist informellement since 1919, date on which the Syndicat S of the two professions take the practice to meet, once, the year to discuss the price of the Raisin in order to stabilize the selling price of Champagne (Biennial International of the Champagne and effervescent Techniques) is held with Épernay and whose 10th for 2008.

is announced

A lucrative and protected market

The market of champagne

Surface

The surface noted in AOC at the time of the declarations of harvest is established for 2002 to 29,3 thousands of hectares, including 21,8 for the department of the Marne. With the vintage 2006, the superfie in production is estimated at 32.200 hectares.

Annual production

The annual production is established around 2,5 million hectolitres, that is to say about 350 million bottles per annum. It had dropped at the time of marketing year 2001/2002 to go back to 2,4 Mhl into 2002/2003.

Stocks

Stocks rise into 2002/2003 to 3,4 Mhl, that is to say a total availability of 5,8 Mhl. This figure is in light but constant progression during the 10 last years.

Forwardings

Forwardings had known a peak to 310 million bottles at the time of marketing year 1998/1999, especially towards the foreigner, right before the passage to the year 2000, had followed of a noticeable decrease. 2002/2003 confirms the recovery already noted at the time of the preceding countryside. Annual volume of sales are assembled around 700 million to 900 million euros.

The forwardings, evaluated in million bottles, represented

for marketing year 2002/2003, 290,7 million bottles in rise of 4% on the preceding exercise.
for the marketing year 2004: 300 million bottles towards 190 countries.

On this total, the distribution by destination is the following one:

France: 60,0%;
European Union (except France): 25,1%;
Other countries: 14,9%.

The distribution by die of sale is the following one:

Traders : 67,4%, they gather 280 marks.

Among the traders, there exist 12 great groups which weigh together more than 170 million bottles (55% of forwardings of 2004). These groups have effective distribution networks abroad and are the engines of the profession. At the time of the twenty last years forty marks changed hand to generally join one of these great groups and the concentration seems far from being finished.

Collect-handling : 23,5% (70 million bottles in 2004). They are a little less than 5.000 vine growers who carry out 93% their sales on the only French market. They work out a champagne with their name starting from the production of their only vineyard. Half of them vinify themselves and the others have recourse to a co-operative.
Co-operative : 9,1%. With the number of an about sixty, they function starting from the grape harvest brought by their members (about half of the 5.000 collecting vine growers bring whole or part of their production to them. They market approximately 28 million bottles including 62% on the French market.

Source: Viniflhor (National interdisciplinary office of the fruits, vegetables, the wines and the horticulture).

Detail of wine from champagne exports per country in 2006

The name of controlled origin

Name “ champagne ” is a AOC, but the indication “Name of controlled origin” is only reproduced very seldom on the labels of the bottles of champagne. It is only name, with that of Cognac, which is exempted of this mention, because it is the only vineyard which does not have displaced wine (all the other vineyards sell AOC and displaced wine).

The word “champagne” itself is also protected with a great vigilance.

Thus the commune of Champagne, 660 inhabitants, located in the Canton of Vaud in Suisse had to give up mentioning the Champagne name on the wines (nonsemi-sparkling) produced in its soil - of 28 hectares - within the framework of an international agreement occurred between Switzerland and the European Union in December 1998.

For this same reason, the firm Yves the St. Lawrence had to stop the launching of a Parfum which it had named Champagne . The name of the perfume was finally changed, it is currently marketed under the name Yvresse .

With the United States, even if name “champagne” is regarded as “semi-credits” by the American law and is &mdash authorized if it is followed mention of the place of production (but only for marketing domesticates), of many American producers of traditional method — in particular those which proved reliable on the US market — their prefer from now on names “method Champagne” or more generally designation of “sparkling wine” (“sparkling wine”). Paradoxically, only certain American producers aiming at the low market and midrange still use designation “champagne”, in particular Korbel, Tott or Cook' S.

Years

Champagne art consists in assembling vintages not to compose of the years. The vintage vintages never exceed more than 5% of the sales of champagne. They are especially an extraordinary vector of communication to dope the sales and to make speak about the marks. The marks compete of ideas and organize events around their vintage to make speak about them.

According to the Interprofessional committee of the wines from champagne, the year “is a tool for valorization. The demand is always keen but the Champagne vineyard is not extensible, the growth can thus be done only in the high-end”. A vintage vintage is sold on average 30 to 40% expensive than the crude and much in the case of the vintages of prestige. Temptation is thus strong of millésimer even when the year really does not deserve it. Between 1945 and 2004, the Champagne has vintage 46 times.

However, vintage is not a step without risk, because according to Olivier Krug “one year is a free figure compared to a crude. It reflects the one year climate, it is a personality, a character”. For Benoit Gouez from Moet & Chandon, “to work out one year, it is to hustle the codes of a house”.

Other effervescent wines

Among the other effervescent wines, called " wines mousseux" or " wines champagnisés" , one can find:

in France:

the Aÿze, sparkling wine of Haute-Savoie, resulting from the rare type of vine Gringet
the Blanquette of Limoux
the Pale of Die
Creaming:

of Alsace
of Bordeaux
of Burgundy
of the Jura
of the Loire

the Wine of Cerdon
the Wine of Seyssel sparkling
the Vouvray sparkling
the Saint-P3eray wine

in the other countries:

Germany: the Sekt
Spain: the Undermined Spanish
Hungary: the Pezsgö
Italy: the Silk Spumante, Prosecco, Franciacorta, Talento
Luxembourg: creaming of Luxembourg

Some famous houses and their vintages of prestige

Anecdotes and practical informations

From its situation in the middle of the Champagne vineyard and owing to the fact that official authorities (CIVC, SGV, VITeff) as much as many country cottages (Moet & Chandon, Champagne Draper, etc) there are installed, the town of Épernay is presented in the form of a the capital of the Champagne .

A famous drink

This drink acquired a strong international notoriety while becoming a synonym of Luxe, being employed in particular to celebrate the special occasionss. The “effervescent” characteristic of champagne is a little at the origin of this festive nature: one makes jump the stopper, more rarely the bottle is sabred, and the victory is celebrated in many sports by the sprinkling of crowd using a bottle of champagne agitated by the winners since their podium. It is thus the case in Formule 1 or at the time of the stages of the test cyclist of the Tour de France (the law Évin removed this habit on the Tour de France). In the same way, the baptism of the ships is done traditionally by breaking a bottle of champagne on the hull.

Enology

A young champagne (12 months at 3 years) has flavors of a great freshness which can correspond to white or red fruit perfumes, citrus fruits, white flowers, plants, leavens (yeast, crumb of bread) or with mineral scents. For more mature champagne (3 to 5 years), the flavors are rounder and strong and are established in the register of the yellow, dry or cooked fruits, of vegetable alcohols, spices, confectionery and pastry making. After 5 years the perfume is more complex and is expressed through very ripe or crystallized fruit flavors, of perfumes of underwood, torrefaction, roasted or honey.

To know to read a label

One can read on a champagne label the mark, the name of elaborative, proportioning (gross, dryness, zero proportioning, etc), the year - or in his absence, the commune of origin of the grapes, and sometimes the qualitative quotation of the grapes: “great wine” for the seventeen communes which have the right for this reason or “first vintage” for the forty and one others. The professional statute of the producer is obligatory and results in the following characters:

Nm : Handling trader. Country cottages which work out and market their wine. The majority has vineyards, but buys also the grape of local producers;
RM : Collecting handling. Gather the whole of the vine growers who work out and market their own vintages starting from their only grape; they are the only “small producers”;
CM : Co-operative of handling. They are wines elaborate and sold by a union of producers;
RC : Collecting co-operator. The wine grower entrusts his grapes to his co-operative so that it works out the wine, then recovers whole or part of the bottles finished to market them;
SR : Company of collecting. Enough rare, generally family, it works out and markets jointly;
ND : Trader distributer. It is a trader who buys bottles finished with other operators, and markets them under its own brand.
MY : Mark of purchaser. A commercialisator asked a trader to affix his own brand on bottles which it bought. Generally ordinary product.

To serve champagne

The wine from champagne is drunk on all occasions and it can be the single wine of a whole meal.

the extra crudes are ideal with the oysters (iodine Marie badly with sugar), believed fish of the Japanese kitchen and all the seafood.
the nonvintage crudes and the champagnes “white of White” are drunk out of aperitif and can accompany the entries and the dishes by fish and seafood.
the vintage crudes and the rosy champagnes can be been used with the meat dishes and cheeses; the youngest years must precede the older wines.
dryness and the medium dry wine are perfect in accompaniment of desserts.

To emerge the bottle with softness
Initially, it is necessary to know that when one opens a bottle of champagne, the noise of a stopper which jumps is done with the detriment of the gustatory feeling, even if this is carried out with the detriment on the festive side. It is paramount always to withdraw it with delicacy to keep all its savor. Then an uncontrolled champagne stopper can reach a speed of 50 kilometers per hour, which is strongly likely to disturb the romantic evening envisaged with your partner if the latter receives this projectile on the level of its eye.

In a way also opposing, a stopper too quickly removed can show a gushing of a sparkling jet caused by an excessive concentration of bubbles: one calls that a phenomenon of " gerbage". Although the pilots of Formule 1 intentionally carry out this action by strongly shaking the bottle before opening it, the Country cottages are worried contrary to preventing this phenomenon within their factories. On their production lines, the bottles are entrechoquent permanently, agitate their contents and thus create new carbonic gas bubbles likely to cause the stacking with the opening of the bottle; and thus to cause a champagne loss but also to slow down the production pace of their bottles.

To serve fresh
The champagne must be been useful fresh, between 6 and 8 °C when it is young, up to 10 °C when it is more mature or vintage. One places the bottle during 20 to 30 minutes in a champagne bucket filled at half of water and ice (not more than one ten ice cubes). One can also place the bottle at the refrigerator (especially never in the compartment with ice and worse with the freezer).

The temperature of service at “Lasserre” which is a great restaurant where wine from champagne is king is of 9 °C. The oldest champagnes, beyond fifteen years of age, can be offered to 14 or 15 °C, i.e., at the temperature of a good cellar.

That it is in a refrigerator or champagne bucket, the bottle of champagne should not remain with the light and especially not be exposed in the light of neons, because the light gives him a hateful taste rather quickly - this council is valid for all the wines with bubbles. It is thus advised to cover or pack the bottle of a fine linen or at best - in a more refined way - with tissue paper.

the service
One preferably uses a flute or glass known as " tulipe" , the cuts being shown to lose the flavor of champagne like letting the bubbles escape more easily. It is necessary to think of changing the flutes each time one changes vintage. The standard amount is 10 Cl. The wine waiters count 6 to 10 flutes for a bottle of 75 Cl. The container must absolutely be out of glass or crystal and especially not out of plastic. The plastic being hydrophobic, it does not make it possible the bubbles to be fine and to sparkle: they remain stuck to the walls.

For a meal only with the wine from champagne, the total quantity advised for all the meal is of about a bottle by anybody - what represents the double of the quantities authorized in France to lead. One can as follows evaluate the distribution advised throughout the meal:

for the cocktail or the reception, a bottle for four to six people;
for the meal, a bottle for two to three people;
for the dessert, a bottle for eight people;

The service of champagne, known as “to Champagne”, follows a particular protocol:

the bottle is held only by the bottom, the inch inserted in the cavity and the fingers aligned along the body;
glass is filled to the maximum to two thirds, at best with half so that the wine is not heated too quickly;
the neck should not touch the edge of glass, a small final rotation makes it possible to get rid of the last drop;
the large bottles (Balthazar, etc) are constant in the folding of the arm.

Some cookies
It was formerly of tradition to accompany tasting by champagne of small cookies long and rectangular covered with sugar freezes: cookies with the spoon or pink cookies of Rheims.

To sand or to saber the champagne?

The question of knowing if it is necessary to say to sand or to saber the champagne often returns at the time to open a bottle of it. It is often pretext with pleasant polemics. Both are said but do not mean the same thing.

In the beginning, Sabler the champagne meant: to drink of a feature. The expression comes from the word " sabler" within the meaning of running matter in fusion in a sand mould. By analogy with the operation, one métaphoriquement indicates the action to pour of a feature the wine in his gosier by this technical term. (See also http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabler).

To sand the champagne within the meaning of " to drink rapidement" , that the current dictionaries give like out-of-date direction , is not used any more. In its qualified meaning of modern , the expression means " to drink champagne in company to celebrate happy a occasion". It should be noted that one sands today only champagne, and no other beverage (one does not sand a The or a Bordeaux), whereas the expression of origin applied to any wine.

Sabrer the champagne must include/understand métonymiquement: one opens the bottle without emerging it but using a saber: of a sharp movement, one makes slip the dish of the blade along the neck by giving a very dry blow with the back of the saber on the collar of the bottle. The struck shock combined with the pressure of the wine inside the bottle makes it possible to break it Net, to decapitate it properly. The collar, the Stopper and the muselet violently are ejected, followed projections of gas, wine and foam. This operation requires a minimum of precaution and address, not inevitably a saber; a heavy and lengthened metal object, with an edge, can make the deal.

One can thus saber champagne for, then, sanding it.

The champagne and health

The wine from champagne is cordially recommended in œnothérapie to the reason which it “dissipates the nauséeux states and supports the moral one”. The Canon Godinot in 1718, in its treaty on the wines from champagne, ensured: “ Of all the wines, it is not the best for health that a gray Champagne wine, or color eye of partridge ”.

Its qualities:

Its carbonic gas comes only from the second fermentation and is not artificial, like the east that of certain sparkling wines and of gasified drinks.
the champagne does not irritate the stomach in spite of a very weak pH, it does not harm digestion, but improves it, by dissolving greases and by avoiding the distensions.
Like all the dry white wines, it is diuretic and helps to eliminate excesses.
It is rich in assimilable rock salt, in particular in Potassium, Calcium, Magnésium and Soufre, and thus has dépuratives properties, détoxicantes and anti-inflammatory drugs. It acts thus on the Rhumatisme S, the Rhume S and the Allergie S.
It contains also trace elements, whose Zinc, useful for the regulation of the nerve impulse, and before the use of anxiolytic, the champagne was recognized like antidepressant and anxiolytic. It contains also Phosphore and important Lithium for the regulation of the moods.

Posology advised by the experts: in treatment of attack, three flutes each day during 1 month, and in treatment of maintenance, a flute per day, makes it possible to profit from all its benefits and a moral good.

The red champagne

At the 19th century, some houses worked out effervescent wine from champagne of red color by adding to white champagne a quarter or a third of quiet red wine, then a dose share of red color. This type of product was prohibited and the last house which worked out some was the house F. Giesler in 1887.

Future of champagne

The total Réchauffement of planet will have without any doubt of the consequences on the culture of the vine and the industry of champagne in particular. The septentrional climate and the grounds limestones make it possible to the wine growers Champagne to have a production of quality. Not only one produced fresh climate of the rough and light wines necessary for the realization of a good champagne but in more the grounds limestones bring to the grapes an acidity which makes it possible the flavors to lengthily develop during the phase of ageing; a rise in the temperatures and a long hot Champagne season would modify of this fact the properties and the good progress of the process of ageing of this wine.

During the summer 2003, France knew the hottest temperatures never known. Weak precipitations and heat caused not only one drying of the grape, but they also had as a consequence a strong sugar concentration in the grains. The levels of acidity fell as the grape was gorged with sugar, whereas a champagne with need for a good acidity for aging well and developing its flavors. Production of 2003 to summer reduced by approximately 50% compared to a normal year.

Scientists put forth the assumption that, if the climate change were maintained, it could strongly be that one attends the wine emergence semi-sparkling in Great Britain ; certain areas of the south of England having a calcareous ground comparable with that of the Champagne area.

Quotations

In 1961, Mrs Bollinger answered a journalist of the London Daily Mail which questioned it on its Champagne consumption: “ I drink it when I am merry and when I am sad. Sometimes, I take it when I am alone. I consider it obligatory when I have company. I play with when I do not have appetite, and I drink some when I am hungry. If not I never touch there, unless I am not thirsty ”.

“ the champagne: it is the only wine which leaves the beautiful woman after drinking ”, said of him the Madam de Pompadour.

“ If I were not king de France, I would like to be a prince of Ay ” would have said Henri IV.

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