THE STORY OF CHAMPAGNE

It’s not champagne
Unless it comes from France, specifically Champagne region!

THE THREE MUST
1- ‘Appellation d’origine contrôlée’ (AOC), is the French system for defining wines by the region they come from.
2- Champagne must be made only from the Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, or Chardonnay grapes which grow in that region.
3- True champagne, as opposed to other sparkling wines, has to have gotten its bubbles by undergoing the fermentation process twice: once in barrels and again in bottles.

CHAMPAGNE LABEL

Vintage Champagne is one in which all grapes used have been harvested from a single year. It must be aged for at least 3 years.
Non-Vintage Champagne is the result of a blend of different wines, some from previous years. This wine ages for a minimum of 15 months.

GRAPE VARIETY
Blanc de Blancs Champagne is made solely from white grapes Chardonnay.
Blanc de Noirs is white Champagne made only from the black grape varieties of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
Pink or rosé Champagne is fruity and pink, either from the addition of a little red wine or from letting the grape juice soak in its red skins.

TRADE REGISTRATION
NM Négociant Manipulant. Houses that buy grapes to make their wines.
RM Récoltant Manipulant. Growers who make and sell champagne made from their own grapes.
RC Récoltant Coopérateur. Grower who produces Champagne with the help of a cooperative.
CM Coopérative de Manipulation. when the brand is owned by a third party who is not a producer.
SR Société de Récoltants. A family business which produces wines from grapes harvested exclusively by members of the family.
ND Négociant Distributeur. A merchant who buys finished wines and labels them in its own premises.
MA Marque d’Acheteur. A brand that is owned by a third party and not by the maker of the wine.

"Too much of anything is bad,
but too much Champagne is just right."Mark Twain

DEGREE OF SWEETNESS
The level of sugar in sparkling wine determines if it will be dry or sweet.
1. Brut, (very dry)
2. Extra Brut, (extra dry, but sweeter than brut)
3. Sec, (medium sweet)
4. Demi-Sec, (sweet, considered a dessert wine)
5. Extra Sec, or doux (very sweet, considered a dessert wine).
6. Brut Nature, no sugar at all has been added.

SABERING THE BOTTLE
"Sabrer la bouteille" is a French tradition.
If you can't dislodge a recalcitrant cork from a bottle of good champagne, you can do what the "Hussards" (French mounted soldiers of the Napoleonic era) did:
They used the reverse edge of their saber to break the neck of the bottle.

DID YOU KNOW
• The classic Champagne coupe was adapted from a wax mold made from the breast of Marie Antoinette (wife of Louis the Sixteenth). Others believe that it was created to commemorate the breast of Madame de Pompadour (mistress of the preceding king, Louis the Fifteenth).
• There is about 90 pounds per square inch of pressure in a bottle of Champagne. That's more than triple the pressure in an automobile tire.
• The largest bottle size for Champagne is called a Melchizedek and is equal to 40 standard bottles or 30 liters.
• There are approximately 49 million bubbles in one bottle of Champagne.
• According to experts, if you can remove the wire in five and a half twists, you are about to open a top quality bottle.

DISGRACING CHAMPAGNE
It is extremely tactless to pop the cork and spray champagne over people.
The cork should not pop loudly.
Champagne is intended for consumption after purchase as the quality will decline over time; however, more expensive vintage champagne is intended to last many more years without degradation.