“Here’s to Champagne, the drink divine that makes us forget our troubles; it’s made of a dollar’s worth of wine and three dollars’ worth of bubbles.” -Anonymous

Inflation has taken its toll, but the ratio is about right, due to the luxury tax imposed by most governments.  Champagne is wrapped in glamour like an old time movie star; legend has it that Marilyn Monroe once took a bath in 350 bottles of champagne, at 56 million bubbles a bottle, that’s a lot of bubbles.  Behind all the glamour the traditional process or “Méthod Champeniose” of actually making Champagne is laborious in every sense of the word. True Champagne can come only from the Champagne region France, any other sparkling wine is just that although it may bear another name. Champagne is made from three grapes, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, these last two are both red grapes.  The wine is quickly separated from the lees (or skins) so as to not absorb any color, unless of course we’re talking about one of my favorites, Rosé Champagne (or pink to some of us).   The wines are then blended; they may be from as many as forty to fifty vineyards, so it can become quite complicated.  Then older wines are blended in contributing depth and complexity.   Yeasts and a small amount sugar and wine (liqueur de triage) are then added, and the wines are left in cool, dark cellars for two to five years.  During this time, a second fermentation takes place in the bottle, where carbon dioxide is trapped in the wine, creating the bubbles.  While the wine ages, the yeast are eaten up by the sugar and form sediment; wines left to age for along time with the sediment develop a more “yeasty” character.  During this time the wines are riddled, turned daily to promote the formation of bubbles.  When the wine is ready, the bottles are pointed downward, inserted into an “A Frame”, so that the sediment can run down the neck accumulating on the underside of the cap. The neck is then passed through a solution that freezes the sediment and a bit of the wine, and the cap is popped off.  The pressure from the carbon dioxide blows the frozen yeast out, this process is called dégorgement, and they quickly top off the wine with a combination of sugar and wine known as liqueur d’expédition.  The amount of sugar determines the dryness of the wine.  The bottle is immediately corked to preserve the pressure.             

True Champagne can only be made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier.  The first two are noble varieties; the Meunier is a blending grape, a workhorse if you will.  Champagne from Chardonnay are called “Blanc de Blanc”, white from whites, where Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier  make “Blanc de Noirs” white from black. Champagnes are made with varying levels of sweetness; Brut the most common is dry where confusingly Extra Dry is sweeter.  Crémant is another style with less bubbles, only slightly sparkling relatively sweet, meant for a dessert wine. The top Champagnes are vintage dated, from the best yields of the best vineyards, which after centuries have been officially rated.  These wines can be as much as five times more than the Non-vintage (NV) champagnes of the same producer, although not necessarily five times better.  The most important thing on the label is the producer, each house is known for a particular style which remains constant in their non vintage bottlings.

Make no mistake, it’s the growing conditions in Champagne that make Champagne the best sparkling wine in the world.  The fact that a number of all the best Champagne houses- like Moët & Chandon, Tattinger, Roederer (of Cristal fame), and Mumm- have all established vineyards and facilities in sunny California, bringing along their most skilled and experienced people to recreate the finished product.  The result? Fine Champagne-like wines- fresh, light, and yeasty, but not nearly as complex and flavorful, not nearly as fine and delicate, or pure and deep as the original.  Sareé A. Mulhern - Certified Sommelier