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Champagne is a wine region of France, world-famous for the sparkling wines of Champagne appellation.
Champagne has four distinct winegrowing zones: Reims Mountain (Montagne de Reims), Marne Valley (Vallée de la Marne), Côte des Blancs, and Côte des Bar.
edit Tasting
edit Facts and figures
- Production area: 34,000 hectares (84,015 acres)
- Annual production average: 220 million liters
- Main varietals: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier
edit History
Champagne has been a wine-producing region for more than twenty centuries. In the 18th century, it started to grow in production volume as well as in fame, quickly reaching its current world-class status.
edit Geography
Two of the things that are very instrumental in making champagne what it is are the climate, and the soil.
Millions of years ago, Champagne was covered by an ocean where micro-organisms accumulated to form a rich underground bed of limestone, which contributes to the exceptional character of its wines.
This soil is white, barren, well draining (vines grow best when their roots have to go deep in the soil looking for water) and fairly poor in terms of nutrients (also best for grape vines). The white soil reflects sunlight back up at the grapes which, in the cool climate of champagne, is another plus, because it helps ripen the grapes.
edit Climate
Champagne is one of the coolest wine growing regions in the world, and that climate is responsible for the bubbles. In the past, they’d make the wine and leave it to settle over the winter. The cold temperature would paralyze the yeast, halting fermentation before all the sugar had turned to alcohol. Once spring arrived, and the wine and yeast warmed up, the wine would begin to referment – and sparkle. The winemakers weren’t pleased with this. They tried to subdue the fizziness. They added sugar to counter the tartness that goes hand in hand with less ripe grapes from a cold climate. But nothing they did made what they had into good wine. So, they began looking differently at what they were stuck with. They decided the bubbles were good, and began working on methods to make this bubbly wine what it is today.
edit Viticulture
edit See also
- Champagne de Vignerons - Champagne producers official website (in English)
- Maisons Champagne - Champagne producers official website (in English)
- Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne - Official Champagne appellation website (in English)
