How Does A Champagne Taste Before The Bubbles Appear? Champagne J. De Telmont Shows Us

A Champagne with out bubbles is, after all, not a Champagne, except it’s previous and has misplaced its sparkle because of previous age. However through the first phases of its life, earlier than the second fermentation, a “Champagne” is a nonetheless wine. And these nonetheless wines are fascinating to style. In case you are liable for the mixing of the Champagne, you want to have the ability to decide the standard and character of those nonetheless wines.

The Champagne grape juice will undergo a primary alcoholic fermentation, similar to any wine. You then receive a nonetheless wine, known as vin clair in Champagne. Generally folks name them the bottom wines. They normally have an alcohol stage of between 10.5 and 11.5%. In the course of the second fermentation within the bottle, the alcohol stage will enhance by a bit a couple of share level. So, within the closing Champagne, you should have 12-12.5% alcohol, and a stress of round 6 atmospheres.

Up to now, the nonetheless wines weren’t at all times significantly nice to drink. They might be harsh and acidic. The bubbles and the dosage (sugar added on the finish, after the ageing on the lees within the bottle) have been wanted to make the wine pleasant. As we speak, producers decide their grapes riper, and lots of nonetheless wines could be wonderful wines in their very own proper. The acidity continues to be excessive, although, in comparison with most different wines, but it surely has decreased within the final 20 years.

In lots of Champagne cellars, the mixing of the nonetheless wines shall be achieved in late spring. It’s a advanced process. A producer’s non-vintage Brut, i.e. the “customary” champagne from a home, typically consists of wines from a number of vintages and numerous villages across the Champagne area. A small grower, after all, has fewer decisions than a giant home.

However for everybody, it’s essential to discover a stability between the grapes: crisp Chardonnay, structured Pinot Noir and fruity Pinot Meunier. The totally different villages and the totally different places give their character to the mix. The older vintages (typically known as “reserve” wine) which might be added to the mix give softness and complexity because of their age. A typical mix for a non-vintage brut could be 70% of the present classic and 30% reserve wine. Most homes additionally use the entire three fundamental grape varieties in the usual mix, chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier.

At Champagne J. de Telmont within the village of Damery within the Vallée de la Marne, we now have had a number of thrilling tastings with nonetheless wines when we now have visited them. They like to point out wine journey vacationers a little bit of what occurs behind the scene. If you style the grape varieties individually, with out bubbles, you possibly can spot the variations between the three Champagne grapes. It’s more durable to do this in a Champagne the place all the things is (ought to be) harmoniously blended.

Considered one of these tastings included two Chardonnay wines from totally different terroirs, one Pinot Noir and one Pinot Meunier.

The primary Chardonnay was from the southern a part of Champagne, within the commune of Vitry-François. It’s situated 45 miles southeast of Epernay and is a not very well-known a part of Champagne with 1100 acres of vines on south-facing slopes. Right here, Chardonnay reigns supreme. The wine was refreshing in a really typical chardonnay model of citrus, peaches, inexperienced apples, some almonds. The acidity was excessive, however the wine felt balanced and contemporary.

The following Chardonnay got here from Damery, the village the place the home relies, within the Vallée de la Marne, within the lovely Marne River Valley. Pinot Meunier dominates in Damery. This wine was pleasant on the nostril with lemon, white flowers, very clear with inexperienced apples, on the verge of being unripe, although, which gave the palate a little bit of a shock with the acidity.

The Pinot Meunier we tasted additionally got here from Damery. This wine was extra full-bodied with raspberries, lemon confit and apricots on the nostril. It was additionally very refreshing however balanced. The Meunier is usually very fruity and provides juiciness to the mix.

The Pinot Noir got here from the area of Côte des Bar, the southernmost a part of Champagne, fairly near Burgundy and well-known for its Pinot Noir grapes. The nostril first jogged my memory of pink wine with various pink berries. Not shocking, given pinot noir is a pink grape though this wine was, after all, white. However there have been additionally gooseberries and hazelnuts. It was a scrumptious wine, though the excessive acidity was a bit an excessive amount of, tasting it by itself. However I believe it might have been scrumptious with meals.

The winemaker at Champagne J. de Telmont may have many extra nonetheless wines to work with for the ultimate mixing than the tree that we tasted on our most up-to-date go to. Tasting the wines like this, you notice that it’s fairly a fragile process. I’ve, after all, tasted their completed Champagne as properly, a go to at all times finishes with that, and I can assure that the result’s wonderful.

After which, as a closing step earlier than the bottling, the winemaker provides the liqueur de tirage, which is yeast and round 24 grams of sugar per litre. This will get the second fermentation in bottle going. After spending at the least 15 months within the cellar, with the useless yeast within the bottle, the nonetheless wine may have been remodeled right into a Champagne with bubbles. The excessive and refreshing acidity continues to be there, however with the bubbles and some grams of sugar, the Champagne will style simply superb.

—Britt Karlsson