Champagne/Sparkling wines Flashcards

Question

32-50 grams per liter What designation of Champagne would this be?

Answer 1

50+ grams per liter

Answer 2

Equivalent terms include Non-Dosé, Brut Sauvage, Ultra Brut, Dosage Zéro, Sans Sucre, Pas Dosé.

Answer 3

Brut Nature

Answer 4

``` Sillery Puisieulx Beaumont-Sur-Vesle Verzenay Mailly-Champagne Verzy* Louvois Bouzy Ambonnay ```

Answer 5

Grand Cru villages in Montagne de Reims *There are 9 total

Answer 6

Aÿ | Tours-sur-Marne (GC for red)

Answer 7

Grand Cru Villages in Vallee de la Marne

Answer 8

Grand Cru Villages in Côte des Blancs

Answer 9

``` Chouilly* Oiry* Cramant Avize Oger* Le Mesnil-sur-Oger* ```

Answer 10

Viticulture must occur on the estate (only RM producers may join) Vinification and bottling must occur on the estate Members must respect and uphold the Club's charter

Answer 11

Club Trésors de Champagne (Special Club)

Answer 12

The "Special Club" is the top-of-the-range, prestige cuvée for all members The Club Trésors will declare a vintage as being worthy of "Special Club" prestige cuvées, then each member may decide individually whether or not to produce a "Special Club" wine All base wines and finished "Special Club" wines must undergo tasting analysis All "Special Club" bottles share an identical label and bottle shape

Answer 13

Blanc Rosé Rouge

Answer 14

Encépagement: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Meunier, Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris

Answer 15

AOC Established: 1974 (last updated 2010)

Answer 16

Communes of Production: Les Riceys

Answer 17

Styles and Encépagement: | Rosé (tranquille): 100% Pinot Noir

Answer 18

Vinification Requirements: Grapes are vinified as whole bunches (semi-carbonic maceration)

Answer 19

traditional method (méthode traditionnelle) or classic method (méthode classique)

Answer 20

In the techniques of assemblage (blending) and viticulture, despite the persistent myth that anoints him as the inventor of sparkling winemaking.

Answer 21

Abbey of Hautvillers from 1668 until his death in 1715

Answer 22

The irrepressibly cold winters of the region created a danger: as the weather cooled off in the autumn and the yeasts became dormant, fermentation would sometimes prematurely stop, and the wines would be bottled with fermentable sugars still present. With the spring thaw and rising temperatures, yeasts would awaken inside the bottle, and refermentation occurred. The resulting sparkle was a fatal flaw, as the weak, wood-fired French glass of the past could not withstand the mounting gas pressure, and bottles would explode, often causing a chain reaction throughout the cellar.

Answer 23

In the late 17th century, the English transferred Champagne from cask to stronger, coal-fired glass that could contain the pressure, and were likely the first to enjoy true sparkling Champagne—the merits of effervescence are praised in English literary works whose publication predates Pérignon’s tenure. Pérignon and his contemporaries endeavored to lessen the probability of refermentation, rather than encourage it.

Answer 24

Gosset, 1584

Answer 25

Ruinart, established in 1729, can claim to be the oldest sparkling Champagne house

Answer 26

Under her leadership, the house pioneered the process of remuage, or riddling

Answer 27

Veuve (“widow”) Clicquot

Answer 28

or riddling—a procedure that allows sediment to be easily removed from a bottle during dégorgement (disgorgement).

Answer 29

Jean-Antoine Chaptal

Answer 30

A fundamental understanding of the connection between sugar and the second fermentation, coupled with the pharmacist André François’ measurement of the precise amount of sugar required to induce it without breaking the bottle, allowed Champagne houses to produce sparkling wines with greater confidence.

Answer 31

They would sell fruit to the larger houses, which could manage the costs of both production and marketing.

Answer 32

Champagne production jumped from 300,000 bottles in 1800 to 36 million by 1883.

Answer 33

Pommery put the first brut Champagne, Pommery “Nature,” on the market in 1874.

Answer 34

A consortium of growers and merchants, was formed in 1935 to develop quality standards and regulate pricing

Answer 35

Champagne remains the only AOC/AOP that does not need to include Appellation Contrôlée (or Protégée) on the label.

Answer 36

Comité Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne

Answer 37

Comite Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne (CIVC)

Answer 38

prestige cuvée—a premier bottling often carrying a vintage date.

Answer 39

or second crop, that rarely ripens and is left on the vine.

Answer 40

Porous, belemnite chalk subsoil is pushed to the surface on the appellation’s slopes, absorbing heat to protect the vines at night and providing excellent drainage in the wet climate.

Answer 41

Belemnite chalk, derived from the fossilized remains of millions of extinct cephalopods, has a high limestone content, which allows vine roots to dig deeply and is linked to increased acidity.

Answer 42

Belemnite chalk

Answer 43

Aube to the south clay is the dominant soil type.

Answer 44

Remnants of bags used to ship composted trash. The Champenoise have a long history of relying on recycled Parisian garbage to fertilize their vineyards. Composting is admirable, but the portion of inorganic and toxic waste grew over time, and the practice was outlawed in 1998. Les bleus de ville remain, a reminder to a new generation of growers and caretakers.

Answer 45

``` Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, Côte des Blancs, Côte de Sézanne, Côte des Bars (the Aube). ```

Answer 46

Pinot Noir is the prominent grape in both Montagne de Reims and the Aube

Answer 47

Chardonnay is dominant in the Côte de Sézanne and almost exclusively planted, as its name indicates, on the southeast- and east-facing slopes of the Côte des Blancs.

Answer 48

Meunier is heavily cultivated in the sheltered vineyards of the frost-prone Vallée de la Marne, where its tendency to bud late and ripen early is prized by growers.

Answer 49

The vineyards of the Montagne de Reims are, surprisingly, divided between south- and north-facing slopes. The plain beneath the northern Montagne de Reims is too cold for viticulture, but the higher slopes of the region’s plateau enjoy a pocket of warm air that allows the grapes to ripen.

Answer 50

Cru status is awarded to entire villages in Champagne, rather than individual vineyards or properties. However, the areas authorized for cultivation within each commune are strictly defined.

Answer 51

17 villages have grand cru status and 42 are classified as premier cru according to their rankings in the Échelle de Crus.

Answer 52

Villages that achieved the maximum échelle (“scale”) of 100 were classified as grands crus; villages that achieved an échelle of 90 through 99 were classified as premier cru. Also, villages with a rating below 90 were simply crus. Originally, the Échelle de Crus was a true percentile system; in 1985 a revision set the minimum rating of the scale at 80.

Answer 53

Négociant Manipulant A house that purchases grapes and or base wines from growers and other smaller houses.

Answer 54

A house that purchases grapes and or base wines from growers and other smaller houses. Some NM houses own a significant portion of their own vineyards; others own none at all. Large Champagne houses with the most international presence are invariably in this category: Moët et Chandon, Louis Roederer, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Billecart-Salmon, Lanson, Taittinger, Pol Roger, Perrier-Jouët, Mumm, and Laurent-Perrier. Quality varies widely, although prices are uniformly high. Many houses often fall under the same corporate parentage; for example, Moët et Chandon, Krug, Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, and Mercier fall under the umbrella of the luxury conglomerate LVMH.

Answer 55

Récoltant Manipulant A grower-producer who makes Champagne from estate-grown fruit. 95% of the grapes must originate in the producer’s own vineyards.

Answer 56

A grower-producer who makes Champagne from estate-grown fruit. 95% of the grapes must originate in the producer’s own vineyards.

Answer 57

Coopérative Manipulant A growers’ co-operative that produces the wine under a single brand.

Answer 58

A growers’ co-operative that produces the wine under a single brand.

Answer 59

Récoltant Coopérateur A grower whose grapes are vinified at a co-operative, but sells the wine under his own label.

Answer 60

A grower whose grapes are vinified at a co-operative, but sells the wine under his own label.

Answer 61

Société de Récoltants A firm, not a co-operative, set up by a union of often related growers, who share resources to make their wines and collectively market several brands.

Answer 62

A firm, not a co-operative, set up by a union of often related growers, who share resources to make their wines and collectively market several brands.

Answer 63

Négociant Distributeur A middleman company that distributes Champagne it did not make.

Answer 64

A middleman company that distributes Champagne it did not make.

Answer 65

Marque d’Acheteur A buyer’s own brand, often a large supermarket chain or restaurant, that purchases Champagne and sells it under its own label.

Answer 66

A buyer's own brand, often a large supermarket chain or restaurant, that purchases Champagne and sells it under its own label.

Answer 67

NM (Négociant Manipulant)

Answer 68

RM (Récoltant Manipulant)

Answer 69

CM (Coopérative Manipulant)

Answer 70

RC (Récoltant Coopérateur)

Answer 71

SR (Société de Récoltants)

Answer 72

ND (Négociant Distributeur)

Answer 73

MA (Marque d’Acheteur)

Answer 74

When pressing grapes for Champagne, extraction is limited to 102 liters from 160 kg of grapes, or 2,550 liters from 4,000 kg.

Answer 75

The vin de taille is usually richer in pigment and tannin, and many producers sell off this lesser component of the must or include it in a minor proportion as a structural element in a blend.

Answer 76

The vin de taille is usually richer in pigment and tannin, and many producers sell off this lesser component of the must or include it in a minor proportion as a structural element in a blend.

Answer 77

A third extraction, the rebêche, is required by law and must comprise 1-10% of the total. The rebêche is used for distillate, not Champagne.

Answer 78

After pressing, the juice is allowed to settle (débourbage) at a cool temperature for eight to fifteen hours, so that remaining solids (bourbes) in the must can be removed by racking prior to fermentation.

Answer 79

The must, which is often chaptalized, will then undergo primary fermentation, resulting in high-acid base wines (vins clairs) with an approximate alcohol content of 11%. Primary fermentation may occur in either stainless steel or oak—typically used barrels, although some producers do use a percentage of new wood.

Answer 80

The second fermentation, or prise de mousse, is the heart of the méthode Champenoise.

Answer 81

a plastic capsule that will serve to capture the sediment during remuage.

Answer 82

Each bottle is affixed with a crown cap (equipped with a bidule, a plastic capsule that will serve to capture the sediment during remuage) or a cork after the liqueur de tirage is added, and yeast begins its work. The secondary fermentation lasts up to eight weeks, as the yeast slowly converts the additional sugar to alcohol and carbon dioxide.

Answer 83

The alcohol content of the wine rises approximately 1.2-1.3%, and the carbon dioxide creates a pressure inside the bottle of five to six atmospheres.

Answer 84

The bottles are usually stored horizontally (“sur latte”).

Answer 85

dégorgement

Answer 86

Historically, producers performed an operation called pointage, in which each bottle would be briskly shaken in order to prevent the sediment from sticking to the sides of the bottle.

Answer 87

Newer strains of yeast generally preclude the need for pointage, and most houses have abandoned the practice.

Answer 88

widow Clicquot

Answer 89

A remuer would fractionally turn and tilt each bottle over a period of about eight weeks, slowly inverting the bottles with the neck pointing downward.

Answer 90

Yes. The modern remuage operation is shortened to a week or less through the use of a Spanish invention, the gyropalette, an automated device that holds 504 bottles. The gyropalette has replaced hand-riddling at all of the major houses, although some prestige cuvée bottlings are still handled manually.

Answer 91

It is kept sur pointe (upside-down vertical position with the wine still resting on its lees) for a number of years, and only disgorged upon order.

Answer 92

This involves dipping the neck of bottle in a freezing brine solution. The bottle can then be turned upright. The force of internal pressure will expel the semi-frozen sediment (and a small portion of wine) as the crown cap is removed.

Answer 93

As the wines are fully fermented to total dryness, the bottles are then topped off with dosage, or liqueur d’expédition, a liquid mixture of sugar syrup and wine.

Answer 94

liqueur d'expedition

Answer 95

``` Brut Nature/Non-Dosé 0-3 grams per liter Extra Brut 0-6 grams per liter Brut 0-12 grams per liter Extra Dry 12-17 grams per liter Sec 17-32 grams per liter Demi-Sec 32-50 grams per liter Doux 50+ grams per liter ```

Answer 96

wire-cage used in packaging Champagne bottles.

Answer 97

Quarter Bottle (Piccolo)

Answer 98

Half Bottle (Demi)

Answer 99

3 L (4 bottles)

Answer 100

4.5 L (6 bottles)

Answer 101

Rehoboam (discontinued in 1989)

Answer 102

6 L (8 bottles)

Answer 103

Methuselah

Answer 104

9 L (12 bottles)

Answer 105

Salmanazar

Answer 106

12 L (16 bottles)

Answer 107

Nebuchadnezzar

Answer 108

15 L (20 bottles)

Answer 109

18 L (24 bottles)

Answer 110

Larger sizes, including the Sovereign and Primat, are extraordinarily rare. Many sources cite the 18 L bottle as a Melchior, as it is called in Bordeaux.

Answer 111

``` Quarter Bottle (Piccolo) Half Bottle (Demi) 375 ml Bottle 750 ml Magnum 1.5 L (2 bottles) Jeroboam 3 L (4 bottles) Rehoboam (discontinued in 1989) 4.5 L (6 bottles) Methuselah 6 L (8 bottles) Salmanazar 9 L (12 bottles) Balthazar 12 L (16 bottles) Nebuchadnezzar 15 L (20 bottles) Solomon ```

Answer 112

Non-Vintage (NV): Generally brut in style, the NV cuvée represents a house’s signature style, and the blender’s job is to ensure its consistency from year to year. Non-vintage Champagne makes up at least three-quarters of the market.

Answer 113

Vintage: 100% of the blend must come from the stated vintage, yet a maximum 80% of a year’s harvest may be sold as vintage Champagne. The better houses declare a vintage only in exceptional years. These are usually brut in style, and good examples can age for a decade or more.

Answer 114

Blanc de Blancs: 100% Chardonnay is required, but it is not always sourced from the Côte des Blancs. They may be vintage-dated or NV. The Blanc de Blancs category represents some of Champagne’s most ageworthy bottlings; while austere and often steely in youth, better examples develop an intense bouquet with maturity.

Answer 115

Blanc de Noirs: White wine produced solely from black grapes. The wine usually displays richness, intensity, and weight, although it can lack the supreme elegance and finesse of Blanc de Blancs.

Answer 116

Usually the finest and most expensive bottling that a house offers, the prestige cuvée is typically (but not always) vintage-dated and aged for a number of years prior to release. Prestige Cuvées are usually only released in superior vintages, and may undergo more traditional vinification procedures, such as barrel fermentation, riddling by hand, and cork-finishing during the second fermentation.

Answer 117

Moët et Chandon

Answer 118

Dom Perignon

Answer 119

Taittinger

Answer 120

Comtes de Champagne

Answer 121

Louis Roederer

Answer 122

Laurent-Perrier

Answer 123

Perrier-Jouët

Answer 124

Grande Siecle

Answer 125

"Belle Époque" (bottled as "Fleur de Champagne" for the US market)

Answer 126

Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill

Answer 127

Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin

Answer 128

La Grande Dame

Answer 129

Dom Ruinart

Answer 130

Single Vineyard Champagne bottlings may be produced by a large house or a smaller grower-producer, and may or may not be advertised as a prestige cuvée. Single Vineyard wines are not required to carry a vintage date, although they invariably do, and the style represents a stark departure from the blending philosophy of the region. Philipponnat’s “Clos de Goisses,” originally released for the 1935 vintage from one of the few walled vineyards of the region, remains a benchmark bottling.

Answer 131

The “Special Club” concept originated in 1971, with a dozen grower-producers. Lacking the marketing budgets of larger houses, these producers banded together to promote their prestige cuvées through identical packaging. Today, the Club Trésors comprises over two-dozen RM producers as members. The Special Club bottlings are estate-bottled, vintage-dated wines that represent the pinnacle of each individual grower’s style and production. Special Club bottles and labels share identical design. Current members include Marc Hébrart, Pierre Gimmonet, Paul Bara, J. Lassalle and Gaston Chiquet.

Answer 132

Rosé Champagne: Vintage, NV, and prestige cuvées may also be produced in pink versions. The traditional saignée method, in which the wine gains its hue through extended skin contact, is less common than blending. Champagne is the only AOP in France that allows a rosé to be produced by blending red and white wine. A rosé prestige cuvée, a novelty in years past, is usually the most expensive and rare product a house offers.

Answer 133

Coteaux Champenois and Rosé de Riceys

Answer 134

``` 7 Crémant de Bordeaux, Crémant de Bourgogne, Crémant de Loire, Crémant de Limoux, Crémant de Die, Crémant du Jura, Crémant d’Alsace. ```

Answer 135

Blanquette de Limoux AOP wines from the Languedoc region are also produced by the traditional method, from a minimum 90% Mauzac, Chardonnay, and Chenin Blanc.

Answer 136

In Italy, the best traditional method sparkling wines are produced in Lombardy, within the DOCGs of Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico.

Answer 137

All Spanish Cava and the highest quality German Sekt are produced by the traditional method.

Answer 138

this is the oldest and most rudimentary of sparkling winemaking procedures. A single fermentation begins in tank, but the wine is transferred to bottles before the process is complete—liqueur de tirage is unnecessary. Yeasts continue to ferment the remaining sugars in the bottle, giving the wine its sparkle. The residual sweetness of the finished wines varies by appellation, but dosage is not allowed. Typically, the wine is disgorged, filtered and rebottled in clean glass prior to sale.

Answer 139

méthode rurale

Answer 140

Methode Ancestrale

Answer 141

Cuve Close or Tank Method

Answer 142

Eugene Charmat in the early 20th century

Answer 143

The Charmat Method is quicker, cheaper, and less labor-intensive than the traditional method. After the wine undergoes primary fermentation, liqueur de tirage is added to the wine, provoking a second fermentation, which occurs in a pressurized enamel-lined tank, or autoclave, over a matter of days. Once the appropriate pressure is reached (usually 5 atmospheres), the wine is chilled to arrest fermentation. Some appellations require the wine to remain in tank for a minimum period of time, such as one month for Asti DOCG. The wine is then filtered and bottled, usually with a dosage. The lack of extended lees contact in the tank method is not suitable for making quality wines in the style of Champagne.

Answer 144

The bubbles, or bead, in tank method wines will be larger and coarser, and the wine will have a less uniform texture than wines made by the traditional method.

Answer 145

Charmat method (aka "Tank method")

Answer 146

Developed in the USSR, this method is similar to the tank method, but the base wine is pumped through a series of interconnected (continuous) tanks while undergoing the second fermentation. Liqueur de tirage is constantly added to the wine, and lees accumulate in the first several tanks, offering a higher degree of autolyzed flavors than the standard tank method. The majority of German Sekt is produced by either the tank method or the continuous method.

Answer 147

Carbonation: The cheapest method of sparkling winemaking involves a simple injection of carbon dioxide into still wine. The bubbles do not integrate into the texture of the wine at all, and fade quickly upon opening. This method is not used for quality wines.

Champagne/Sparkling wines Flashcards

(188 cards)