The Bottle and the Label

EVERY WINE BOTTLE HAS A TRIPLE PURPOSE – MOST OBVIOUSLY, IT MUST ACT AS AN EFFECTIVE CONTAINER FOR ITS CONTENTS; SECONDLY, VIA THE LABEL, IT MUST IDENTIFY THOSE CONTENTS AND MEET ANY LEGAL REQUIREMENTS IN RELATION THERETO; AND THIRDLY, IT MUST DRAW ATTENTION TO ITSELF. NO POINT BEING A GREAT WINE IF IT SITS UNSOLD ON RETAIL SHELVES.

WORDS KEN GARGETT

OVER THE YEARS, CHAMPAGNE BOTTLES have been refined and improved. In the early days, the pressure within was both a blessing and a curse; a blessing, as the pressure/bubbles is the very thing which has created this wonderful sparkling wine, but a curse as the bottles were very often not able to hold the contents. They were simply not strong enough and explosions were common. Indeed, there are stories about how, in the early days of production, workers in the caves would wear protection, not too far short of a suit of armour or something akin, to protect themselves from flying glass. Even today, if you walk the cellars past the millions of bottles happily maturing in the cool, you will often see an occasional hole in the neat stack where a bottle has not been up to scratch and has exploded. Fortunately, it is much rarer today.

Improvements came about as the technology of today allows for far stronger glass, while punts assisted in strengthening the bottle. Punts also assisted in stacking bottles, end to end. Some cynics have suggested that punts were introduced as they took up some of the volume in the bottle, thereby allowing a bottle to appear to have more contents in it than it actually did.

Another improvement was the mechanism to hold the cork in place. In the early days, corks were tied down by string. This method was later changed to the much more effective wire cage, known as a muselet, allegedly invented in 1844 by Adolphe Jacquesson. Not that I ever remember to test it, but there are those who believe that every muselet is constructed so that it takes six half turns to open. The wire cage was a great improvement as eventually it could be attached by mechanical methods and not laboriously by hand, but especially because string created a problem in the cellars. Rats were rather partial to it and would gnaw through it, allowing the cork to explode forth. Flying glass was not the only thing that one needed to dodge in the cellars in days gone by.

There had been an attempt to circumvent this issue by the introduction of a capsule over the top of the bottle. This protected the string at the time, but more importantly, as this was the era of hand-disgorging, it was a clever way to prevent customers seeing exactly how much was in each bottle. Hand-disgorging gives a less precise result than happens with a machine. Finally, the capsule today has become an integral part of the marketing of a bottle of champagne.

Champagne bottles are the birds of paradise of the wine industry, some exquisitely beautiful, while others are gaudy beyond belief. Which is what really comes down to personal taste.

There are two classic Champagne bottles, instantly recognisable around the globe. Louis Roederer’s ‘Cristal’, is immediately appealing (the story is told elsewhere), as is the amazingly unique design for Perrier-Jouet’s ‘Belle Epoque’.

The first vintage of Belle Epoque was the 1964. The exquisite bottle used for it was based on an original design created in 1902, by the famous French artist, Emile Gallé, who was inspired by Japanese art. The white anemones adorning the bottle are instantly recognisable around the world these days, but this icon nearly was never to be. Gallé passed away in 1904, from leukemia, and his business folded soon after and with it, the extraordinary enamelling techniques he had developed. Back in 1902, each bottle had to be hand made, making the cost prohibitive for the production of Champagne. When it was decided to use Gallé’s design for the new wine, the search was on to replicate the process and to ensure it could be produced in much greater volume. It took five years of trial and error before a Parisian glass studio was able to achieve this. The process involves relief enamelling, during which it is necessary to heat the bottle to 600°C.

A Champagne label should provide the customer with all the information necessary, at least in theory. In practice, they fall short. A House such as Bruno Paillard, and more recently others, include the disgorgement date of that bottle. This is critical information to the discerning purchaser and one hopes that in the not too distant future, it is mandatory. There is a great deal of information that most Champagne Houses do not share with customers.

SO, WHAT DOES A STANDARD LABEL REVEAL?

Every region in France must have the appellation clearly indicated on the bottle – for example, “Appellation Pauillac Controlee”. The exception is Champagne, which is allowed to simply have “Champagne” on the label, without reference to ‘appellation controlee’.

Details of the producer – the name, together with the commune where the producer is registered (technically, they also need a trading address, if that is different) and, of course, there must be mention of France.

The brand. As an example, in the case of Pol Roger’s finest, ‘Sir Winston Churchill’.

The level of alcohol, expressed as a percentage by volume. The size of the bottle. The style of the wine, in terms of sweetness. Hence, an indication if the wine is a Brut or Sec or... The vintage, or if appropriate, an indication that the wine is a non-vintage wine, together with details of the type of champagne, such as Blanc de Blancs, Rosé or...

There will be an indication of the category of the producer (discussed elsewhere), shown by two initials, followed by the registration and code number. This is issued by the Comité Champagne.

A batch code, though this is often stamped on the bottle. Allergens, such as sulphites, though these are usually indicated on the reverse/back label.

There is scope for the inclusion of “the Green Dot symbol”, which references the collection of waste.

Finally, the House may wish to include other information in respect of the cepage (basically, percentage of each grape in the blend), the character of the wine and any

other promotional information it deems fit. As mentioned, Bruno Paillard include the disgorgement date.

THE PRODUCERS

If you look closely at a Champagne bottle, you’ll see an innocent little code – it is to be found on the label of every single bottle of Champagne sold. There will be two initials followed by numbers. The numbers, issued by the CIVC, are a code to the name and address of the licencee. It is possible that this ‘licencee’ may be an entirely separate entity to the brand on the label (not that any House wants you to know, or is likely to admit it, despite no illegality being involved, but there is a trade in unlabelled Champagne bottles, on occasion). For an example, Marne et Champagne is considered to be the second largest producer in the Champagne region, but good luck finding a bottle under that name.

The two initials denote the type of producer.

The CIVC figures indicate that there are approximately 16,000 growers and 320 Houses in Champagne. Those growers own around 90 per cent of all the vineyards in Champagne, but a quick exercise in maths will reveal how little, on average, they each own. Founded in 1904, the growers union is the ‘Le Syndicat Général des vignerons de la Champagne’ (SGV). It also represents co-operatives. The growth of grower Champagnes has been a phenomenon over the last decade or two. To promote their interests, a further organisation was formed in 2001 – the ‘Les Champagnes de Vignerons’. This entity represents 5,000 growers and grower co-operatives. The Houses represent approximately two-thirds of all Champagne produced and 90 per cent of exports.

Producers are divided up as follows –

N.M. (Négociant Manipulant): All of the larger Houses fall within this group. This is the group of Houses or shippers who buy grapes, grapes must or even wine in order to make Champagne on their own premises and subsequently market it in their own name. They also may own their own vineyards as well.

R.M. (Récoltant Manipulant): This refers to growers who grow their own grapes and then make and market their own Champagne. They are also permitted to sell grapes to others.

C.M. (Coopérative de Manipulation): A co-operative of growers who produce and market Champagne under their own brand or brands.

R.C. (Récoltant Co-opérateur): A co-operative member who sells a co-op produced Champagne under his own brand.

S.R. (Société Récoltantes): A family firm of growers, making and marketing Champagne under its own label, using grapes sourced from family vineyards.

N.D. (Négocant Distributeur): This refers to a distributor who buys in already made bottles of Champagne and then labels it on their own premises.

M.A. (Marque d’Acheteur): Buyer’s own brand. This is an “own brand” wine label which is owned by a third party, whether a supermarket, wine retailer, celebrity or other entity. The Champagne for this ‘label’ will be made for them. ❧