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Section 3 – The Wines of France

Overview of the Regions, Wines & Grapes of France

Champagne

Historical Overview

Champagne wines have illuminated our lives for centuries with their style andgrandeur. A holy wine until medieval times, the wine was blessed and drunkduring mass. The wines of Champagne were given a unique destiny when thepaths of geography and history crossed.It was Saint Rémi, bishop of Rheims, while living in a villa surrounded byvineyards near to the present town of Epérnay, who baptized Clovis, King of theFranks in Reims, when he converted. He was anointed with wine from theChampagne region one Christmas evening in 496. Several centuries later, themarriage of Jeanne de Navarre, heiress of Champagne, to the heir to the Frenchthrone, later Philip the Fair, linked the destiny of the Lords of Champagne to thecrown of France.Blessed by historyBetween 898 and 1825 the kings of France were crowned in Reims, at the heartof the Champagne region. At the accompanying festivities, Champagne flowedfreely. The wines were appreciated for their taste and finesse, and were tobecome the wines offered in homage to any visiting monarchs. Francis I receiveda few casks, as did Mary Stuart (later Mary Queen of Scots); while Louis XVI wasoffered several hundred pints for his coronation.

From the 12th century onwards, Champagne's reputation began to cross bordersand their prestige grew continuously. As they grew in notoriety and wereappreciated by the greats of this world, Champagne wines were the chosenwines for celebrations and major events.From Still to SparklingIn the beginning, the wines of Champagne were still, light and crisp. However, itwas only from the end of the 17th century that they became sparkling wines. Thismade them the uncontested Kings of the world's celebrations. The Champenois,already dedicated to the unstinting search for excellence, made two fundamentaladvances. First was thepressingof black grapes to produce white wine. Thisinspired idea enabled the Champenois to produce a white wine of great purityand shine, as well as prolonging the life of the wine by up to 3 to 4 years. A slowbut progressive pressing was needed, the general principles of which are still inuse today.The second great advancement was capturing the sparkle.

At the beginning, thenatural fermentation of the wines began in the autumn, slowing with the onset ofthe winter chill in the cellars. The wines retained a proportion of their sugar andas soon as the temperature began to rise with the arrival of spring, thefermentation started again. However, as the wines were kept in large barrels, theeffervescence escaped. Whenbottlesreplaced barrels, the wines natural sparkleremained imprisoned until they were opened. This is how Champagne winesfound their sparkle.

Wine Laws in Champagne

Vineyards have been planted in Champagne ever since the beginning of our era.Although its surface area has been reduced over time, its unique characteristicswere recognized very early on and the defense of its Appellations d’Origine(AOC) was the first to be accepted.TheAOCis administered by the Institut National des Appellations d’Origine. Aswell as the delimitation of the area, the Appellation carries 35 rules to uphold thequality of Champagne wines; only 3 grape varieties are permitted, yields in boththe vineyard and duringpressingare limited, the pruning of vines, their height,spacing and density, harvesting must be done by hand and minimumaging periods among other things are all controlled.

Regions & Grapes of Champagne

The main regions of Champagne are; the Mountain of Reims, where thevineyards snake along the slopes between the plateau and the valleys of theAndre and Vesle in the region’s national park; the Marne Valley, where theslopes flank the river on both sides, following its curves as it meanders from Aÿto beyond Château-Thierry in the Aisne; the Côtes des Blancs, where thevineyards follow the slopes that run from Epèrnay in the north down to the slopesaround the town of Sézanne; the Côtes des Bars and Montgueux, where the low

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