What's Going On in the World of French Wines

The summer in between my junior and senior years of college, I spent several weeks in Belgium on an art history study abroad program. It just so happened, that while I was there, my aunt and uncle and their two little boys were visiting France on vacation. Since train travel is so easy in Europe, one weekend I headed down to Rheims (Reims in French), a major city in the Champagne region.

Cindy and Jon, my aunt and uncle, are passionate travelers and so we spent the day exploring the beautiful city of Rheims. We toured the fantastic Notre-Dame de Reims (the Cathedral of Rheims), which was built in the 13th century and was the site of many coronations, including that of Charles VII (which was attended by Joan of Arc herself). And, of course, since Rheims is considered the “capital” of Champagne, we decided our visit to the city would not be complete without a stop at a Champagne producer.

Unfortunately for us, it turned out that only a few houses were open for visitors that day. Not knowing much about Champagne at the time, we randomly selected Pommery from Jon’s guidebook. When we got there, though, we learned that all of the English tours for the day had finished, so we decided to join the last tour, which was in French. While this did lead to some amusing moments as we creatively tried to interpret what the guide was saying, the tour was still an amazing experience. One of the most notable features of the Pommery winery is that they age their Champagne in massive underground cellars that are only accessible via a large 116 step staircase. So most of our tour actually took place underground. While I didn’t understand most of what was said about the process of making Champagne that day, I definitely left Pommery that day with a desire to learn more about what makes Champagne so special.

So, in the years since, what have I discovered about Champagne? Well, there are several factors that help to make this region so unique.

The first is that only wines that come from this strictly-defined region and are made using the traditional method or “méthode champenoise” can be called Champagne. In other words, all Champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is Champagne! (Although it is worth noting that there are some still wines produced in the region.) Sparkling wines (wines with carbonation or CO2 in them) are produced around the world – but only those from the Champagne region of France can be labeled as Champagne. You can’t even sell a perfume called Champagne (someone tried years ago to do just that), as it doesn’t meet the legal definition of what is Champagne!

The Champagne region is one of the coolest grape-growing areas in France and this plays an important role in influencing the style and taste of the wine. The cold weather is one of the reasons that there can be so much vintage variation in Champagne – in cooler years the grapes might have some trouble achieving full ripeness. So, in order to create a consistent house style, most Champagnes are made by blending wines of different vintages together.

Another unique quality of Champagne is that it is a blend in more ways than just of vintages. There are three major grape varieties grown in Champagne: Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay. The blend of these three grapes (one white – Chardonnay, and two red – Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) helps to create the elegant, rich, sometimes austere, aromatic wine that is Champagne. The chalky soil, which drains well and is known to be a great soil for growing high-quality Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, is yet another important factor in Champagne.

You might be asking how it is possible for Champagne to be a blend of two red and 1 white grapes given that most Champagne that we see on the market would be categorized as a white wine. The process by which Champagne is made, which is central to understanding the style and quality of the region, is the key to how this can be achieved.