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As the festive season approaches, we are all most likely planning our holiday menus and looking for the perfect celebration libation to pair. To increase your knowledge of champagne, take a look at some fundamental information from Veuve Clicquot and Moët & Chandon experts that will give you the ability to select the best luxury champagne.
Region
Champagne is a region of 34,000 hectares roughly 150km North East of Paris. The vineyards in the region are referred to as Crus and are mostly named after the closest village, such as Ay, Bouzy Cramant and Verzy. Each vineyard has a quality rating for the grapes from the respective vineyard.
Grapes
Champagne can only be produced from three Grape varieties the majority of Champagne houses blend all three as they balance extremely well. Chardonnay the white flesh and white skin grape know for elegance. 100% Chardonnay based Champagnes are called Blanc des Blancs. The French translation of Blanc is White, so Blanc de Blancs is “White from whites”. The Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes have black skins and white flesh. Grapes made from 100% of these grape varietals are referred to as Blanc des Noirs, translates as “White from Blacks”. The vast majority of Champagnes blend all three grapes due the winemaking abilities in bringing out the best qualities of each grape varietal.
Vintage VS Non-Vintage
Non-Vintage Champagnes are comprised of grapes harvested across multiple years. If you are looking for consistency Non-Vintage offers this as the winemaker is able to blend many vintages and many reserve wines to deliver a consistent Champagne each and every year. Vintage Champagne can only be made from grapes harvested in one particular year. Vintage Champagnes must spend a minimum of 3 years ageing on the lees. The ideology of vintage Champagne is the ability for the winemaker to tell the unique story of the year and vintage through the Champagne.
Dosage
Dosage refers to the small amount of liquid, usually sweet added to a Champagne to balance it out. Depending on the dosage added, you’ll end up with a variety of Champagnes defined by terms that represent a scale from sweetest to driest: Doux: 50 or more grams of sugar added per litre, Demi-Sec: Dosed with 32 to 50 grams of sugar, Sec: “Sec,” in French, means dry. But dry here actually indicates a medium-sweet sparkling. 17 to 32 grams of sugar, on average a teaspoon per litre. Extra Sec: Literally “Extra Dry,” 12 to 17 grams of sugar.
Brut
Up to 12 grams of sugar added, really for balance. Slightly rounder than “Extra Brut” because of the increased added sugar, and the type of sparkling or Champagne we tend to drink most. Extra Brut: With fewer than 6 grams of sugar added, this will not mask acidity and accentuate the carbonation.
Rosé Champagnes
The beautiful hues you find in Rose Champagne can come from two separate sources or a combination of both:
1.Leaving the juice of red grapes to macerate on their skins for a brief time to extract pigments (natural red colouring).
2.By the addition of a small percentage of red wine- from the Champagne region - during blending.
The dosage of Rose like all Champagnes can vary.
