Champagne

Question 1

Campania

Answer 1

Champagne name derived from campania originally used to describe the rolling hills north of Rome

Question 2

Phylloxera

Answer 2

1890. intensified competition from other sparkling wines as well as from other French winemakers and intensified fraudulent practices

Question 3

Fraud + Phylloxera

Answer 3

near civil war in 1911. led to:

• attempts to define region which excluded Aube and sparked riots
• Suppression of attempts to delimit region which led to April 1911 riots in the Marne
• Commision de Calons set up in 1935
• CIVC 6 years later

Question 4

French Market for Champagne

Answer 4

accounts for 2/3 sales. Brands less dominant. Growers and Co-ops account for 1/2 of sales domestically.

Question 5

Export Market for Champange

Answer 5

Brands account for 90%

Question 6

competition from co-ops

Answer 6

added pressure to conglomerate. Moet acquired Mercier, Ruinart, Krug, Veuve, … 1

Question 7

1990 Grape Market Freed

Answer 7

led to increasingly concentrated trade with 7 biggest houses accounting for 70% of the total

Question 8

Crus

Answer 8

17 Grands
42 Premiers (44 according to WSET)

Question 9

Grapes

Answer 9

99% + Pinot Noir, Champagne, Meunier

also some Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane, and Petite Meslier

Question 10

Yields

Answer 10

from 3,670 kg/ha (24 hl/ha) in the 40s to 9.910 kg/ha (66 hl/ha) in the 80s. CIVC sets max yield each year. since 1992 160 kg grapes required to produce 102 l of juice meaning max permitted yield is 65 hl/ha

Question 11

Vertical Basket Press

Answer 11

also known as a Coquard press. holds 4,000 kg or a marc which is also a standard unit of measurement in the region. Hydraulic and pneumatic horizontal presses also allowed

Question 12

Pressing

Answer 12

Traditionally 2,666 l extracted from every marc. First 2,050 l were cuvee, next 410 l were premieres tailles, final 206 l were deuxiemes tailles. Now reduced to 2,550 l per marc (or 102 l per 160 kg) and deuxiemes tailles abolished. Taille is remaining 5hl

Question 13

Taille Chablis

Answer 13

fan shaped bush vine

Rachet. 2 bud spur. Will not bear fruit in current season but will grow shoots to use the following season

Lancement. fruitful shoot bearing 5 buds from last years Rachet

then one to four older branches composed of two parts: lower part called charpent (was a lancement) made by wood more than a year old, and a higher fruitful part called prolongement with 5 buds. the following year the prolongement will be more than one year old and will become part of the charpent.

When the charpent becomes too long it is cut altogether

Question 14

Taille Chablis pros/cons

Answer 14

Pros:

retains good amount of old wood but at same time cordons are relatively young. This provides carb reserves and frost resistance while minimizing disease risk.

Good for Chard because 1st two buds are frequently unfruitful.

Cons:

requires skill, more time consuming than guyot

Question 15

41B

Answer 15

81% of Champagne plantings
berlandieri x vinifera
poor phylloxera and poor nematode resistance. promotes early ripening and highly lime tolerant

Question 16

SO4

Answer 16

in champgne used on moderately limestone soils

berlandieri x riparia

Question 17

3309C

Answer 17

in champagne used on soils with very little limestone

rupestris x riparia

Question 18

Champagne Vine Spacing

Answer 18

Inter-row 1.5m
Intra-row 0.9 - 1.5m
total spacing never more than 2.5m
8,000m/ha

Question 19

of fruiting buds

Answer 19

regardless of pruning method, no more than 18 fruiting buds per square meter of vineyard

Question 20

NM

Answer 20

Negociant-Manipulant

Champagne House

Question 21

RM

Answer 21

Recoltant-Manipulant

Grower/Producer

Question 22

SR

Answer 22

Societe de Recoltants

two or more growers who share the same winery

Question 23

CM

Answer 23

Cooperative-Manipulant

Question 24

RC

Answer 24

Recoltant-Cooperative

A grower that sells wine made from his grapes that are made by the cooperative

Question 25

ND

Answer 25

Negociant Distributeur | A broker who buys and sells finished wine

Question 26

MA

Answer 26

Marque d'Acheteur | a brand owned by a retailer or restaurant

Question 27

liqueur de tirage

Answer 27

the addition of sugar and yeast at botling

Question 28

degorgement

Answer 28

literally disgorgement or to dispell

Question 29

liqueur d'expedition

Answer 29

sweetens the final product

Question 30

champagne with dessert?

Answer 30

originally a sweet wine and after drier styles emerged custom persists

Question 31

Merret's Paper

Answer 31

English invented second fermentation and described it in Royal Society Paper dated 1662

Question 32

coquard press

Answer 32

flattened adaptation of the medieval basket press

Question 33

pneumatic press

Answer 33

programmed with CIVC chip which replicates coquard's complex series of pressing and breaking up

Question 34

coquard PAI

Answer 34

automatic tilted plate press

Question 35

cuvee vs taille

Answer 35

out of 4,000kg of grapes, 20.5h can be pressed for cuvee and 5hl for taille

Question 36

oxidative juice handling

Answer 36

in order to oxidize the parts of the of the must prone to oxidation prior to fermentation

Question 37

first fermentation

Answer 37

short and simple often carried out at higher temperatures

Question 38

ML

Answer 38

most champagnes undergo ML. lowers overall acidity, adds some complexity, adds stability

Question 39

No ML houses

Answer 39

Krug, Roederer, Gosset, Lanson. When the fruit is ripe, preventing ML allow's for bright fruit and highlights bright acidity

Question 40

Oak: Krug vs. Bollinger

Answer 40

Krug uses relatively new wood for short periods of time. Bollinger old wood for 6 month +

Question 41

jetting

Answer 41

creates effect of foaming by squirting wine or sulphited water at high velocity which causes foaming to continue until bottle is corked

Question 42

vins sur lattes

Answer 42

lees spread over 80 square centimeters rather than 60 square centimeters if standing upright

Question 43

poignetage

Answer 43

essentially moving and re-stacking vins sur lattes

Question 44

gyropallette and girasol

Answer 44

gyropallette is a champenois development of the girasol invented in 70s

Question 45

degorgement a la glace

Answer 45

immersion of neck in shallow bath of freezing brine. way faster than degorgement a la volee

Question 46

liqueur de expedition

Answer 46

wine and perhaps sugar

Question 47

maillard reaction

Answer 47

takes place between sugars and amino acids. process normally takes place at high temp but can take place over a much longer period of time at low temp. contributes to the toasty, biscuity, and patisserie aromas of fine champagne

Question 48

high yields

Answer 48

generally less harmful to white than red, and even less harmful to sparkling

Question 49

malic acid

Answer 49

can be troublesome in sparkling wines for 2 reasons, harsh acid if no ML and overtly lactic quality if ML

Question 50

fast first fermentation

Answer 50

18-20Cv to avoid development of esters

Question 51

slow second fermentation

Answer 51

around 10C

Question 52

chalk

Answer 52

chalk is limestone but limestone is not necessarily chalk. In fact chalk is rare. Chalk very high in active lime (40%) other limestone rarely exceeds 20%

Question 53

15% NV

Answer 53

by law 15% of harvest must be used for NV

Question 54

Vintage Champagne

Answer 54

100% current vintage.

Question 55

Other Sparkling EU sines

Answer 55

85% current vintage for vintage designation

Question 56

autolytic character of vintage champagne

Answer 56

more pronounced no reserve wine mellowness

Question 57

rose champagne acidity

Answer 57

generally lower due to higher PN content or additional of red wine

Question 58

Brut Nature

Answer 58

LP Ultra-Brut launched in 1981

Question 59

sparkling wine storage

Answer 59

should be stored upright. CO2 in the headspace provides sufficient humidity to keep cork moist

Question 60

Madame Cliquot's kitchen table

Answer 60

was the basis for Antoine Muller's Pupitre system