To blend a champagne to perfection demands a good nose and experience. When we drink the finished product, the bubbles play a significant part in the overall experience. They add freshness and a special sensation in the mouth. The winemakers are, of course, blending still wines, not sparkling wines. They can have hundreds of still wines to blend, from different grapes, villages and vintages. The challenge is to find the right balance.
Champagne without bubbles is, of course, not champagne, unless it’s old and has lost its bubbles due to old age. But it starts life as a still wine. In some cases, these still wines undergo ageing in tanks or oak barrels for six months or more before they are bottled for the second fermentation.
It is interesting to taste these still wines. And for the winemaker, it is imperative to be able to judge their quality and character.
This is a longer version of an article published on Forbes.com.
That this is not an easy task was well-illustrated by an unusual and extraordinary tasting at Champagne J de Telmont on one of our wine tours to the Champagne region.
Vins clairs
The champagne will go through a first alcoholic fermentation, just like any wine. You will obtain a still wine, called vin clair in Champagne. They usually have an alcohol level of between 10.5% and 11.5%. During the second fermentation in the bottle, the alcohol level will increase by a bit more than 1%. So, in the final Champagne, you will have 12-12.5% alcohol and a pressure of around 6 kilos.
In the past, the still wines were not always particularly pleasant to taste. They could be harsh and acidic. The bubbles and the dosage (sugar added at the end, after the ageing) were needed to make the wine enjoyable. Today, producers pick their grapes riper, and many still wines would be excellent wines in their own right. The acidity is still high, though, compared to most other wines, but it has decreased in the last 20 years.
In many Champagne cellars, the blending of the still wines will be done in late spring. It is a complex procedure. A producer’s non-vintage Brut often consists of wines from several vintages and a large number of villages around the Champagne region. A small grower, of course, has fewer choices than a big house.
But for all producers, it is crucial to find a balance between the grapes: crisp chardonnay, structured Pinot Noir and fruity Pinot Meunier. The different villages and the different locations give their character to the blend. The older vintages (called reserve wine) added to the blend give softness and complexity due to their age. A typical blend for a non-vintage brut would be 70% of the current vintage and 30% reserve wine.
At Champagne J. de Telmont in the village of Damery in the Vallée de la Marne, we have had several exciting tastings with still wines. When you taste the grape varieties separately, without bubbles, you can spot the differences between the three champagne grapes. It is harder to do that in a Champagne where everything is (should be) harmoniously blended.
Tasting still champagne
One of these tastings included two Chardonnay wines from different terroirs, one Pinot Noir and one Pinot Meunier.
The first chardonnay was from the southern part of Champagne, in Vitry-le-François. It is located 72 kilometres southeast of Epernay and is a not so well-known part of Champagne with 440 hectares of vines on south-facing slopes. Here, chardonnay reigns supreme. The wine was refreshing in a very typical chardonnay style of citrus, peaches, green apples, some almonds. The acidity was high, but the wine felt balanced and fresh.
The next chardonnay came from Damery, where the house is based, in the Vallée de la Marne. Pinot meunier largely dominates in Damery. It was delightful on the nose with lemon, white flowers, very clean with green apples, on the verge of being unripe, though, which gave the palate a bit of a shock.
The meunier we tasted also came from Damery. This wine was more full-bodied with raspberries, lemon confit and apricots on the nose. It was also very refreshing but balanced. Meunier is often very fruity and gives juiciness to the blend.
The pinot noir came from Côte des Bar, the southernmost part of Champagne, famous for its pinot noir grapes. The nose first reminded me of red wine with quite a lot of red berries, but there were also gooseberries and hazelnuts. It was a delicious wine, although the high acidity was a bit too much, tasting it on its own. But I think it would have been delicious with food.
The winemaker at Champagne J. de Telmont will have many more still wines to work with for the final blending. Tasting the wines like this, you realize that it is quite a delicate task. I have tasted their Champagne as well, and I can guarantee that the result is excellent.
When the winemaker is happy with the blend, he will add the liqueur de tirage, which consists of yeast and around 24 grams of sugar per litre. The wine is bottled, and then, after spending at least 15 months in the cellar, together with the dead yeast, the still wine will have been transformed into champagne. The high and refreshing acidity is still there, but with the bubbles and a few grams of sugar, the Champagne will taste just fine.
Coteaux Champenois
There is also a still wine in Champagne that is sold without any bubbles. Coteaux Champenois is an appellation for still wines, both red and white. These wines have a long tradition in Champagne. They are made in tiny quantities and far from all producers make them.
But the trend today shows an increased interest among producers to make Coteaux Champenois. One of the reasons is, of course, that they harvest riper grapes. Still, if you want to make a still wine, it often involves working the vineyard differently, maybe with another pruning method and definitely with lower yields. The villages of Bouzy, Ambonnay and Cumières are known for their red Coteaux Champenois.
Travel
Champagne is a fascinating wine, as well as region, with a lot of complexity. Come on a wine tour to Champagne to understand how it is made and to taste many extraordinary champagne – with BKWine.
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