Wine region
Champagne
Champagne: about 34,200 hectares in north-eastern France, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier, chalk soils, second fermentation in the bottle.
- Vineyard area
- about 34,200 hectares in some 280,000 plots
- Main grapes
- Pinot Noir (about 38 per cent), Chardonnay and Meunier (about 31 per cent each)
- Climate and soils
- cool, at the northern edge of viticulture; chalk subsoil
- Signature wines
- non-vintage brut, vintage Champagne, blanc de blancs, blanc de noirs, rosé
- Landmark
- Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2015
Champagne lies in north-eastern France, at the northern edge of viticulture, with about 34,200 hectares of vines divided into some 280,000 plots and tended by about 16,000 growers. The cool climate gives grapes with high acidity and modest sugar, the ideal base for sparkling wine, and the chalk subsoil holds water. The growing areas are the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne, the Côte des Blancs and, in the south, in the Aube, the Côte des Bar. Of 319 villages, 17 are rated grand cru.
Three varieties cover almost the whole area: Pinot Noir with about 38 per cent, Chardonnay and Meunier with about 31 per cent each; four further old varieties, Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, are permitted but rare. Pinot Noir brings power and body, Chardonnay freshness and elegance, Meunier fruit and early appeal. Harvesting is by hand. The pressed juice first becomes a still, tart base wine; several vintages and sites are blended into the cuvée so that a house’s style stays constant from year to year.
What sets it apart is the method. Yeast and sugar are added to the base wine, which then ferments a second time in the bottle, where the carbon dioxide stays trapped and the pressure climbs to about 6 bar. Non-vintage Champagne must age at least 15 months, vintage Champagne at least 36; many houses leave it far longer on the lees, which gives brioche and hazelnut notes. The yeast is then removed by disgorgement, and the dosage sets the sweetness: a brut has less than 12 grams of sugar per litre. Blanc de blancs is made from Chardonnay alone, blanc de noirs from red grapes; rosé is usually made by adding a little red wine.
The trade is split in two: growers farm about 90 per cent of the vines, yet the roughly 370 Champagne houses ship more than two thirds of the bottles. The name is fiercely protected, even in Switzerland: the Vaud village of Champagne, between Lake Neuchâtel and the first slopes of the Jura, may no longer sell its white wine under the name Champagne because of the agreements with the EU. At table, Champagne is more than an aperitif: oysters, fish, poultry and mature hard cheese such as Comté suit it, blanc de blancs also sushi, rosé salmon or strawberries.