Champagne
Style, grape, region and technique of Champagne — grower fizz to blanc de blancs.
53 canonical terms
Concept
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Comité Champagne
Interprofessional body that regulates Champagne production. Founded in 1941, headquartered in Épernay. Represents vineyard owners and major houses jointly.
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Crayères
Ancient chalk quarries beneath Reims and Épernay, cut since Roman times and used as wine cellars since the 18th century. UNESCO World Heritage since 2015.
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Cuvée
The first, gentle press in Champagne (2,050 litres per 4,000 kg of grapes). Also: a specific wine of a house, usually with a brand name.
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Dosage
The small amount of sugar solution added to champagne after dégorgement to balance the final taste.
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Échelle des Crus
Champagne's classification system (~1911), originally a price scale of 80-100%. Since 2010 no longer a price mechanism, but the Grand Cru / Premier Cru labels remain.
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MCR (Rectified Concentrated Must)
Concentrated, rectified grape must stripped to pure sugar, often used in Champagne dosage as an alternative to cane sugar.
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Millésime
Vintage Champagne from a single harvest year. Minimum 36 months on the lees required. The counterpart of non-vintage (NV), which blends across years.
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Récoltant Manipulant (RM)
Official Champagne category for growers who harvest their own grapes and vinify the wine themselves on their own estate.
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Reserve wine
Still wine from earlier harvests, held back to blend into the non-vintage assemblage. The backbone of consistent house style across years.
Style
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Blanc de Blancs
Champagne made from white grapes only, which in practice almost always means one hundred percent Chardonnay.
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Blanc de Noirs
White Champagne made entirely from black grapes, typically Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or a blend of both.
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Brut
Dosage category for sparkling wine: up to 12 g/l residual sugar. The de-facto standard for non-vintage Champagne, around 95 percent of production.
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Brut Nature
Strictest dosage category: 0 to 3 g/l residual sugar, no added sugar. Also Pas Dosé or Zéro Dosage. Shows the base wine without mercy.
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Demi-Sec
Off-dry dosage category for sparkling wine: 32 to 50 g/l residual sugar. Classic with dessert. Has become rarer in modern Champagne offerings.
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Extra Brut
Dosage category between Brut Nature and Brut: 0 to 6 g/l residual sugar. Increasingly popular with grower and quality-focused Champagne producers.
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Grower Champagne
Champagne made by a vigneron who farms their own vineyards and vinifies the wine themselves, rather than buying grapes from hundreds of other growers.
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Prestige Cuvée
Top tier of a Champagne house: vintage, long autolysis, often Grand Cru, premium price. Examples: Dom Pérignon, Krug Grande Cuvée, Cristal.
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Rosé d'assemblage
Rosé Champagne made by blending white base wine with still red Coteaux Champenois (5-15%). The most common method, legal only inside the Champagne AOC.
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Rosé de Saignée
Rosé Champagne via skin contact: short maceration of black grapes (8-72 hours) to draw colour and aroma from the skins. More vinous, deeper, rarer than rosé d'assemblage.
Grape
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Arbane
Rare white grape of Champagne, less than 0.3 percent of plantings. Late-ripening, high acidity. Preserved by a handful of growers in the Aube.
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Chardonnay
White grape, about 30 percent of Champagne's vineyard area. Near-monoculture on the Côte des Blancs. Base of nearly every Blanc de Blancs.
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Petit Meslier
Rare white grape of Champagne, less than 0.02 percent of plantings. High acidity, citrus and herbal profile. Increasingly planted as a climate-change hedge.
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Pinot Blanc
White mutation of Pinot Noir, less than 0.3 percent of Champagne's vineyard area. Concentrated in the Aube. Mostly a minor partner in sept-cépages cuvées.
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Pinot Gris
Grey-pink mutation of Pinot Noir, locally called Fromenteau. Less than 0.3 percent of Champagne's vineyard area. Smoky, fuller-bodied, lower acidity.
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Pinot Meunier
Black grape covering roughly a third of Champagne's vineyards, delivering fruit, body and early drinkability in most non-vintage cuvées.
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Pinot Noir
Black grape with clear juice, about 38 percent of Champagne's vineyard area. Dominant in Montagne de Reims and Côte des Bar. Base of Blanc de Noirs and rosé.
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Voltis
Fungus-resistant white hybrid, experimentally authorised in Champagne since 2022. First PIWI variety ever in a French AOC. 10 ha planted by 2026.
Region
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Ambonnay
Grand Cru village on the southern slopes of the Montagne de Reims. 387 hectares, 81 percent Pinot Noir. Home of Egly-Ouriet and Krug Clos d'Ambonnay.
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Avize
Grand Cru village on the Côte des Blancs, near 100 percent Chardonnay. Central position on the Montagne d'Avize, home to a string of leading growers.
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Aÿ Grand Cru
Historic village on the southern slope of the Montagne de Reims, known for powerful Pinot Noir and one of the seventeen Grand Cru communes of Champagne.
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Bouzy
Grand Cru village on the southern Montagne de Reims. 378 hectares, 87 percent Pinot Noir. Known for Bouzy Rouge, a still red Coteaux Champenois.
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Chouilly
Grand Cru village in the northern Côte des Blancs, 522 hectares, 98.7 percent Chardonnay. Clay in the topsoil gives a rounder, fuller character. Home of Nicolas Feuillatte.
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Côte des Bar
Southernmost Champagne subregion in the Aube, 8,000 hectares on Kimmeridgian marl. Pinot Noir-dominant (83-87%), no Grand Cru, close to Burgundy.
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Côte des Blancs
Champagne subregion south of Épernay, 3,313 hectares on near-pure chalk. Almost a Chardonnay monoculture, with six Grand Cru villages.
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Cramant
Grand Cru village in the Côte des Blancs, near 100 percent Chardonnay. Known for finesse, fine mousse and delicate Blanc de Blancs.
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Épernay
Southern capital of Champagne, on the Marne. Centre of the Avenue de Champagne with Moët & Chandon, Pol Roger, Mercier and Perrier-Jouët.
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Hautvillers
Premier Cru village in the Vallée de la Marne, 284 hectares. Home of the Saint-Pierre abbey where Dom Pérignon (1638-1715) worked. Owned by Moët & Chandon since 1823.
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Le Mesnil-sur-Oger
Grand Cru village at the south of the Côte des Blancs, 464 hectares of Chardonnay. Known for steel, minerality and exceptional ageing potential. Home of Salon.
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Mailly-Champagne
Grand Cru village on the north flank of the Montagne de Reims, 286 hectares. 88 percent Pinot Noir. Home of the influential Mailly Grand Cru cooperative.
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Montagne de Reims
Champagne subregion between Reims and Épernay, around 8,000 hectares on a forested plateau. Pinot Noir-led, with nine Grand Cru villages.
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Oger
Grand Cru village in the Côte des Blancs, 403 hectares, 99.6 percent Chardonnay. Between Avize and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. Promoted to Grand Cru in 1985.
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Oiry
Grand Cru village in the northern Côte des Blancs, 237 hectares, 99.4 percent Chardonnay. The flattest Grand Cru village of Champagne. Promoted to Grand Cru in 1985.
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Reims
Northern capital of Champagne. Not a vineyard village itself, but home to the major houses and the UNESCO-listed chalk cellars (crayères).
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Vallée de la Marne
Largest Champagne subregion: 8,000 hectares along the Marne, from Épernay to near Château-Thierry. Pinot Meunier-led, one Grand Cru village (Aÿ).
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Vertus
Premier Cru village at the south of the Côte des Blancs, 487 hectares. Unique: substantial Pinot Noir share (~20%) alongside dominant Chardonnay. Home of Larmandier-Bernier.
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Verzenay
Grand Cru village on the northeast flank of the Montagne de Reims, 418 hectares. 86 percent Pinot Noir. Known for vertical, taut Pinot Noir style.
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Verzy
Grand Cru village on the northern flank of the Montagne de Reims, 408 hectares. Three geologically distinct hills (chalk, silex, clay). Promoted to Grand Cru in 1985.
Technique
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Autolysis
Breakdown of dead yeast cells during extended lees ageing in the bottle. Source of brioche, hazelnut and creamy texture in Champagne and other traditional-method sparkling wines.
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Dégorgement
Removing the yeast lees from the Champagne bottle after ageing. Freeze the neck, pop off the crown cap, the deposit shoots out under internal pressure.
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Liqueur de Tirage
The mixture of wine, sugar and yeast added to a base wine to trigger the second fermentation inside the bottle.
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Méthode Champenoise
The production method where the second fermentation happens in the bottle, followed by lees ageing and disgorgement. Reserved by EU law for Champagne itself.
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Remuage
Gradual rotation and tilting of the Champagne bottle to collect the yeast lees in the neck before dégorgement. Invented at Veuve Clicquot in 1816.
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Tirage
Bottling of the base wine with liqueur de tirage (sugar + yeast) to start the second fermentation in the bottle. The opening of the méthode champenoise.