How it is Made

ONCE THE GRAPES HAVE BEEN HARVESTED, THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY PRESSED AND THEN THE PROCESS OF MAKING THE CHAMPAGNE, ONE THAT CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM A YEAR OR TWO, TO SEVERAL DECADES, BEGINS. MAKING CHAMPAGNE IS A MUCH MORE COMPLEX OPERATION THAN MAKING TABLE WINE.

WORDS KEN GARGETT

PRESSING

Unlike many grape growing districts around the globe, in Champagne it is not necessary to take the freshly harvested grapes all the way to a designated winery. Pressing centres are scattered all through vineyards throughout the region. It means that the grapes can be pressed quickly and efficiently, without losing freshness, whilst preventing their breakdown and the oxidation of juice that might happen if they had to be transported long distances. Remember also that every grape must be handpicked. Pickers use 50 kilogram containers to minimise any potential damage to the grapes that might occur in larger receptacles. Champagne understands how important it is that the grapes arrive in the best possible condition.

Grapes will start coming in as soon as harvest begins, usually around early to mid-September, though climate change may impact on this in future years. The date for the commencement of harvesting will vary each year, depending on conditions. The aim is to ensure that the grapes have sufficient sugar to produce at least 10 per cent alcohol after fermentation, while also maintaining the requisite level of acidity. It can be a very fine line and, in some vintages, the decision must be made to go one way or another, as the grapes simply won’t reach both optimum acid and sugar levels. Picking will continue until all grapes are harvested, usually a few weeks to a month or so after commencement.

During vintage, the region will be invaded by many hundreds of casual

workers, from France and further afield, to assist harvesting – some estimates place the number as high as 100,000. They will start at dawn each day – another method of protecting the grapes from any excessive heat. That helps prevent an early and unplanned fermentation. Strict criteria regulating pressing and press houses have been in place since 1987.

On arrival, every 4,000 kilogram lot (or more accurately, every lot of whatever size – 4,000 kilograms is the quantity used in the regulations in respect of pressing), is fully recorded alongside details of the variety, source and likely destination (as in whether the juice will be retained or sold). The grapes undergo testing to ensure they meet the minimum alcohol content that has been decreed for that specific vintage.

The grapes are then gently pressed in either traditional or modern Champagne presses, both of which are usually low and wide, allowing the grapes to spread out evenly. The presses, whether wooden basket presses or an automated style, take varying amounts, but the region works on the figure of 4,000 kilograms, from which the Champenois can obtain a maximum of 2,550 litres – considerably less than in most other regions.

The presses may be the traditional wooden presses or the more modern automated presses. Except for the largest producers, most presses today are still manually loaded – in other words, workers from the House will shovel the grapes into the press. This enables an even distribution. Presses will range from 2,000 to 12,000 kilos – that will mean percentages are appropriately adjusted for cuvee and taille.

The Champenois consider the tenets of successful pressing to be ensuring that the grapes are pressed immediately after they are harvested; that the pressing is of whole clusters; that the pressing is done by a gentle and gradual increase in the pressure; and that all this results in low juice extraction. An exception to immediate pressing may be made for Rosé, where it is produced by skin contact method.

The most prized juice is the free run and first press. The first 2,050 litres to emerge from the pressing are called the cuvee and this is the best juice, richest in levels of sugar and also acidity. Many of the top Houses will use nothing else. Even so, the first 50 litres of the cuvee are often separated, as this helps wash out any dust or other material. The final 500 litres is the taille or premier taille (the first fifty litres, if they are not included with the cuvee, are usually tossed in here). Houses are allowed to press another 2 per cent, the ‘la rebêche’, which can be used for Ratafia, while the skins and stalks may be distilled for Marc de Champagne or even ethanol. The cuvee is considered to produce Champagnes with the greatest finesse and subtlety, as well as long term potential. Taille will have a lower acid content and will result in much fruitier wines for immediate drinking.

In the past, a further pressing called the deuxiéme taille was permitted but this is now banned. At that time, the cuvee was 2,050 litres, the taille 410 litres and the deuxiéme taille was 205 litres.

After pressing, the juice will be sulphured and then set aside for around half to a full day to enable it to settle (this is known as débourbage). This allows any solids to drop out of the juice. It will then be racked into vessels for the first fermentation. These vessels will be tanks or barrels, depending on the House style.

FIRST FERMENTATION

The primary fermentation is the process, which effectively turns the juice into wine. The grape juice is known as ‘must’. This first fermentation is, of course, an alcoholic fermentation, which differs from the malolactic fermentation (a process described below, which will provide a softer wine). Fermentation is simply the process where the yeasts consume the sugars in the grape juice, resulting in the production of alcohol and carbon dioxide (and heat, which is carefully monitored as too much can result in the undesirable evaporation of flavour compounds). The yeasts are, in effect, committing suicide by this process, as the alcohol they produce will eventually kill them. They can only tolerate a certain level of alcohol (there are a great many different strains of yeasts and they have varying tolerances to alcohol).

While yeasts will exist in the vineyards and the wineries, winemakers will add their preferred strain. The addition of the sulphur immediately after pressing kills any yeasts that may be present, ensuring that when the winemaker adds his preferred strain, he will get the desired outcome. Native yeasts, or wild yeasts as they are sometimes known, are terribly trendy in the production of wines such as Pinot Noir, with good reason, but Champagne producers are keen to avoid any potential off-flavours or characters they may imbue in their wines – always a possibility with wild yeasts. The dead yeast cells will sink to the bottom of the fermentation vessel and later, the wine will be racked again to ensure that this sediment is removed (racking is simply syphoning off the wine to another vessel to leave any sediment behind). An understanding of this is important, as it plays a role in the production of Champagne when we come to the secondary fermentation.

Depending on vintage conditions, the must may be chaptalized after racking. Chaptalization is the process whereby sugar is added to the must. The intention is to increase the level of alcohol in the wine after fermentation, not to make the wine any sweeter. The extra sugar means that there is more sugar on which the yeasts may feed, meaning a slight increase in the alcohol level. The aim here is to reach an eventual level of at least 11%. The process of Chaptalization is named after the French chemist who developed it, Jean-AntoineClaude Chaptal. While legal in Champagne and many other wine regions, it is not permitted in many others, Australia being one of them.

A few Houses, notably Billecart-Salmon and Pol Roger, undertake débourbage à froid prior to fermentation, a process whereby the must is allowed a second settling but

at a much lower temperature, around 5°C. This assists in removing wild yeasts and also coarser sediment and lees. Given the elegance, class and longevity of the wines from these producers, it is perhaps a little surprising that a lot more Houses do not follow their lead.

In Champagne, most producers put the must through this primary fermentation in stainless steel tanks, though some still prefer the traditional method of fermenting in oak, whether large casks or more standard barrels. Tanks will also vary greatly in size. Perhaps the most famous Houses to ferment in oak are Bollinger (for vintage wines) and Krug, but others do so as well – Jacques Selosse, Ulysse Collin, José Michel, Alfred Gratien and others. It is considered that fermentation in oak allows for a slightly higher/quicker degree of oxidation. Oakfermented wines are usually seen as richer and fuller than those from tank – but as with so much to do with Champagne where techniques can vary widely, there is no one right way, but rather differing methods creating an array of styles.

At this stage, the must being fermented will be kept separate by vineyards, vintages and varieties. Time for fermentation will vary, but is usually around a couple of weeks.

The wine may also undergo malolactic fermentation at this stage (see below). After fermentation, the wine must undergo clarification. At this point, it is finally ready for blending.

BLENDING/ASSEMBLAGE

It is easy to understand just how important blending is in Champagne if a story I have heard several times is true (even if an urban myth, it still conveys a strong message). Apparently, the chef de cave (basically, chief winemaker) of Moët et Chandon and his two key assistants are not allowed to fly on the same plane at any time, much like the American President and Vice President. The reason is that these men have so much irreplaceable knowledge of the House style, and how to achieve it in their heads that if all three were suddenly lost, Moët would struggle to be able to replicate their Non-Vintage and much more. Whether true or not, it emphasises how vital the process of blending (assemblage) is in making great Champagne.

Great Houses have great blenders. It is crucial. We are seeing the emergence of grower Champagnes and single vineyard wines, but the vast majority of Champagne is a blended wine. With vintage and prestige cuvees, careful blending is necessary to ensure the wine is as good as it possibly can be. With non-vintage wines, it is essential in order to ensure that the House style is replicated, year after year. The chef de cave will ultimately be in control but it is usual for the exercise of blending to be a team effort. Assemblage will usually take several weeks, if not longer.

The process is not simply checking to see if a couple of tanks can combine well. Some Champagnes are blended from an extraordinary array of components, more than 100, even 200 in some cases. It means endless testing. The chef de cave must combine wines from the various different vineyards and crus to which the House has access, remembering that there could also be further options from the different varieties. He may also have to work around ‘House requirements’. For example, Pol Roger has traditionally used equal amounts of all three varieties in its Non-Vintage. If they encounter a vintage where one of these grapes struggles then the chef de cave has the added burden of ensuring that his blend will incorporate sufficient reserve wine from that variety to maintain a cepage of equal thirds, as well as maintaining their high standards. Of course, the chef de cave could encounter the opposite problem of a vintage where the quality of one variety clearly exceeds the others, though in that case, expect the House to maintain a greater quantity of reserve wines from that variety for the ‘offending’ vintage. That tends to be a ‘problem’ Houses love!

In non-vintage wines, they must also include various reserve components in the final blend. Consider the difficulties facing the chef de cave if he has, say, the base wine coming from a hot, ripe year for this vintage and then the following year, a cool, wet and acidic harvest. He needs to have knowledge of not only the House style and how to achieve it, but which reserve wines, from which vineyards and in what quantities will ensure that the two wines are identical. This really is where science meets art.

Remember also that the chef de cave is doing this with young, neutral, still and usually quite acidic base wines and that the finished product will not hit the market for perhaps half a decade or more. In other words, he must know how these blends will turn out many years ahead, and factor in the various procedures the wine is still to undergo, such as the second fermentation, ageing on lees, dosage and disgorgement, all of which impact on the final Champagne. It takes rare talent and there is no substitute for experience.

Having tasted these base (and rather ordinary) wines on numerous occasions and seeing these winemakers turn them from the proverbial ugly ducklings into glorious swans, if ever there was an apt time to use that old saying – greater than the sum of its parts – this is it.

Of course, for almost every House, the chef de cave must make a range of Champagnes – non-vintage, vintage, rosé, prestige, blanc de blancs and so forth. Hence, he has to keep in mind what he will need for the other wines – not rob Peter to pay Paul, if you like. He has to know where potentially hundreds of components will best fit across his entire range.

More and more, winemakers need to know their vineyards, and those of the growers from which they source grapes. It not only assists in ensuring that the quality of the grapes is optimum but, where they understand the character of vineyards, or even differing parts of vineyards, it is a positive benefit to the ultimate blending. Sometimes, especially for the larger Houses, they will need to understand the characteristics of 300 or more vineyards.

Once the decisions as to the final blending have been made, all components will be combined in the largest tanks available – at this stage, the wine is called a vin clair and is simply a rather unremarkable and usually rather acidic wine that would excite little interest if bottled and sold as is.

At this stage, the wine undergoes the process of cold stabilisation. This is where the wine is chilled prior to it being bottled, in order to induce the crystallisation of tartaric acid. It will sit at around –4°C for a week or longer. Of course, a clarification will be needed to ensure the clarity of the wine and to remove the crystals. This procedure will prevent the formation of any crystals in the wine at a later stage – possibly after sale, which could be disastrous. The same effect can be achieved with the use of ‘cream of tartar’ crystals.

Older consumers may recall these crystals in white wines, often cheaper German Rieslings. They are harmless, but anything solid and floating in a wine is not a good look. A clever marketer assisted their cause by dubbing them ‘wine diamonds’, but that only went so far. With today’s technology, it is very rare to encounter these crystals in any wine.

The wine is now ready for the next step – bottling and the secondary fermentation, though regulations do not actually permit bottling until the January following the harvest.

MALOLACTIC FERMENTATION

Prior to bottling for the secondary fermentation, Champagne may undergo a ‘third fermentation’ – a malolactic fermentation, which is a biological fermentation, not an alcoholic one. This is the process where the malic acid, which occurs naturally in the grapes, is turned into lactic acid. Some Houses encourage it, some prevent it, and some leave it up to the wine, meaning it might or might not happen. That said, the majority of Champagnes have gone through a full or partial malolactic fermentation. For consumers, the result is simple. Malic acid is the acidity most usually associated with apples. Lactic acid is that of dairy products. So a wine which undergoes malolactic fermentation moves from the crisp clean freshness, reminiscent of a green apple, to the softer, creamier texture of milk or butter.

Houses that wish a malolactic fermentation to proceed can assist by warming the wine during the primary fermentation, while those that desire to prevent it can do so by adding sulphur at low temperatures. To induce ‘malo’, as it is often called, the temperature in the cellars will be maintained a little below 20°C and the tanks will be inoculated with lyophilized bacteria. This form of

fermentation will usually take between a month and a month and a half.

The effect of malolactic fermentation is to make the wine softer and more approachable in its youth. Champagnes without this form of fermentation can be a little fierce, piercing and foreboding when young, but the payoff is that they can often age beautifully for many years. Some Houses will consider the process on a vintage by vintage basis. If a year provides wines of low acidity, then many Houses will be reticent to allow their wines to undergo malolactic fermentation. Conversely, in a vintage giving acidic wines, more will look to soften their wines in this manner.

Krug is usually considered to be a producer, which leaves malo up to the wine itself. Piper Heidsieck was a House that prevented malolactic fermentation in its wines for a long period, but has altered its style in recent years. Gosset has only just modified its stance on malo, now allowing it. Some Houses will blend non-malo wines with those which have undergone malolactic. Philipponnat, Charles Ellner, Lemaire, Jose Michel and Lanson are Houses which prefer to avoid malo. Some Houses will release some wines which are non-malo, even if they are traditionally not seen as complete devotees of the style. For example, Louis Roederer includes percentages of wine which have not undergone malolactic fermentation in their blends, but their new non-dosage wine, Brut Nature 2006, is fully non-malolactic.

BOTTLING/SECONDARY FERMENTATION

It is now time to bottle the vin clair for the secondary fermentation. It is in this very bottle that the wine will remain until ultimately opened and enjoyed. Certain cheaper sparkling wines made in other regions may not necessarily stay in that same bottle – beware ‘fermented in the bottle’ as opposed to ‘fermented in this bottle’, the practice known as transvasage. Transvasage is prohibited in Champagne.

At this time, a small quantity of a solution, known as the ‘liqueur de tirage’, is added to each bottle. Over the years, this liqueur has varied – rumours suggested that in the past, anything from top Cognacs to honey have found their way into the secret recipes of the Houses. These days, it is still wine with sugar, either beet or cane sugar, certain additives and a strain of yeast selected by the chef de cave. Beet sugar tends to be popular as it is cheaper, with beets being cultivated locally. The sucrose in both is the same, so it should, in theory, make no difference. The quantity of sugar usually sits around 20 to 25 grams/litre.

The yeasts will feed on the sugars, just as happened in the first alcoholic fermentation. This will result in a tiny increase in the level of alcohol, but more importantly, will give off carbon dioxide. This is what gives Champagne its fizz. Unlike the primary fermentation, the carbon dioxide cannot just disappear off into the heavens but rather, it is trapped in the bottle. This creates considerable pressure – around 5 to 6 atmospheres (the same as a London doubledecker bus tyre). No surprise then, that corks can fly out of the bottle with deadly force. When the bottle is finally opened, the carbon dioxide tries to escape from the wine, creating the bubbles.

The additives mentioned above are included in order to make the sediment inside the bottle heavier. They usually consist of bentonite or bentonite-alginate. The reason for this is to assist in the riddling process, as heavier sediment will have an easier time sliding down the side of the bottle.

The bottles will now be sealed with a stopper very similar to the crown cap better known as a beer bottle cap, with plastic insert. This provides an almost airtight seal. A few Houses will still use cork for this process. It is known as an agrafe cork and it will be held in place by a large clip which fits under the lip of the bottle. Bollinger is one House still using this system for their vintage wines. A tip for those who indulge in blind options games, if you are being served a champagne which is masked, if you can get a look at the top of the bottle, the vast majority will have a rounded lip which takes the seal – just as you will find on every beer bottle. If it does not, and has a square edge and large ring, then it is very likely you are being served a vintage Bollinger (though they are not the only one), or possibly a Champagne with considerable age.

The sealed bottle will then be taken to the cellars where it will rest until the time for disgorgement – the secondary fermentation will take around two months, or a little less. After that, the bottles simply age on their lees (explained below). They are stacked ‘sur latte’, meaning on their sides, top into punt, and will remain there untouched for such time as the House decrees.

It is worth mentioning a practice called ‘sur latte trading’, though good luck getting anyone in Champagne to confess to it, even though it is legal (only in Champagne, not in any other region of France). Producers are allowed to sell Champagne that has been bottled but not yet disgorged (so, in effect, not yet finished – disgorgement is described below). It is referred to as ‘sur latte trading’ as it is when they are lying, sur latte, in cellars that they are sold. The House buying them can label them under their own brand. So, House XYZ may have a much loved House style for say, their Non-Vintage, but may be running low on stocks. They can buy Non-Vintage, sur latte, from another House, which may have an entirely different House style, and sell it under their label. While it happens, no one wants to admit it (or rather, many producers are happy to admit to selling Champagne sur latte, usually to get rid of Champagne they deem to be either not up to their usual standards or surplus to requirements, but no one admits to buying it) and quite why, when the region has done so much to improve standards and fights so hard to protect its image and reputation, this should be allowed is extremely puzzling. At the very least, if it is allowed, Houses should be forced to identify those bottles.

AGEING ON LEES

The time spent in the cellar, after the secondary fermentation, is referred to as the time spent ‘ageing on lees’ and is

extremely important in the development of the Champagne. Lees are dead yeast cells. In the first fermentation, the dead yeast cells will fall to the bottle of the tank or barrel and be removed when the wine is racked. Of course, that cannot happen when the wine and yeast is trapped within the bottle – their removal, known as disgorgement, happens later. Meanwhile, they remain in the bottle and contribute to the complexity of the maturing wine. The process of the yeasts consuming the sugars in the wine and then dying and decomposing is known as autolysis. Many experts believe that autolysis imbues the wine with a toasty, brioche-like note.

How long the wine spends on lees will depend on what the chef de cave intends and what style the wine is. There are minimum requirements – 15 months for non-vintage (more correctly, fifteen months in the bottle prior to sale, with 12 months on lees) and three years for vintage Champagnes – though the better producers will exceed these periods, often by lengthy periods. As a rule of thumb, the better non-vintage Champagnes will have spent between two and four years on lees, while the better vintage Champagnes will spend four to ten years on lees. There are Champagnes that have spent a couple of decades on lees.

Although the seal is usually described as airtight, there is a school of thought that it does actually allow for the minute ingress of oxygen, while a tiny amount of carbon dioxide will escape. Where this occurs, there is a very small and slow oxidation occurring. It is considered to add to the complexity of the wine.

Visitors to Champagne are able to tour some of the great cellars in Epernay and Reims. Aside from the amazing chalk carvings, it is an extraordinary feeling to walk these dimly lit (often it seems as though the oldest thing in the cellars is the electrical wiring that is draped throughout) and chilly corridors, past millions of bottles resting silently. These tunnels are called crayeres and are the result of chalk pits dug back in Roman times. They are important as they maintain consistently low temperatures, usually between 10 and 12°C, which allows the second fermentation to proceed at a slower pace. A gradual, gentle fermentation increases the aromatics, supposedly creates smaller bubbles and adds to the ultimate complexity.

RIDDLING

Eventually, it is time for the Champagne to be ‘finished’ and sold, a decision hopefully made by the chef de cave and not the accountants, though harsh reality often means that a House will move to the next vintage when the latest is sold.

Of course, at this stage in the Champagne’s development, it is still sitting in the cellars with dead yeast lees inside the bottle. Removing them is essential and the method used is attributed to a stroke of genius by one of Champagne’s most famous women, the widow Clicquot, in 1816. It is claimed that she came up with the idea by turning her kitchen table on its side and drilling holes in it. Other reports suggest that her cellarmaster at the time, Antoine de Müller, is due the credit. Whoever was responsible, the process transformed Champagne, as no longer was it sold with unsightly sediment in the bottle – now, it was crystal clear. The result was the process known as riddling, or remuage. These days, it is usually done by a machine, though some Houses still use riddlers, called remueurs (no sign of Batman).

Basically, the bottle is inserted into a hole on a wooden panel – in practice, two panels full of holes will lean against each other in an A-frame formation, called a pupitre. A bottle is placed in each hole where it will be parallel to the ground. Over a period of around six weeks, the riddler will come by once or twice a day to give the bottle a short, sharp twist and rotation. In doing so, slightly increase the angle to the perpendicular. The bottle is able to go from the horizontal to the vertical because the panel is on an angle. The twist moves the bottles anywhere between an 1/8th and a ¼ of a full rotation. If you have ever encountered a small daub of chalk on the bottom of the bottle, the reason it is there is as a point of reference for a riddler.

By the time the riddler has finished, the bottle will be inverted vertically (called ‘sur pointe’). The reason for this is that the quick twist helps to dislodge the lees, which can be quite sticky. If the riddler was simply to move the bottle direct to the vertical, some of the lees would stick to the sides of the bottle. A good riddler will adjust around 40,000 bottles every day (there is an old saying in the region – you can spot a riddler by his huge biceps, and you can spot a blender by the lack of teeth, the acid in the young wines having worn them away). It will take something like two dozen twists for the bottle to be ready for disgorgement.

Most Champagne now undergoes remuage by machine. The bottles are placed in a machine called a gyropalette. The cage will take 504 bottles. The machine, controlled by a computer, then takes the place of the riddler, making the small movements as necessary. Extensive tests have confirmed that there is no discernible difference in the quality of the finished product from the two procedures. Gyropalettes have the advantage of being much faster and more efficient, as they can ‘work’ 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It reduces the time for remuage from a couple of months to a single week.

Some Houses will then allow their Champagnes time in the cellar to age further, sur pointe. Others move more quickly to the next step – the disgorgement.

DISGORGEMENT

By now, whichever method of remuage is employed, all of the lees are sitting in the neck of the inverted bottle and the bottle is ready to be disgorged. Disgorgement is the process where any sediment, most notably the dead yeast cells, is removed from the wine. It is almost always done by machine these days but can be by hand.

Hand disgorgement is rare. Usually, it is only done as an exhibition of days gone by, though there are still certain cuvees where it is necessary. Larger, and indeed some smaller formats might not fit the disgorgement machinery of a House. It is also used where a House still seals the bottle for the secondary fermentation with an agrafe cork. Disgorgement by hand is called à la

volée. The bottle will be held pointing to the ground, the seal will be flicked off and the bottle swung up so that the sediment is quickly forced out, thanks to the pressure which has built up within. The trick is in knowing when to bring the bottle upright, as too soon will leave unwanted sediment in the bottle, whereas too late will cause some of the precious liquid to be lost. The freezing brine solution (described below) can be employed here to make it easier for the removal of the icy plug of sediment. Equipment used for à la volée includes a curved blade and pinchers. Dosage will then be added and the bottle recorked. Needless to say, hand disgorgement is time consuming, potentially wasteful, laborious and inconsistent. It is also a much riskier operation, and those undertaking it wear leather aprons and face masks.

Mechanical disgorgement, called à la glace, is a much more efficient, speedy and precise operation. To remove the sediment by the usual method of mechanical disgorgement, the neck of the bottle is dipped in a brine/ carbonate solution designed to quickly semifreeze the inch or two in the inverted neck, turning it into a sludgy, icy blob (and may I save anyone silly enough keen to try and test the brine solution by sticking their finger in it the trouble – I can assure you that it is indeed unbearably cold). This plug includes all the lees. The temperature of this solution is usually around –27° (estimates seem to range between 15 and 30°C), but is important to ensure it is not frozen solid as it needs to be able to slide out of the neck of the bottle. To prevent it being frozen solid, appropriate chemicals are added. The bottle goes in the solution for anywhere from a couple of minutes to near half an hour, depending on what is needed and the temperature of it.

A machine then removes the seal and, because of the pressure within the bottle, the frozen plug shoots out into a protected trap. Dosage will be quickly added and the bottle corked.

DOSAGE

The dosage added to the Champagne during the process of disgorgement is critical, as it can completely change the nature of the wine. It will determine how dry or sweet the Champagne will be. Dosage is effectively the process of adding the ‘liqueur d’expédition’. Liqueur d’expédition is a small amount of liquid, which has been sweetened to the degree necessary for the style. This is also the opportunity for the winemaker to ensure that the Champagne will be properly balanced.

The liqueur will usually contain 500 to 750 grams of sugar per litre. The styles of champagne created by the differing levels of sweetness are described elsewhere. Obviously, the liqueur added to a nondosage, zero dosage or sans dosage Champagne (there are numerous names for this style, where the Champagne receives no extra sweetness at all), is unsweetened. It is still necessary to add some liquid, even to this style, to make up for the small amount lost in the disgorging process.

The liquid used is usually the same wine as is already in the bottle, but a House may take this final opportunity to further increase the complexity of the finished product. They can do this by using a specially selected reserve wine as the dosage liquid, to be mixed with the sugar. Even in this tiny amount, the flavours of a wine may be improved (or, if they get it wrong, diminished) and complexity increased. Most winemakers will not have just one dosage liqueur. Rather, they will experiment extensively to ensure that they have the perfect dosage for the specific Champagne. As a rule of thumb, the longer the wine has spent ageing on lees, the less dosage it will receive.

In years gone by, Houses would often use a different level of dosage (as in, differing level of sweetness in the dosage liquid) in the same Champagne where it was destined for different markets. As an example, it was always considered that America had a sweeter tooth than European markets – hence, they were dosed with a higher level of sweetness. All the Houses will assure you that this practice was stopped many years ago.

The trend, and it has been the trend for a very long time, is for drier Champagnes, hence a lower dosage. One wonders if many Houses merely paid lip service to the move to drier wines in the past (although if one goes back a century or so, the wines were indeed much sweeter), but they have certainly taken it on board recently. A fine example is Moët et Chandon. Chef de Cave, the very talented Benoît Gouez, has gradually been making their Non-Vintage into a slightly drier style than it was in the past. The wine is all the better for it. Indeed, for such a large volume wine, the quality is extraordinary. Gouez has done this very gradually, fully aware that any major change in the wine is likely to alienate many consumers.

THE FINAL PRODUCT

The corking is the final step in preparing the Champagne, other than labelling and selling it. The cork, prior to insertion into the bottle, is a cylindrical section of reconstituted cork granules, which will have two small slices of natural cork attached at one end. It is partially inserted with two heavy blows. The end with the slices of natural cork goes in first. Leaving a section of the cork out of the bottle provides the famous mushroom shape with which we are all so familiar. The name of the ‘Champagne Appellation’ will be printed on the cork and, if relevant, the vintage. The cork will have a small metal cap, usually identifying the House, attached on the top of the cork and the entire thing is then held in place, attached to the bottle by the wire cage known as the muselet.

The bottle will then be shaken vigorously (poignettage) in order that the dosage will be fully integrated into the wine. A final check of the bottle, called the mirage, is undertaken to ensure the wine is limpid. Poignettage is sometimes practiced prior to disgorgement in order to prevent the lees from sticking to the sides of the bottle. Labelling the bottle is covered elsewhere.

We now have the finished product, ready to be enjoyed. ❧