Le Champagne in La Champagne

This weekend I took a little excursion to La Champagne to learn about le champagne!
It was very interesting!*

Here are some fun facts I learned:

1.) Champagne (the drink) can ONLY be called Champagne if it is made in Champagne, France (the region). So, if you are ever drinking champagne, you know exactly where it came from! All other sparkling wines are called...well...sparking wines.

2.) Champagne is made with one process deep in caves! These caves are 30m under ground and are huge! The entire region of La Champagne is caves! (The picture above is of a section of a LONG row of champagne bottles at the Mercier Champagne Caverns)

3.) There are three varieties of grapes for a champagne: chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier.

4.) A Vintage Champagne doesn't mean old... and it doesn't always mean good! It means that all of the grapes are from the same year. There is no blend. A non-vintage wine is a blend of grapes from different years! P.S. A Vintage 2003 Champagne is terrible! The weather was just way to dry that year for a good harvest!

5.) A Vintage 2004 Champagne is going to be amazing in about 1o years! 2004 was a great year for grapes in the Champagne region.

6.) A Vintage 2005 (this year's harvest) isn't too bad either!

7.) Champagne is not always made from a chardonnay grape! (the white grape) Champagne can be rose! : ) It just depends on the type of grape.

8.) So...about the glass...A perfect champagne glass should be the shape of an egg with the top part of the "egg shape" cut off. (see picture above) This helps keep the aroma in the glass. (The straight, flute champagne glass are terrible for champagne!)

9.) When opening a bottle of champagne, you should turn the wire muzzle 6 times.

10.) Champagne should be stored in a cool place with about 70% humidity and a temperature between 8* and 10* Celcius. The chalk limestone found in caves in La Champagne keep this perfect balance.

11.) When tasting a champagne look (or I guess I should say smell!) out for these common champagne aromas: vanilla, honey, anise, chocolate, coffee beans, clove, wildflowers, and lilies.



*I don't really like champagne! Haha!