Glorious champagne
Bernard Muscat writes about the drink that spells celebration.
It might sound obvious to say it, but champagne takes its name from the north-eastern French region in which it is made. Any sparkling white wine that is not made in Champagne from grapes grown there cannot be called champagne, even if it is made by the same methode traditionelle.
The name Champagne comes from the Latin word campania, which means countryside – just like the Italian region of the same name. It is basically a desolate and sparsely populated area of dark forests and cornfields. It was ravaged and devastated during many different wars, the most recent being the First and Second World Wars.
French kings were traditionally anointed in Reims and the wine of Champagne was served as part of the festivities – though it was simply wine made in Champagne, rather than what we know today by the name. In 1518, Cardinal Wolsey is recorded as having received wine from Champagne, which seems to be the first recorded export from the region to England – but by the 17th century England had already become the biggest consumer of champagne outside France.
The apocryphal story is that a monk, Dom Perignon, invented the methode traditionelle way of making sparkling wine at his abbey in the region. Yet many years earlier, an English scientist called Christopher Merret described how English wine-makers added sugar to still wines to make them sparkle. Dom Perignon did not invent champagne; on the contrary, he was asked by his superiors to find a way of eliminating the bubbles which caused the bottles to explode. In those days, the glass-making methods which made it possible to produce resilient bottles had not yet been invented, so the champagne bottle would have had to come before the champagne. Cellar workers actually had to wear iron masks to protect themselves from the exploding bottles. What the monk or monks probably did was to invent a way of reinforcing the cork with a wire collar, to withstand at least some of the pressure caused through fermentation.
There are so many myths and stories surrounding the production of champagne and its invention because they are part of the original marketing procedure. Producers in Champagne created a history and identity for their wines and were very good at it, including building an aura around champagne. Over the years it became the wine of the aristocracy and royalty, and hence, a luxury product for special occasions among the rest of the population – or at least, those who could afford it. Champagne grew in desirability when the middle class emerged in Britain and many other parts of Europe with the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century.
At the start of the 18th century, champagne was much sweeter than it is today, particularly in Russia, where the tsar preferred to drink it almost as a sparkling sauterne. Champagne became drier and closer to what we know today through the efforts of Perrier-Jouet, which decided not to sweeten its 1846 vintage. Brut champagne was specifically made for the English market 30 years later.
In theory, Champagne is too windy, cold and wet for viticulture. In practice, viticulture is possible because of the cliffs and thickly-wooded hilltops which provide protection and a beneficial site climate. The northerly latitude increases daylight hours in the growing season. Forests give protection from the strong winds, stabilise the temperature and maintain moisture in the soil, but growers must face the risk of fungal disease and early spring frost. The three main vineyard locations are the Vallee de la Marne, the Montagne de Reims and the Côtes de Blancs. Further south of the Côtes de Blancs there are three other areas: around Sezanne in the Marne, Bar-sur-Seine and Bar-sir-Aube.
The soil is very particular: when the oceans receded 70 million years ago, they left a deposit of chalk in the subsoil. Heavy earthquakes 10 million years ago pushed the marine fossils upwards and created a belemnite chalk terrain. This soil has the perfect balance between porosity and water retention. Its brilliant lightness reflects sunlight back to the vines, and the chalk retains heat well, releasing it at night. Its alkalinity produces good acidity levels in the grapes.
The methode traditionelle (the methode champenoise was banned in 1994) is the classic and best way to produce sparkling wine. It is used all over the world – though not all sparkling wine is made this way, the best is. In Malta, Marsovin uses it to make Cassar de Malte. Balanced champagne comes from a blend of up to six grape varieties, though the usual is three: (white) Chardonnay, (black) Pinot Noir and (black) Pinot Meunier. In the Marne, Pinot Meunier is predominant because of its late budding and early ripening. Pinot Noir is king in the Montagne de Reims. In Côtes de Blancs, Chardonnay is the most popular.
The grapes are picked by hand and placed in small containers so that the black grapes are not crushed; this would tint the wine. They are pressed pneumatically and only the juice from the first gentle pressing is used; it is high in acidity and sugars. The amount of extraction is controlled by law: 102 litres of juice from 160kg of grapes. Of this, only the first 80 per cent is used (the cuvée) to make the finest champagne, and the rest is sent for distillation. Juice from different grape varieties is fermented separately to produce a base of still wine with high acidity and low alcohol, in stainless steel, temperature-controlled vats or wooden casks.
The next step is the assemblage, the blending. With non-vintage champagne, the aim is to produce a wine similar in style to the previous year’s, for the sake of the market which demands consistency. That is why non-vintage champagne is sometimes a blend from different years, different vineyards and different grapes. To make rosé champagne, red and white wines are blended. For Blanc de Blancs, only Chardonnay grapes are used and the resulting wines are usually very crisp, light-bodied and with pronounced apple and citrus fruit characteristics. Blanc de Noirs is made by blending Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier and the wine has more body, richer fruit and a long finish.
After blending, a liquer de tirage is added: a cocktail of sugar, wine and yeast which starts the secondary fermentation in the bottle, and then the wine is bottled. The bottles are much heavier than normal, to withstand the pressure from fermentation. They are closed with a plastic cap, known as a bidule, which is hollow for the collection of yeast, and a crown cap to stand up to the pressure. The bottles are stored lying down in cool temperatures which slow fermentation. The yeasts die and form a deposit, and the bubbles are absorbed into the wine. The champagne is matured for at least 15 months (non-vintage) and at least three years (vintage).
The bottles are turned by hand among boutique producers – including Marsovin for Cassar de Malte - to remove the sediment, and held in special racks known as pupitres. Trained remeurs will give a gentle shake and a twist to each bottle and incline it from 45 degrees to an inverted vertical position. The yeast will form a deposit in the plastic cap. This expensive process has now been replaced among the larger producers by a mechanical system. For the degorgement, the necks of the bottles are put in a brine solution and the yeast deposit is frozen. The bottles are opened and the pressure pushes the sediment out through the neck. Some of the wine is lost. The bottle is topped up with liquer d’expedition, a mixture of sugar and wine, that will determine the dosage - the amount of sugar present in the final wine. This ranges from Brut Nature/Brut Zero through to Extra Brut, Brut, Extra-Sec, Sec, Demi-sec to Dous.
The cylindrical cork, which is built in several sections, is then inserted and over time it becomes the familiar toadstool shape. A wire muzzle is put on to keep it down. The bottles are kept for a few months to allow the wine to settle. Then they are dressed and labelled for the market. The very deep foil is a hangover from the past, when it was used to hide the wine lost with the removal of sediment.