Champagne winegrowing Flashcards
(31 cards)
Most popular Champagne style, price/ quality description:
white
fully sparkling
NV
Brut
blend of PN, Meunier, Chardonnay
med intensity
apple, lemon, brioche and/or biscuit autolytic notes
h. acidity
m. alcohol
quality: good - outstanding
mid- to premium-priced
Vintage / prestige cuvée - premium and super-premium prices.
define NV champagne:
blend number of vintages
follows set house style
Blending different parcels of base wine + some from earlier vintages
smooth out vintage variation
consistent profile every year
define Vintage champagne:
100% from year indicated
theory: only from best vintages but often some variance - producers rate some vintages better than others
some years: growing conditions favourable = vintage almost universally declared (eg. 2002, 2008)
still reflect house style, but can be a unique wine, showing the characteristics of the year
define Rosé champagne
usually by blending red wine with white “rosé d’assemblage”
skin maceration of black grapes also permitted, then “bled off” - “rosé de saignée”.
define Blanc de Blancs champagne
white wine white grapes only
leaner and more austere in youth
often unmatched ageing potential
define Blanc de Noirs champagne
white wine from black grapes only
fuller bodied than BdB
generally thought to age more rapidly than BdB
define Grand Cru champagne
on the label as a quality statement
all grapes grown within the vineyards belonging to grand cru villages
define Premier Cru champagne
same as GC but grapes from vineyards in premier cru and/or grand cru villages
define Prestige Cuvée champagne
top wine in Champagne producer’s range
some houses (Krug) specialise in making a range of prestige cuvées
strict selection of best grapes
meticulous winemaking techniques
can be non-vintage or vintage wines
define Late release, recently disgorged champagne
- Extended lees-aged wines, disgorged just before release
- Ready to drink immediately upon release
- Offer a different flavour profile than same-vintage wines disgorged earlier
- Initially appear more youthful
- Age faster post-disgorgement than standard vintage wines
- Reason: Older wines more affected by oxygen ingress and disturbance during disgorgement
- Examples: Bollinger R.D., Dom Pérignon P2
Factors affecting temperature - Champagne
- Location: NE France, just south of the 50th parallel
- Size: \~150 km north–south, \~120 km east–west
- Climate: Cool continental with some oceanic influence
- barely ripened grapes for table wine
- Altitude: Vineyards mostly at 90–300 m
- Average temp: Low at 11°C
- Produces low-alcohol, high-acid base wines — ideal for traditional method sparkling
-
Climate change over last 30 years:
- Harvest 18 days earlier on average
- Acidity decreased, potential alcohol up by 0.7%
- Leads to more consistent ripeness and fewer poor vintages
describe Montagne de Reims
- Best known for black grapes, especially Pinot Noir
- Key grand cru villages: Mailly, Verzenay, Verzy, Ambonnay, Bouzy
- More of a wide plateau than a true mountain
- Some top villages face north — cooler sites, but more frost-prone
- Wines have very high acidity and can be austere when young
- Also home to important Chardonnay vineyards
- Soils vary; grand crus on chalky soils offer ideal water retention and drainage balance
describe the Vallée de la Marne
- Meunier is dominant, grown on clay, marl, and sandy soils
- Produces fruity wines
- Bud break is later, ripens earlier than Chardonnay/Pinot Noir → well-suited to this frost-prone valley
- Chardonnay also grown, blended into early-drinking wines
- Grand Cru village of Aÿ is located in this area
describe the Côte des Blancs
- Region: Almost exclusively planted with white grapes
- Soil: Contains the purest chalk, offering ideal water retention and drainage
- Grape variety: 95% Chardonnay
- Grand cru villages: Cramant, Avize, Oger, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
- Wines known for great intensity and longevity, often austere in youth
describe the Côte de Sézanne (south of the Côte des Blancs)
- Continuation of the Côte des Blancs
- Soils: Mainly clay and clay/silt, with some chalk pockets
- Mostly planted with Chardonnay on warmer SE-facing slopes
- Results in fruitier, riper grapes
- Grape quality generally rated lower than in Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne, and Côte des Blancs
describe the Côte des Bar, 100 km south and closer to Chablis than to Epernay.
- Large southern area of Champagne
- Covers nearly ¼ of the region’s vineyard area
- Dominated by Pinot Noir
- Soils: Kimmeridgian calcareous marls, also found in Chablis and Sancerre
- Steep slopes and stony limestone soils → excellent drainage, aiding Pinot Noir ripening
- Important source of ripe, full-flavoured Pinot Noir for NV blends, due to limited PN plantings elsewhere
- Much of the wine is purchased by merchants in northern Champagne
Champagne: Rainfall and risks
- Annual rainfall: \~700 mm — adequate for grape growing
- Evenly distributed throughout the year
-
Rain at critical times can cause issues:
- During flowering/fruit set: Can reduce yields
- During harvest: Increases risk of fungal disease and crop dilution
Champagne: soils:
- Paris Basin: Region underlain by a thick layer of chalk (ancient seabed)
- Northern chalky hillsides of Champagne are ideal for high-quality grape growing
- High chalk content is especially beneficial for Chardonnay
- Most common soil types: Chalky soils with limestone subsoil and pure chalk
-
Chalk:
- Highly porous, stores water
- Supplies steady moisture during dry periods
- Well-drained soils + sloped vineyards = optimal water access without waterlogging
Champagne: Considerations in vineyard establishment
- Maximum inter-row spacing: 1.5 m
- Intra-row spacing: 0.9–1.5 m
- Total spacing: Never more than 2.5 m
- Average planting density: \~8,000 vines/ha
- High yields acceptable — no need for ripe tannins or high concentration of flavours/colours
Champagne: grapes split
-
3 principal varieties make up over 99% of nearly 35,000 hectares:
- Pinot Noir (PN): 38%
- Meunier: 32%
- Chardonnay: 30% (increasingly planted)
-
Chardonnay:
- High demand from big Champagne houses
- Commands a slightly higher price per kilo and larger yields
-
Other varieties:
- Grown for blending or niche cuvées
- Examples:
- Pinot Blanc
- Arbanne
- Petit Meslier
- Fromenteau
- E.g. Champagne Laherte’s Les 7 is made with all seven permitted varieties
Meunier characteristics:
- Pinot Meunier: Mutation of Pinot Noir, with white hairs on leaves (floury appearance)
- Early budding (later than PN/Chardo), less prone to spring frosts in Vallée de la Marne
- Thrives on heavier, clay-rich soils
- Ripens earlier than PN, useful when harvests are delayed by rain
- Sensitive to botrytis
- Produces fruity wines with softness, important for NV wines (aged on lees for shorter periods)
- Not suited for long ageing, but used by Krug and Egly-Ouriet in premium cuvées
Champagne: canopy management overall rules for buds, when introduced
training, pruning and trellising regulated in Champagne since 1938
4 approved systems
The average number of fruiting buds per vine for all these systems must not exceed 18 per square metre.
Taille Chablis
- Best for Chardonnay
- 3–4 cordons (old wood), may have up to five
- Spur pruning with up to five buds at the end of each cordon
- Retains a large proportion of permanent wood, helping protect against frosts
- Spurs trained at 0.6 m above ground for optimal solar energy (heat and light), especially on chalky soils
Cordon du Royat
For Pinot Noir and Meunier
single cordon spur-pruned + shoots vertically positioned.
