Le champagne et sa région | Le vin | Naissance du champagne

The champagne and its region | Wine | The Birth of champagne

Assembling

It consists of blending:

  • the different champagne vine types one with the other, i.e. Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay,
  • different years (for the non vintage crude wines),
  • wines of different vintages.

Whatever the assembling process used, the aim is to unify the qualities and the best features of its components, and to help achieve the durability of a Champagne's taste qualities over the years of production.

It should also be emphasized here that in the majority of cases an old wine has been subjected to this process.

Some great vintages apply this principle by exclusively blending the vintage wines of different years.

Botting

Before being bottled, the wine must be subjected to slight migration.

The wine is put into vats equipped with agitators and natural sugar and yeast are added to it to increase the alcohol level.

Once this blend has been perfected, the wine is ready to be bottled.

The bottle is filled up with this blend (wine, sugar, and yeast) and then sealed (with a plastic protective cap to ensure its tightness) and capped in a way that ensures the seal required to withstand the pressure.

Foam formation

Once filled, the bottles are slightly shaken and afterwards laid horizontally on the shelves. In this way the so-called "still" wine will little by little become sparkling and will develop its aroma and delicacy.

Foam formation is therefore progressive and requires a temperature close to 10° C, with temperature stability naturally provided by the Champagne wine cellars thanks to the regulating nature of the limestone.

The formation of foam bringing about the appearance of bubbles will last about one to one and a half months.

Ageing on sediments

Once the foam forming process begins, ageing on sediments will make give lasting wine qualities.

This sedimentation resting time varies:

  • from fifteen months minimum for non-vintage wines,
  • to three years for the vintage wines.

During this period, the wine improves, especially due to the presence of sediments, which are basically yeasts.

Riddling

The second fermentation in the bottle produces a deposit that is necessary for the maturity of the wine, but making it inappropriate for drinking. The purpose of riddling is to have this deposit concentrated in the neck of the bottle.

The progressive descent of the residues towards the neck is achieved by tilting the bottle on one end and varying its inclination during the riddling process, which can take from one week to one month.

The bottle is thus put on a stand, in an almost horizontal position and its being stirred up regularly means that the bottle will have to be turned by 1/8th, 1/4 or 1/2 a turn, once to the left and once to the right.

At the end of this riddling process, the bottle is inclined at almost 70°, or 90° for mechanical riddling, and the deposit is thus confined to the end of the bottleneck.
The only thing remaining to be done then is to expel it.

Discharge

The deposit is near to the bottleneck; the pressure inside the bottle will take care of the rest - the forced discharge can take place:
The bottle is abruptly put upright and the cellar keeper performs the sediment discharge at about 45°. The deposit is expelled and separated from the precious beverage.

This technique needs time and a lot of know-how. Automatic sediment discharge is used in the big producing areas.

Its principle is simple: once the deposit is confined to the area near the cork, the bottle is plunged into a neck-freezing trough.

The ice captures the impurities and their expulsion is once again effected by pressure.

Topping up

Because the second fermentation has used up most of the sugar and because the sediment discharge has resulted in some wine loss, a top-up will be necessary.
A syrup made up of sugar and reserve wine is then added.
This is the final touch at the end of a long process. Each wine producer also has his or her own recipe for the composition of his or her own syrup.
On the other hand, the sugar quantity is strictly regulated. Thus brut champagne must have a residual sugar content of less than 15 g per litre,
an extra-dry from 12 to 20g,
a "sec" from 17 to 35g,
and a "demi-sec" from 33 to 55g.

After being corked and riddled, the bottle will be left to a rest over a short period of time and after that it will be labelled and presented to you in the finest condition.