Champagne making process is complex, as is its organisation. It is a multi-faceted subject that is difficult to master. A single conversation about it will never be enough. Nevertheless, here is some information so you can impress your friends and family with your knowledge.
It is said that a monk would have “invented” champagne in the 17th century.
Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk from Hautvillers, in the Marne department, is credited with the discovery of the Champagne method. This is more of a legend.
There are 45 times more winegrowers than there are champagne houses.
In the Champagne region, there are 16 200 winegrowers, 360 champagne houses and 130 cooperatives.
Ruinart is the oldest champagne house.
It was founded in 1729 in Epernay.
Many brands have a Germanic sound.
Roederer, Heidsieck, Mumm, Bollinger, Krug, Deutz, Piper… These are the names of merchants who came from across the Rhine (or from Alsace) to found champagne houses, apparently with quite a bit of success…
In Champagne, vineyards are divided into four main regions.
These regions are Côte des Bar, Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and Côte des Blancs (including Côte de Sézanne). To this, an island must be added: the city of Montgueux, near Troyes. All these regions cover a total of 34,300 ha.
Champagne is produced in five French departments.
These are, in the order of their production quantity: Marne (66 %), Aube (23 %), Aisne (10 %), Haute-Marne and Seine-et-Marne (less than 1 % each). The appellation area covers a total of 319 municipalities.
Les Riceys, in the Aube department, is the largest wine-producing town in the Champagne region.
It has 866 ha of vineyards. It is also the only town where three AOC wines are produced (French for PDO, Protected Designation of Origin): champagne, Les Riceys rosé and Coteaux Champenois.
The best plots are worth more than one and a half million euros per hectare.
This is more than a hundred times the selling price of a hectare of farmland. Only a few Bordeaux and Burgundy wines are worth more. But the Champagne region is by far the vineyard with the most expensive average price.
Pinot blanc, pinot gris, arbane and petit meslier are alternative grape varieties.
They represent less than 0,3 % of a vineyard dominated by three grape varieties: chardonnay, pinot meunier and pinot noir. The Champagne region is preparing for climate change by experimenting with new grape varieties.
120,000 grape pickers are needed in the harvest season.
They are mainly seasonal workers. The harvest is done exclusively by hand.
The harvest is taking place earlier and earlier because of global warming.
Lately, it happened that the harvest season began in mid-August, whereas three or four decades ago, the first grape pickers would start at the end of September, beginning of October.
It is not possible to pick as many grapes as you want.
Every year, the champagne organisation fixes a maximum yield, or a certain weight of grapes that can be picked per hectare. For example: 10,200 kg/ha.
Champagne grapes are among the most expensive in the world.
They are traded between 6 or 7 euros per kilo. 1.2 kg of grapes are used to produce a 75 cl champagne bottle.
The winegrower (“récoltant-manipulant” in French, meaning grower and maker) does everything himself.
He does cultivate his vines, vinifie his harvest, elaborate his own champagne and bottle it. He is identified by the initials RM on the labels.
Champagne ferments twice.
The first time in a vat or barrel to transform the grape juice into still wine (not sparkling), the second time in the bottle to transform the still wine into sparkling wine.
Champagne is made less and less sweet.
In the past, champagne contained more than 100g of sugar per bottle! Today, champagne is more appreciated with less sugar: less than 12g for a brut champagne, for example.
There are two methods for producing rosé champagne.
The red grape skins can be left during the maceration to colour the juice or white wine can be mixed with red wine.
A vintage champagne is made from a single year of harvest.
This is different from the usual method consisting in blending several years of harvest into the same bottle. The quality of the harvest must justify this practice. Each producer remains the master of this decision.
A champagne bottle contains six times its volume in carbon dioxide.
Indeed, it contains 5 litres of dissolved CO2.
The pressure inside the bottle reaches 5 or 6 times the atmospheric pressure.
This is why champagne bottles are thicker than normal bottles. A champagne bottle weighs 835 grams (it is now lighter than the older generation of bottles).
Bubbles accelerate as they rise to the surface of the glass.
This is why they appear more and more spaced out during their ascent.
The speed of the gas released when a bottle is opened reaches Mach 2.
This is twice the speed of sound.
The cork jumps at a speed of 50 or 60 km/h.
The droplets emitted by the bursting of the bubbles on the surface of the glass are projected at a speed of 10 metres per second, which is the speed of a world champion sprinter.
Champagne has fewer calories than wine.
A 10 cl champagne glass contains between 75 and 80 kilocalories while a red wine glass contains between 110 and 120 kilocalories.
Champagne has a constant alcohol content.
Whether it is recent or old, slightly or very sweet, served with or without ice, champagne is always around 12°.
Champagne can be “sablé” or “sabré”.
To “sabler” champagne originally meant “to quaff” champagne, or drink it straight down, in one gulp. Then, the meaning changed to drink it in abundance. To “sabrer” champagne means to crack it open, or pop the cork with a sharp blow using a sabre.
More than 300 million champagne bottles are sold each year.
Almost three quarter of these are sold by the champagne houses. Champagne is exported to over 190 countries.
Champagne is part of the UNESCO World Heritage list.
In 2015, the UNESCO included in this classification the hillsides, houses and cellars of Champagne.
Champagne is not the only wine made in the Champagne region.
Rosé des Riceys (in the Aube department) and Coteaux Champenois are also produced, which can be white, red or rosé.