How is Champagne made?

Answer 1

Sparkling wines from the North of France are called Champagnes. It is the king of celebration, as we've all popped a bottle of bubbly for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and any other celebration you can think of. But how much do you really know about it? What causes all those bubbles? The second fermentation in the bottle causes the bubbles. When the cork is removed, the result is upwardly mobile bubbles of carbon dioxide making their escape. Three grape varieties are used in Champagne —Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.The chief difference between the various Champagne brands or houses, is in the making of the cuveee, or the blend. You will find that Champagnes are labeled by their sugar content. That's because the sugar content of the dosage added after the second fermentation will determine the wine's style and relative sweetness.

Answer 2

Champagne History
Champagne is a sparkling wine, full of effervescence, named for the northeast region of France around the cities of Reims and Epernay. True champagne only comes from this specific area.

In the 17th century, Benedictine monk Dom Pérignon, cellermaster at the Abbey of Hautvillers until 1715, was credited for his work in the blending of champagnes and prevention of bottle explosion from carbonation by using thicker bottles and better corks. This sparkling wine became very popular at the French court, and soon became the drink of choice for special occasions worldwide.

Sparkling wines from other regions are known as spumante in Italy, Sekt in Germany and vin mousseux in other French regions.

French champagne is normally a blend of chardonnay, pinot noir, or pinot blanc grapes. The traditional méthode champenoise requires a second fermentation of the wine in the bottle, along with some one hundred manual operations. It is this method that makes champagne so expensive, because it is labor-intensive.

Some sparkling wines are now made in the United States and labeled as Champagne, so be sure and check the vineyard to see if you are getting true French champagne. US laws do not preclude vineyards labeling domestic sparkling wines as Champagne, but true connoisseurs will not touch any champagne not coming from the northeast region of France.

Chill champagne to between 39 and 50 degrees F., two hours before serving.

Answer 3

No. Champagne is a area in France, no longer Italy. Champagne is actual a extensive, chilly area northeast of Paris, the place the wine is made. And sure, via regulation, different wines can no longer call themselves "Champagne". this form of wine made interior the Champagne area is a clean wine, that's what different wineries call their version of Champagne. All this has to do with a concept in wine making referred to as "Terroir". Terroir in fact ability that wine will style different based on the climate and soil circumstances of the grapes. as an occasion, interior the Champagne area of France, it gets so chilly there that the grapes infrequently get ripe sufficient to make a first rate nevertheless wine. clean wine needs lots of acidity to stability the extra sugar that is going into it to make it sparkle. So, the grapes that improve in that area are suitable for clean wines. It became Champagne that set the formula for clean wines worldwide huge. clean wine would be made quite plenty everywhere, yet simply by climate and soil circumstances, Champagne France produces a different tasting clean wine. and because they have been the 1st, that area has a legal patent on the term "Champagne" to tell apart it from different clean wines. seem at it this manner: Champagne is a clean wine. There are different clean wines made worldwide huge. think of of Champagne as extra of a wine making area; no longer a form of wine. So, in case you purchase a clean wine made someplace different than this area, it is not Champagne. Your mom is right.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

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Answer 6

From grapes!

Answer 7

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the in-bottle secondary fermentation of wine to effect carbonation. It is named after the Champagne region of France. While the term "champagne" has often been used by makers of sparkling wine in other parts of the world, many claim it should properly be used to refer only to the wines made in the Champagne region. This principle is enshrined in the European Union by Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status
Origins

Jean François de Troy's 1735 painting Le Déjeuner d'Huîtres (Luncheon with Oysters) was the first time sparkling champagne was depicted in a painting.Wines from the Champagne region were already known before medieval times. Churches owned vineyards, and monks produced wine for use in the sacrament of Eucharist. French kings were traditionally anointed in Reims. Champagne wine flowed as part of coronation festivities.

Kings appreciated the still, light, and crisp wine, and offered it as an homage to other monarchs in Europe. In the 17th century, still wines of Champagne were the chosen wines for celebration in European countries. The English were the biggest consumers of Champagne wines, and drank a lot of sparkling wines.

The first commercial sparkling wine was produced in the Limoux area of Languedoc about 1535. They did not invent it; nobody knows who first made it, although the English make a reasonably good claim in that they added sugar and molasses to imported wine and bottled it. The English claim is given some substance as they had developed sufficiently strong bottles to withstand the very high pressures created by fermentation.

Contrary to legend and popular belief, the French monk Dom Perignon did not invent champagne, although it is almost certainly true that he developed many advances in the production of this beverage. Some people believe that champagne was created quite by accident, but no one has been able to prove that this is the case. Some others believe that the first champagne was made with rhubarb but was changed due to the high cost.

Somewhere in the end of the 17th century, the sparkling method was imported to the Champagne region, associated with specific procedures for production (including smooth pressing and dosage), and stronger bottles (invented in England) that could hold the added pressure. Around 1700, sparkling Champagne was born.

"The leading manufacturers devoted considerable energy to creating a history and identity for their wine, associating it and themselves with nobility and royalty. Through advertising and packaging they persuaded the world to turn to champagne for festivities and rites de passage and to enjoy it as a luxury and form of conspicuous consumption. Their efforts coincided with an emerging middle class that was looking for ways to spend its money on symbols of upward mobility."

In 1866, the famous entertainer and star of his day, George Leybourne began a career of making celebrity endorsements for Champagne. The Champagne maker Moet commissioned him to write and perform songs extolling the virtues of Champagne, especially as a reflection of taste, affluence, and the good life. He also agreed to drink nothing but Champagne in public. Leybourne was seen as highly sophisticated and his image and efforts did much to establish Champagne as an important element in enhancing social status. It was a marketing triumph the results of which endure to this day.

In the 1800s Champagne was noticeably sweeter than modern Champagne is today with the Russians preferring Champagne as sweet as 300 grams per litre. The trend towards drier Champagne began when Perrier-Jouët decided not to sweeten his 1846 vintage prior to exporting it to London. The designation Brut Champagne, the modern Champagne, was created for the British in 1876. [1]


[edit] "Champagne" and the law

The Champagne appellation highlighted in redIn the European Union and many other countries, the name "Champagne" is legally protected as part of the Treaty of Madrid (1891) to mean only sparkling wine produced in its namesake region and adhering to the standards defined for that name as an Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée. This right was reaffirmed in the Treaty of Versailles following World War I.

Even the term méthode champenoise, or champagne method forbidden following a court case in 1994[2]. As of 2005 the description most often legally used for wines produced like champagne is méthode traditionnelle. There are sparkling wines made all over the world, and many use special terms to define their own sparkling wines: Spain uses Cava, Italy calls it spumante, and South Africa uses Cap Classique. A sparkling wine made from Muscat grapes in Italy uses the DOCG Asti. In Germany, Sekt is a common sparkling wine. Other regions of France are forbidden to use the name Champagne; for example, wine-makers in Burgundy and Alsace produce Crémant. However, some Crémant producers label their product in a manner apparently designed to mislead consumers into believing that they are actually purchasing Champagne.[citation needed]

Other sparkling wines not from Champagne sometimes use the term "sparkling wine" on their label. While most countries have labeling laws which prevent the use of the term Champagne on any wine not from the region, some – including the United States – permit wine producers to use the name “Champagne” as a semi-generic name. One reason U.S. wine producers are allowed to use the European names is that the Treaty of Versailles, though signed by President Wilson, was never ratified by the U.S. Senate. The Treaty of Versailles included a clause designed to limit the German wine industry and to allow the use of the term Champagne only on wines from the Champagne region of France (which had been in the middle of numerous WWI battles). As the U.S. Senate never ratified the Treaty, this language never was implemented in the United States.

Current U.S regulations require that what is defined as a semi-generic name (such as Champagne) shall be used on a wine label only if there appears next to that name the appellation of "the actual place of origin" in order to prevent any possible consumer confusion. Because the quality of their wines are now widely recognized, many US producers of quality sparkling wine no longer find the term "Champagne" useful in marketing. In addition, some key US wine growing areas such as Napa, Oregon and Washington now view semi-generic labeling as harmful to their reputations (see Napa Declaration on Place).

The Champagne winemaking community, under the auspices of the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne, has developed a comprehensive set of rules and regulations for all wine that comes from the region in order to protect the economic interests of that community. They include a codification of the most suitable places for grapes to grow; the most suitable types of grapes (most Champagne is produced from one or a blend of up to three varieties of grapes - chardonnay, pinot noir, and meunier - although five other varietals are permitted); and a lengthy set of requirements that specifies most aspects of viticulture. This includes vine pruning, the yield of the vineyard, the degree of pressing applied to the grapes, and the time that wine must remain on its lees while after bottling. It can also limit the release of Champagne into the market in order to maintain prices. Only if a wine meets all these requirements may the name Champagne be placed on the bottle. The rules that have been agreed upon by the CIVC are then presented to the INAO for final approval.

Reporter Pierre-Marie Doutrelant revealed that "many famous Champagne houses, when short of stock, bought bottled but unlabeled wine from cooperatives or one of the big private-label producers in the region, then sold it as their own" (Prial).


[edit] Production
Main article: Champagne production
Méthode Champenoise is the traditional method by which Champagne (and some sparkling wine) is produced. After primary fermentation and bottling, a second alcoholic fermentation occurs in the bottle. This second fermentation is induced by adding several grams of yeast (usually Saccharomyces cerevisiae although each brand has its own secret recipe) and several grams of rock sugar. According to the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée a minimum of 1.5 years is required to completely develop all the flavour. For years where the harvest is exceptional, a millesimé is declared. This means that the champagne will be very good and has to mature for at least 3 years.

At this time the champagne bottle is capped with a crown cap. The bottle is then riddled, so that the lees settles in the neck of the bottle. The neck is then frozen, and the cap removed. The pressure in the bottle forces out the lees, and the bottle is quickly corked to maintain the carbon dioxide in solution.


[edit] Champagne producers
Main article: List of champagne producers
There are over 100 champagne houses and 15,000 smaller vignerons (vine-growing producers) operating in Champagne. These companies manage some 32,000 hectares of vineyards in the region, and employ over 10,000 people.

Annual sales by all producers total over 300 million bottles per year, equating to roughly €4.3 billion of revenue. Roughly two-thirds of these sales are made by the large champagne houses and their grandes marques (major brands). 58% of total production is sold within France, with the remaining 42% being exported around the world – primarily to the UK, the U.S., and Germany.

At any one time, champagne producers collectively hold a stock of about 1 billion bottles which are being matured, equating to more than three years of sales volume.

The type of champagne producer can be identified from the abbreviations followed by the official number on the bottle:

NM: Négociant manipulant. These companies (including the majority of the larger brands) buy grapes and make the wine
CM: Coopérative de manipulation. Co-operatives that make wines from the growers who are members, with all the grapes pooled together
RM: Récoltant manipulant. A grower that also makes wine from their own grapes
SR: Société de récoltants. An association of growers making a shared Champagne but who are not a co-operative
RC: Récoltant coopérateur. A co-operative member selling Champagne produced by the co-operative under its own name
MA: Marque auxiliaire or Marque d'acheteur. A brand name unrelated to the producer or grower; the name is owned by someone else, for example a supermarket
ND: Négociant distributeur. A wine merchant selling under his own name

[edit] Marketing Champagne
The popularity of Champagne is attributed to the success of Champagne producers in marketing the wine. Champagne houses promoted the wine's image as a drink of royalty and the aristocracy with labels and posters touting the wealthy consumers of a particular brand. Laurent-Perrier's advertisements in the late 1890 boasted that their champagne was the favorite of King Leopold II of Belgium, George I of Greece, Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Margaret Cambridge, Marchioness of Cambridge, and John Lambton, 3rd Earl of Durham among other nobles, knights and military officers. Despite this royal prestige, the champagne houses also took pains to portray champagne as a luxury that could be enjoyed by anyone and for any occasion. [3] This strategy seemed to worked as by the turn of the 20th century, the majority of champagne consumers was the growing middle class. [4]

In the 19th century, Champagne producers made a concentrated effort to market their wine to women. This was in stark contrast to the traditionally "male aura" that the wines of France had-particularly those Burgundy and Bordeaux. Laurent-Perrier again took the lead in this area with it advertisements touting their wine's favour with the Countess of Dudley, the wife of the 9th Earl of Stamford, the wife of the Baron Tollemache, and the opera singer Adelina Patti. Champagne labels were designed with images of romantic love and marriage as well as other special occasions that were deemed important to women such as the baptism of a child. [5]

In some advertisements, the Champagne houses catered to political interest such as the labels that appeared on different brands on bottles commemorating the centennial anniversary of the French Revolution in 1889. On some labels there were flattering images of Marie-Antoinette that appealed to the conservative factions of French citizens that viewed the former queen as a martyr. On other labels there were stirring images of Revolutionary scenes that appealed to the liberal and left sentiments of French citizens. As World War I loomed, Champagne houses put images of soldiers and countries flags on their bottles customizing the image for each country that the wine was imported to. During the Dreyfus Affair, one Champagne house released a Champagne Antijuif with anti-Semitic advertisements to take advantage the wave of Antisemitism that hit France. [6]


[edit] Varieties
Champagne is a single Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée. Grapes must be the white Chardonnay, or the red Pinot Noir or Pinot Meunier (a few very rare other grapes that were historically important are allowed, but very unusual). Champagnes made exclusively from Chardonnay are known as blanc de blancs, and those exclusively from the red grapes as blanc de noirs.

Champagne is typically a white wine even if it is produced with red grapes, because the juice is extracted from the grapes using a gentle process that minimizes the amount of time the juice spends in contact with the skins, which is what gives red wine its colour. Rosé wines are also produced, either by permitting the juice to spend more time with the skins to impart a pink color to the wine, or by adding a small amount of red wine during blending. The amount of sugar (dosage) added after the second fermentation and ageing also varies, from brut zéro or brut natural, where none is added, through brut, extra-dry, sec, demi-sec and doux. The most common is brut, although in the early 20th century Champagne was generally much sweeter.

Most Champagne is non-vintage, produced from a blend of years (the exact blend is only mentioned on the label by a few growers), while that produced from a single vintage is labelled with the year and Millésimé.

Many Champagnes are produced from bought-in grapes by well known brands such as Veuve Clicquot or Mumm.


[edit] The Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne
Main article: Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne
All of the over 15,000 growers, cooperatives and over 300 houses that are central to producing Champagne are members of the Comite Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), established in 1941 under the auspices of the French government (now represented by the Ministry of Agriculture). This organization has a system in which both the houses and the growers are represented at all levels. This includes a co-presidency where a grower representative and a representative of the houses share the running of the organization. This system is designed to ensure that the CIVC's primary mission, to promote and protect Champagne and those who produce it, is done in a manner that represents the interests of all involved. This power structure has played an important role in the success of Champagne worldwide and the integrity of the appellation itself.

The CIVC is charged with organizing and controlling the production, distribution, and promotion of Champagne. Until 1990, it set the price for grapes and still intervenes to regulate the size of the harvest, to decide if any should be withheld from production into Champagne and, if so, the amount to be withheld from the market.


[edit] Bubbles
See also: Carbonation

Bubbles from rose champagneAn initial burst of effervescence occurs when the champagne contacts the dry glass on pouring. These bubbles may form on imperfections in the glass that facilitate nucleation. However, after the initial rush, these naturally occurring imperfections are typically too small to consistently act as nucleation points as the surface tension of the liquid smooths out these minute irregularities.

"Contrary to a generally accepted idea, nucleation sites are not located on irregularities of the glass itself. The length-scale of glass and crystal irregularities is far below the critical radius of curvature required for the non-classical heterogeneous nucleation." G. Liger-Belair et al [7]
The nucleation sites that act as a source for the ongoing effervescence are not natural imperfections in the glass, but actually occur either:

where the glass has been etched by the manufacturer or the customer. This etching is typically done with acid, a laser, or a glass etching tool from a craft shop to provide nucleation sites for continuous bubble formation (note that not all glasses are etched in this way); or, to a lesser extent,
on cellulose fibres left over from the wiping/drying process as shown by Gérard Liger-Belair, Richard Marchal, and Philippe Jeandel with a high-speed video camera.[8][9]
On dust and other particles within the glass
It is widely accepted that the smaller the bubbles the better the Champagne. [citation needed]Dom Perignon was originally charged by his superiors at the Abbey of Hautvillers to get rid of the bubbles since the pressure in the bottles caused many of them to explode in the cellar. [10] As sparkling wine production increased in the early 1700s, cellar workers would have to wear heavy iron mask that resembled a baseball catcher's mask to prevent injury from exploding bottles. The heat caused by one bottle's explosion would often cause a chain reaction with it being routine for cellars to lose 20-90% of their bottles to instability. The mysterious circumstance surrounding the then unknown process of fermentation and carbonic gas caused some critics to call the sparkling creations "The Devil's Wine". [11]


[edit] Champagne bottles
For more details on this topic, see Wine bottle nomenclature.

Side-by-side comparison of champagne bottles. (L to R) On ladder: magnum, full, half, quarter. On floor: Balthazar, Salmanazar, Methuselah, JeroboamChampagne is mostly fermented in two sizes of bottles, standard bottles (750 mL), and magnums (1.5 L). In general, magnums are thought to be higher quality, as there is less oxygen in the bottle, and the volume to surface area favors the creation of appropriately-sized bubbles. However, there is no hard evidence for this view. Other bottle sizes, named for Biblical figures, are generally filled with Champagne that has been fermented in standard bottles or magnums.

Sizes larger than Jeroboam (3.0 L) are rare. Primat sized bottles (27 L) - and as of 2002 Melchizedek sized bottles (30 L) - are exclusively offered by the House Drappier. The same names are used for bottles containing wine and port; however Jeroboam, Rehoboam and Methuselah refer to different bottle volumes. On occasion unique sizes have been made for special occasions and people, the most notable example perhaps being the 20 fluid ounce / 60 cL. bottle (Imperial pint) made specially for Sir Winston Churchill by Pol Roger.


[edit] Champagne corks
Champagne corks are built from several sections. Originally they start as a cylinder and are compressed into the bottle. Over time their compressed shape becomes more permanent. The mushroom shape that occurs in the transition is due to the bottom section being less horizontally compressible than the material above.

The aging of the champagne post disgorgement can to some degree be told by the cork, as the longer it has been in the bottle the less it returns to is original cylinder shape. The photo demonstrates this effect, on the front line, the cork from the youngest champagne is on the left and the oldest on the right.


[edit] Serving Champagne
Champagne is usually served in a champagne flute, whose characteristics include a long stem with a tall, narrow bowl and opening. The wider, flat champagne coupe; which has a saucer-shaped bowl and is commonly associated with Champagne, is no longer preferred by connoisseurs because it does not preserve the bubbles and aroma of the wine as well. [citation needed]

Alternatively, when tasting Champagne, a big red wine glass (i.e. a glass for Bordeaux) can be used, as the aroma spreads better in the larger volume of the glass. Glasses should not be overfilled: flutes should be filled only to ⅔ of the glass, and big red wine glasses not more than ⅓ of the glass.

Champagne is always served cold, and is best drunk at a temperature of around 7 to 9 °C (43 to 48 °F). Often the bottle is chilled in a bucket of ice and water before and after opening. Champagne buckets are made specifically for this purpose, and often have a larger volume than standard wine-cooling buckets (to accommodate the larger bottle, and more water and ice).


[edit] Opening Champagne bottles

Champagne corks, showing various Champagne house insignias and effects of bottle ageing to their shape.The deliberate spraying of Champagne has become an integral part of some sports trophy presentations, such as the famous podium presentation at the conclusion of a Formula 1 Grand Prix. However, this opening will waste some of the champagne. To reduce the risk of spilling Champagne and/or turning the cork into a projectile, a Champagne bottle can be opened by holding the base and rotating the bottle (rather than the cork). By using a 45 degree angle, the surface of the champagne has the maximum surface area, thus minimizing the excessive bubbling. The cork can ease out with a sigh or a whisper rather than a pop. The flavor will be the same, irrespective of the method used, but the volume left in the bottle will differ.

A sabre can be used to open a Champagne bottle with great ceremony. This technique is called sabrage.


[edit] Aging
There is a debate about the aging of champagne. Champagne's freshness has contributed to most people's impression that it should be enjoyed soon after purchase. Vintage champagne is often put aside to be enjoyed years after its release. As champagne ages, it deepens in colour and often develops bready, caramelized flavours and aromas.

In general the English like bottle-aged champagne with its flavours of toast and mushrooms, and the French prefer young champagne with brighter fruit and acidity. Before the era of easy transport, and when the world was subject to trade disruption (war) keeping a cellar and an inventory was important to having a constant supply. The English were crucial suppliers of capital to vintners in Champagne, Portugal, and Spain, to maintain their supply.

The English passion for the fragile and ephemeral flavours of old wine evolved from these circumstances. However young wine bought at the cellar door can be enormously enjoyable. The connoisseur's' insistence on the superiority of old wine over young is not helpful. This is very much a matter of personal taste.

The French producers are aware of both sides of the argument and produce wines for both groups of consumers. In the last fifty years, there has been a movement to produce complex wines that have aged for very long periods of time on the lees, meant for immediate consumption after release. (E.G. Bollinger RD) Such wines are probably the best compromise for the fans of older wines, as they have been cellared under ideal conditions