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This time we address the fascinating terroir, land, climate, and history of Champagne. This is the less-told story of the region, not the one about how the wine is made or the different types you can buy. We hope to show Champagne in a different light.

*NOTE: We don't discuss the still wine areas of Champagne, Coteaux Champenois and Ros\xe9 de Riceys because they are made\xa0such limited quantities and are very hard to find.\xa0

What is Champagne?

• Sparkling wine exclusively produced from grapes grown, harvested and made into wine within the Champagne delimited region, in France.

Location, climate, terroir

• Northern location \u2013 Reims at 49.5 and Epernay around 49\u02daN (US\u2014Canada border)
• LANDSCAPE:Sloping vineyards good for drainage and intensity of sun exposure
• \xa0CLIMATE:
  • Cool: average temps of 66\u02daF/18\u02daC during growing season \u2013 grapes can\u2019t fully ripen (acidic, lower sugar good for Champagne making)
  • Wet, frost risk, low sunlight hours
• SOIL: Limestone subsoil \u2013 mainly chalk, marl, limestone
• GRAPES:\xa0Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier
  • Pinot Noir: palate weight and dark berry aromas.
  • Pinot Meunier: acidity, fruitiness. less susceptible to rot
  • Chardonnay - creamy roundness, floral\xa0aromas
  • Also permitted, rarely used: Pinot blanc, Pinot Gris, Petit Meslier, Arbane
• LOCATION/SUB AREAS:
  • 84,000 acres/34,000 ha of vineyard
  • 150 KM/95 miles east of Paris
  • 320 villages, five main growing areas:
    • Cote des Blancs\u2013\xa0and particularly the Cote de Sezanne\xa0\u2013\xa0are where the finest Chardonnay sites are found, outcrop of chalk.
    • Montagne de Reims (chalk) and the Vallee de la Marne (Marl, sand or clay) are ideally suited to Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
    • Aube: Pinot Meunier

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History

• Egyptians and Romans and the hatred of bubbles
• Champagne's rise to fame: 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France at the cathedral Reims. Association of the region with royalty
• Quality of the wine in the Middle Ages: light red, pale pink or grey, and attempt to use elderberry to darken them
• Dom Perignon and his REAL contribution to Champagne (hint: he neither liked bubbles nor any other grape apart from Pinot Noir), AKA -- why he rolls over in his grave whenever anyone pops open a bottle of Dom...
• How the English invented modern Champagne in the mid 1600s.
• The business of Champagne as it rose in the 1800s, including the story of the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars
• The contributions of Veuve Clicquot\u2014Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin with riddling and dosage (sweetness)
• The Champagne Riots
• World Wars

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Interesting Champagne Facts

• Chilling Champagne in the freezer will dumb down the aromas. Chill in an ice bath for 15-20 minutes or refrigerate 3-4 hours before serving
• Younger wine is better colder (8\u02da C/46\u02daF). Older wine is better a little warmer (10\u02daC /50\u02daF)
• The shape and condition of the cork indicates how long the wine has spent in the bottle.
  • Trapezoid shape:\xa0young, newly bottled and the cork is still elastic.
  • Tapers at the bottom: cork has been in there longer, older wine.
• Bubbles: Fizz dies with time