Discover Your Complete Guide to Champagne

Looking for your complete guide to Champagne? Discover the world’s most famous sparkling wine with a concise, easy guide to Champagne.

Champagne is the epitome of the drink for special and festive moments worldwide. The term champagne is actually protected by law and its production is strictly regulated. In the Champagne wine-growing region, the basic wines for champagne production are grown on a defined area of 32,500 hectares. 

Champagne is at the top of the price scale but is also subject to the strictest production regulations of all sparkling wines, controlled by independent bodies. It is the secret and the art of each house to “compose” the desired cuvée (blend) from the various base wines (sometimes from different vintages) and to present a typical house style.

What is the Right Champagne to Choose?

Which champagne suits which occasion? Champagne is classified according to dosage (Brut Nature, Brut, Demi-Sec), grape variety (Cuvée, Blanc de Blancs or Blanc de Noirs) and colour (Blanc, Rosé). In our assortment you will find a large selection of these different types of champagne. 

First, there are the grape varieties that are approved for champagne production. Most people automatically think of the great trinity of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. And yes, these three grape varieties also account for a whopping 99.7 percent of the vineyard. 

Rosé Champagne at Fat Cork

How is Champagne Made?

In the Champagne region, only manual harvesting is allowed. But this is not only due to the high quality standards. For Champagne, the must may only come from whole grapes. But a harvesting machine would damage individual berries or even whole bunches. Therefore, only manual harvesting is allowed in the vineyard. The reason why the grapes must remain intact: If individual berry skins are damaged, the rotting process begins immediately. The longer such a berry is allowed to ferment uncontrollably, the less fresh the must will taste. The whole-cluster pressing also makes the must particularly clear – a characteristic that is very important in the Champagne region.

Once the must is in the barrels, it is vinified like regular wine. These are the so-called basic or base wines, also called vins clairs, from which the Chef de Cave, the cellar master of a winery or champagne house, later composes the blend for the respective champagne. This process is called assemblage. And at this point, it gets even more complicated. There are almost infinite possibilities: different grape varieties and different vintages. As a rule, 70 percent of the wines come from the current year, the rest consists of wines from other vintages, which are called reserve wines. Such champagnes are immediately recognisable: They do not bear a year on their label. These so-called non-vintage champagnes are actually standard. There is also a reason for this. Because especially the big champagne houses make sure that their champagne tastes the same every year and is not subject to fluctuations.

Of course, there are also vintage champagnes, which then only consist of the basic wines of a single harvest. However, not everyone is allowed to simply produce a vintage champagne, but only if the association has agreed to actually declare a vintage. And that’s not all! In addition to vintage and non-vintage champagnes, there are also Blanc de Blancs (exclusively white grape varieties), Blanc de Noirs (white-pressed red grape varieties) or Rosé champagnes. And then the big champagne houses like to make a prestige champagne, where only base wines from the best grapes of the best sites are put on the bottle.

Vintage Champagne at Fat Cork

The amount of sugar contained in the dosage not only influences the sweetness of the taste but is also important for typing. Brut Nature or Ultra Brut refers to champagnes without added sugar in the dosage, they contain 0 to 3 grams of residual sugar per litre, Extra Brut contains 0 to 6 grams of residual sugar per litre after dosage with added sugar, Brut corresponding to 0 to 12 grams of residual sugar per litre, Extra Sec with 12 to 20 grams of residual sugar per litre, Sec with 17 to 35 grams of residual sugar per litre, Demi Sec with 35 to 50 grams of residual sugar per litre and finally Doux with more than 50 grams of residual sugar per litre. 

How to Find a Good Champagne

A good Champagne exudes a wide range of delicious aromas. These can be fruity aromas of citrus fruits, white or red berries, but also floral notes such as violets, peach blossom or lilac. Depending on the method of aging, and its vintage, you may taste dried fruit and nuts, even earthy and vegetal notes like the scent of a freshly mowed meadow or chestnuts. There are many flavours! Some champagnes show notes of vanilla or baked bread. Let your nose figure it out for you!

Use your sense of sight and your sense of smell. Now comes the taste test! Keep the first sip of champagne in your mouth for a moment. Try to taste fruity, floral notes. After swallowing, you will notice that the flavours linger in your mouth and on your palate for a long time. Taste it. What other flavours are there? There are many ways to properly taste a good Champagne, just trust your senses.

With such a complex production, it’s no wonder that champagne is still considered the ultimate in sparkling wines. And the high price that is called for this noble drink is self-explanatory. Not only the price, but above all the extra fine taste makes a champagne something very special. It is luxury, glamour and embodies pure joie de vivre. The best way to enjoy it was once revealed by Madame Lily Bollinger:

“I drink champagne when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I’m not hungry and drink it when I am. Otherwise, I never touch it… unless I’m thirsty.”

Cheers!