10 facts you have to know about Champagne
There is a lot of information about the most prestigious sparkling wine of the entire world. Nevertheless, there are certain facts that people take for granted or simply do not ask. Here you have 10 things that probably you did not know about the great Champagne.
1.- Besides the 3 classic grapes, there are 4 varietals that are also allowed in champagne production: Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier, Pinot Gris and Arbane. Even Drappier Winery makes a Champagne with these grapes "Quatour Blanc de Quatre Blancs".
2.- The Rosé Champagne is made by mixing white and red wines. The majority of rose champagnes get their color by mixing white wines with a small portion of red wines (between 15 and 5%). Some producres have chosen the bleeding method such as Laurent-Perrier which makes an outstanding champagne rosé.
3.- Some champagnes are the result of blending wines of more than 10 different years. The term Non Vintage (N/V), covers the champagnes made from several vintages. Reserve wines are put aside thus the cellar master (Chef de cave), makes the final blendings reach the desired aromatic and gustatory profile.
4.- By law, champagne producers might keep a portion of their harvest that will be allocated to their "reserve wines" in order to have a back up of wine for those "difficult" years when the grape production is compromised by adverse weather conditions such as frost, hailstorms, etc., or exceptional demands of the market as happened in the year 2000.
5.- The second fermentation in bottle generally is take place in standard bottles (750 ml) and magnum (1.5lt). Other bottle formats can undergo a transfer process, which means that second fermentation is carried out in a standar bottle (750 ml), subsequently the bottles are poured into thanks to re-bottled in lower or larger formats.
6.- The Champagne region is World Heritage. The hillsides, houses and cellars of Champagne became World Heritage by UNESCO in 2015.
7.- The typical glasses of Champagne are changing. The bowl of the glass of champagne is getting wider and shorter, this will allow to appreciate in a better way the aromas of the wine and to be less distracted with the bubbles.
8.- "Nucleation" is the point of birth of the champagne bubbles (or any fizzy drink).
9.- In the Champagne region not only sparkling wine is made, but also white, red and rosé still wines. They are protected by the AOC Coteaux Champenois. It is a designation which stays in the shadow of Champagne AOC, however, they produce white, red and rosé wines of an extraordinary quality and it makes them really hard to find. Further south of the champagne region, there a small vineyard that possesses AOC status: Rosé de Riceys. A denomination of still rosé wines made exclusively of Pinot Noir.
10.- Riddling or "remuage" is becoming increasingly mechanized. The equipment such as Gyropalette can do the procedure of riddling, nonetheless is not quite romantic like the manual and skilly prodedure of hand riddling, but is more accurate, faster and safer.
