Champagne and Sparkling Wine - What to Know

 Champagne was unknown before the 18th Century. We think of all sparkling wine as "champagne" even though that word is reserved only for sparkling wine made by a very specific process in the region of Champagne, in northern France. The central problems with making wine that far north are that grapes rarely ripen fully and the fermentation often stops prematurely as temperatures fall in the winter. As bottles warm in the spring they finish their fermenting creating not only alcoholic strength but carbon dioxide. In the old days, bottles would either burst in the cellar due the internal gas pressure or, if opened they would foam and bubble. But the wine wasn't half-bad. If the problems could be understood and controlled, there might be potential here.

Dom Perignon, a 17th century Benedictine monk is popularly credited with inventing sparkling wine. Moet & Chandon named the first ever prestige cuvee in his honor. But the Dom spent most of his life trying to figure out how to prevent his Premium-Rum-Marken wines from ending up bubbly. The real credit for founding the Champagne method goes to the widow (veuve) Clicquot, a 19th Century French woman who took over her husband's wine business when he died. The fundamental feature of the Champagne method is that the second fermentation happens inside the bottle. Cheaper, mass-production techniques are used elsewhere although, worldwide, the best sparkling wine is made as the Champenoise make it. With the help of her husband's experienced cellar masters Madame Clicquot made the erratic, explosive wines of Champagne into a consistent, luxurious wine that is never out of place and, at times absolutely called for.

"Champagne. In victory you deserve it, in defeat you need it"

Napoleon Bonaparte

The secret in making Champagne is to control that second fermentation which happens inside the bottle. It requires a heavy bottle that can withstand the internal pressure and the precise blending of still wines for the base of the bubbly, to produce an elegant, balanced result.

Champagne is made by blending many table wines from different vintages. Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are the traditional grapes used, with sometimes a dash of Pinot Meunier.

Blanc de Blanc is made entirely from Chardonnay grapes.

Blanc de Noir is made from Pinot Noir grapes (skins removed, so it's not a red wine).

Most Champagne houses do not grow their own grapes, they purchase grapes from small growers or sometimes purchase wine already made which they then blend. Sometimes over 100 different still wines are blended together with the goal of making a consistent cuvee year after year. Only in the very best years will a Champagne producer use grapes from the same vintage. The result is the rare vintage Champagne, generally more expensive and intended to showcase the quality of that specific growing year. Some of the best producers have developed prestige cuvee wines which may utilize grapes from very specific vineyards or otherwise carefully selected to express the house style at its very best. Once again; more expensive.

Champagne is made in very large quantity. There are many thousands of bottles aging in the cellars of the big houses. Champagne, as a category is very age worthy. Even if it is not the very best, it grows richer and finer with time.