What is Champagne?

Let's start the week with a little post about Champagne (for once... ;); There will be those who think it's pretty redundant to ask what Champagne is, but let's just admit that we all had to learn the difference between regular sparkling wine and real Champagne at some point. So here's a quick introduction to the universe of Champagne.

Not all bubbles are Champagne
When we talk about wine with bubbles, you often hear "Champagne" as the common denominator for everything, regardless of whether it is Cava, Asti, Spumante, Cremant or a completely different sparkling wine.

But in fact, only wine produced in the Champagne region can be called Champagne. It may sound like snobbery, but it makes sense when you look a little closer at why. For a wine to be called Champagne, it must first and foremost consist of grapes harvested from the fields in the area north of Paris called Champagne. There are also rules for which type of grapes can be used to make it real Champagne; Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Other grapes may be mixed into the wine, but the vast majority of Champagnes consist exclusively of these three.

The small difference
Ageing is one of the most important points in the creation of Champagne, here we talk about Non-vintage and Vintage Champagne. The vast majority of Champagne produced is non-vintage, that is, without a vintage. A non-vintage champagne must age in bottle for at least 15 months to be true Champagne and consists of a mixture of wines from previous years, which are blended to achieve a uniform taste each year.

The years when the harvest is particularly good are declared a Vintage or Millesime. These wines are aged for at least three years, resulting in some fantastic Champagnes, including the famous Prestige Cuvées such as Dom Pérignon , Cristal and Krug.

Does that mean anything?
While the debate over what has the right to be called Champagne was primarily initiated to protect the economic interests of the wineries, it has had the advantage of focusing a lot of attention on how sparkling wine is produced. Competition has intensified in recent years and many non-French producers are now making sparkling wines that are on par with the best Champagnes.

An example is Raventos from Spain who make Cava . For a long time Cava has been almost a curse word and certainly not something considered a worthy competitor to the bubbly French. But Raventos has joined good company, their 2011 vintage being named by Robert Parker as the best sparkling wine not from Champagne.

There are plenty of other examples of good bubbles that don't necessarily come from Champagne , we will address them as we have time to add more posts to the blog.

Until then, have fun online and don't forget that Champagne should be enjoyed chilled and with good friends ;)