Champagne... The AOC and the region

Champagne...

© CICV S.T.

...The AOC and the region

Champagne is known and appreciated worldwide, however when we talk of Champagne most think of the sparkling Champagne wines. Many forget that « Champagne » is first and foremost the region where these wines are exclusively produced.

Located 150 km North-East of Paris, the Champagne region includes more than 31,000 hectares of vineyard and is divided into 3 administrative regions; La Marne, L'Aube and La Haute-Marne. The northerly location, the harsh climate and the slopes of chalky soil give the wines of Champagne their inherent uniqueness.


31,000 hectares of vineyards...

Most well known brands are produced in the Marne area, around the Massif de Saint Thierry, the Valley of the Ardre, the Mountain of Rheims, the Valley of the Marne, the Côte des Blancs and the Sézanne Hills.

The département of Aube is known as the "other country of Champagne" with its 6,700 hectares of vineyards « La Côte des Bar », representing 22% of the Appellation of Champagne.

Strict rules are applied to meet the quality requirements of the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, the AOC, which defines the production area such as precise delimitation of the vineyards, control of yield per hectare and guarantees that traditional methods are employed such as manual harvests, minimum ageing period, etc.

From the 5th to the 18th century, Rheims was where the coronation of the Kings took place. As Christianity and the influence of the church spread, considerable vineyards were donated to the monastic orders. In the eleventh century, when Crusaders who had entrusted their property to the church did not return, these monastic holdings were increased significantly.

The Benedictine monks had important eclectic powers and under their influence, the vineyards extended. They produced still, light-colored wines issued from the same grape types as the Burgundy reds: Pinot noir. Conditioned in barrels, these wines had the particularity to foam in the spring, hence they were called « Les vins du Diable ».
When shipped, these wines were immediately bottled at destination and they retained their sparkle. The early sparkling wines were therefore the result of an accident but it aroused the Champenois interest.


A monk named Dom Pérignon...

The first successful method of producing a deliberately sparkling wine were the result of the efforts of two monks cellar masters, Frère Jean Oudart of the abbey Saint-Pierre aux Monts de Châlons, and Dom Pérignon of the abbey of Saint Pierre d'Hautevillers, during the last quarter of the seventeenth century.

© Sedecs/Terroirs-of-France

The son of a clerk to the local judge at Saint-Menehould (a small town to the east of the Champagne region), Pierre Pérignon was just 28 when he was appointed cellar master at the Abbey of Hautvillers.

Often credited with inventing champagne while overseeing the vineyard of the monastery, it is likely that he was the first to teach blending skills in the Champagne region.
He also appears to have been the first person to successfully contain the local sparkling wine in reinforced glass bottles by sealing them with Spanish corks.

The principles established then, remain amongst the most important in the production of Champagne today. With " La méthode champenoise" (the champagne method) there are very strict rules and techniques applied for the production of Champagne. Only 3 types of grapes can be used, the Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. They should be handpicked, follow a certain pressing and a double fermentation process.

« La Méthode champenoise »...

Pressing

The grapes are pressed as soon they are harvested, in order to avoid any coloring of the juice. The pressing is gradual ; the first pressing (800 g) is to extract the juice of the « cuvée » (outer)part of the grape.

This gives a clear and balanced liquid, « the must », which is fruity and mellow.
The second pressing (1.6 Kg) presses the rest of the grape with its pips and green parts, called the « taille ». This second pressing gives out another type of juice, more acidic, which is later used in the assemblage stage to balance out the sweetness or the acidity of the wines.

First fermentation

The alcoholic fermentation, also known as the lactic bacterial fermentation, transforms the must into wine. This first fermentation takes about three weeks.

In the past it used to take place in oak barrels, today it is done in large metal tanks, known as the Vats.

Assemblage The technique of blending from various vineyards, vintages, and grape varieties to obtain a finished wine superior to any of its parts is called « assemblage » (blending); the wines are artfully blended by oenologists before being bottled.
It is by selecting wines with different aromatic qualities that the cellar master begins the blending process. His aim is to produce a champagne that truly reflects the «house style» with characteristics that he will seek to perpetuate throughout the years.

Champagne Jacques Defrance - Metal tanks
© Sedecs/Terroirs-of-France - M. Durman

The wine is then bottled, a liqueur made up of sweetened wines with fermenting agents/yeasts is added, capped with a stainless steel capsule and then laid head down on special wooden panels in caves where the temperature is about 10 degrees.

Second Fermentation

The alcoholic fermentation as this fermentation is known takes place here when the sugar is transformed into alcohol and carbonic gas and the yeast settles. Pressure increases in the bottle and deposits accumulate on the capsule. This « bubbling » stage is followed by a long ageing period in cellars, at least a year for the non vintage wines and three or more years for vintage wines. The bottles are turned gently on a daily basis, in order for the deposits to accumulate on the capsule.

Disgorgement

The most delicate operation of the whole process, the disgorgement is the technique by which the deposits are removed while the wine is left in the bottle. The neck of the bottle is plunged in a refrigerating solution and the capsule comes out with all the deposits.

The cellars © Ph. Praliaud / CDT Aube

Dosing

The final stage of the production is adding the dosing liqueur (sugar and champagne) to the wine in the bottle. This determines the type of wine, extra-dry, dry, medium dry, before covering it with the traditional cork and its wire. The pressure built in a bottle of Champagne is around 6 bars.

Next month we'll elaborate on the different types of Champagne and grapes as well as some hints of how to read the labels on the bottles of Champagne.

CHAMPAGNE

Magnum: 1.5 liters (two bottles)
Jeroboam: 3 liters (four bottles)
Rehoboam: 4.5 liters (six bottles)
Methuselah: 6 liters (eight bottles)
Salmanazar: 9 liters (12 bottles)
Balthazar: 12 liters (16 bottles)
Nebuchadnezzar: 15 liters (20 bottles)

We would like to thank the CDT of Aube for the information provided.