Champagne... the name conjures up so many images, involving celebrations of some kind, and usually significant ones. But what makes this wine so different from others, and why is it considered so special and so popular? There are many regions of the world that produce quality sparkling wines, and Australia and New Zealand are no exception. In Australia, some excellent examples are produced from the cooler vineyards of Victoria, and in more recent times, Tasmania. The Marlborough and Waipara regions of New Zealand are also producing some fine sparkling wines. These are excellent examples of Méthode Champenoise wines. However, by law, the only vineyards that can claim to produce Champagne are located within the Champagne region of France, and they must follow the principles of Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC).
The name Champagne belongs to a very special region of France, centred around the towns of Epernay and Reims. Grapes have been grown in the region for many centuries. In 92 A.D. the Emperor Domitian decreed that most of the vineyards of France should be uprooted to eliminate competition with the wines of the Italian peninsula. The vines of Champagne were no exception. For two centuries the vineyards were cultivated secretly, until the Emperor Probus rescinded the decree and ordered the vineyards to be replanted. From the very outset, the wines of Champagne were prized above all the vineyards of Europe. The Romans mined the area extensively for the chalk blocks used in construction, and this gave the region its plethora of underground caves, which have proven to be a remarkable cellar for the production of Champagne.
The first Champagne to gain the "sparkle" that is now the key part of the wine occurred by accident (like most great inventions...). Most white wine in France was consumed when it was young; but when shipped abroad in cask, the warm spring weather frequently set off a secondary fermentation, still underway when the wines arrived.
The first successful, deliberate methods of capturing the ‘mousse' (sparkle) in the bottle were due to the combined efforts of the vineyards of Pierry and Epernay. Under the inspired direction of their respective cellarmasters, Frère Jean Oudart (1654 – 1742) and Dom Pierre Pérignon (1639 – 1715), the abbeys of Saint-Pierre aux Monts de Châlons and Saint-Pierre d'Hautvillers became the birthplace of naturally sparkling wine in its purest and most perfect form. Dom Pérignon, widely credited with the beginning of commercial production of Champagne, spent the majority of his career trying to eliminate bubbles from their estate wines, as this was seen as a sign of failure on the part of the wine maker.
Business improved over a number of centuries for the Champagne region, and it survived quite well the outbreak of phylloxera, which devastated many of the vineyards of the world during the mid 1800's . The biggest setbacks to the region occurred during the prohibition, and the World War's, which saw many vineyards turned into battlefields, and markets for their product evaporate overnight.
For the technically minded, grapes used for Champagne are generally picked earlier, when sugar levels are lower and acid levels higher. Champagne is most commonly a blend of Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. The traditional method of making Champagne is known as the Méthode Champenoise. Except for pink or rosé Champagnes, the juice of harvested grapes is pressed off quickly, to keep the wine white. It is the contact with the skin of the grape that creates the colour in red wines, and Pinot Noir (a red grape) is the primary grape used in Champagne.
The first fermentation begins in the same way as any wine, converting the natural sugar in the grapes into alcohol while the resultant carbon dioxide is allowed to escape. This produces the "base wine". This wine is not very pleasant by itself, being too acidic. At this point the blend is assembled, using wines from various vineyards, and, in the case of non-vintage Champagne, various years.
The blended wine is put in bottles along with yeast and a small amount of sugar, called the "liqueur de triage", and stored in a wine cellar horizontally, for a second fermentation. During the secondary fermentation the carbon dioxide is trapped in the bottle, keeping it dissolved in the wine. The wine is then aged for a period of at least twelve months.
Once the wine has aged, there's still the task of removing the yeast from the bottle. An ingenious method called riddling is employed. The bottles are placed at a 45 degree angle in either an automated or manual turning rack. Then the bottles are periodically rotated. This process forces the yeast down into the cap of the bottle. After riddling, the yeast is ready to be removed. The tops of the bottles are frozen, trapping the yeast as an ice plug in the cap which prevents it from falling back into the sparkling wine. A disgorging machine removes the cap from the bottle and the pressure built up inside shoots out the yeast ice plug. Finally, the cork is forced into the bottle and capped with a wire hood.
There is a wide variation from year to year in the quality of the grapes, and hence the wine that is produced is not consistent, primarily because the vineyards are so far north and the weather varies markedly. The majority of the Champagne produced is non-vintage (also known as mixed vintage), a blend of wines from several years. The grapes to produce vintage Champagne must be 100% from the year indicated and in poor years, no vintage Champagne may be produced. Typically the majority of the wine is from the current year but a percentage is made of "reserve wine" from previous years. This serves to smooth out some of the vintage variations caused by the marginal growing climate in the Champagne region, and creates the "house style" associated with some of the major names in the Champagne industry.
Champagne is always served cold, and is best enjoyed 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. Glasses should not be overfilled: flutes should be filled only to 3/4 of the glass.
Vintage Champagnes are aged in cellars for three years or more before disgorgement, but most top producers exceed this minimum requirement, holding bottles on the lees for 6 to 8 years before disgorgement.
"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry, and I drink it when I am. Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty" - Madame Lily Bollinger