Champagne Comes From One Place Only

Key facts

Centre

Reims and Épernay

Latitude

about 49°N

Vineyard area

about 34,000 ha

Main grapes

3

Status

AOC since 1936

A protected name (AOC)

Champagne is a place name protected by law, not a word for sparkling wine in general. A wine that carries it must come from the delimited area and follow the rules of the Champagne AOC, set in 1936.

Inside the EU the name is protected as an AOP, and many countries outside Europe recognise it too. Even the phrase méthode champenoise is reserved; sparkling wines from elsewhere in the EU write méthode traditionnelle instead.

The logic is simple. A place name is there to tell you origin, and if anyone could use it, it would tell you nothing.

The Champagne region: Reims, Épernay, about 49°N

The region lies about 150 km north-east of Paris, centred on Reims and Épernay, with around 34,000 hectares of vines.

At roughly 49°N it is one of the most northerly vineyard areas in France. The cool climate ripens grapes slowly and keeps acidity high, so the base wine is light and sharp, which is what sparkling wine needs.

Below the topsoil lies deep chalk. It holds water and releases it slowly to the roots, and it was dug out to make the cellars where bottles age. The Champagne hillsides, houses and cellars became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015.

• Montagne de Reims: the slopes south of Reims, much Pinot Noir
• Vallée de la Marne: along the Marne river, much Meunier
• Côte des Blancs: south of Épernay, mostly Chardonnay
• Côte des Bar: the far south, close to Burgundy, much Pinot Noir

Three main grapes

Almost all Champagne comes from three varieties, each bringing a different part of the taste.

Meunier is now the official name, though many books still say Pinot Meunier. The AOC also allows four minor grapes, Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, but very little is planted.

Black grapes can make white Champagne because they are pressed quickly and gently, so almost no colour leaves the skins. All-Chardonnay Champagne is called Blanc de Blancs; all-black-grape Champagne is Blanc de Noirs.

A second fermentation in the bottle

The bubbles form in the same bottle that leaves the cellar. First the producer makes still white wines and blends them across plots and years, a step called assemblage.

A little sugar and yeast go in, and the bottle is sealed. The yeast turns the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide, and with nowhere to escape the gas dissolves into the wine.

The spent yeast settles as lees, and the wine rests on them for months or years, picking up bread and brioche notes. Before release the lees are worked into the neck and removed (dégorgement), and a small dose of wine and sugar (dosage) sets the final sweetness.

Same method, other places: Crémant and Cava

The bottle-fermentation method is used worldwide. These wines can be made exactly the same way and still cannot be called Champagne, because they are not from Champagne.

• Crémant: traditional-method sparkling wine from other French regions, such as Crémant d’Alsace, Crémant de Bourgogne and Crémant de Loire; at least 9 months on lees
• Cava: Spain’s traditional-method sparkling wine, mostly from Penedès in Catalonia, from Macabeo, Xarel·lo and Parellada; at least 9 months on lees

The differences are soil, climate, grapes and minimum ageing. Non-vintage Champagne needs at least 12 months on lees, longer than the Crémant and Cava minimum.

Questions people ask