Champagne (beverage)

Champagne is a sparkling wine produced by inducing the secondary fermentation of wine. It is named after the Champagne region of France. While the term "champagne" is often used by makers of sparkling wine in other parts of the world, such as California and Canada, it should properly be used to refer only to the wines made in the region of Champagne, France. The community, under the auspices of the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne has developed a comprehensive set of rules and regulations for all wine that comes from the region. These rules are designed to ensure that the highest quality product is produced and include a codification of the most suitable places for grapes to grow, the most suitable types of grapes ? all Champagne is produced from one or a blend of three varieties of grapes: chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier ? and has identified a lengthy set of requirements that specify most aspects of viticulture. This includes vine pruning, the yield of the vineyard, the degree of pressing applied to the grapes, and the time that bottles must remain on the lees. Only if a wine meets all these requirements may the name Champagne be placed on the bottle. The rules that have been agreed upon by the CIVC are then presented to the INAO for final approval.

Champagne bottles

Champagne is mostly fermented in two sizes bottles, standard bottle (750 mL), and Magnum (1.5 L). In general, magnums are thought to be higher quality, as there is less oxygen in the bottle, and the volume to surface area favors the creation of appropriately-sized bubbles. However, there is no hard evidence for this view. Other bottle sizes, named for Biblical figures, are generally filled with Champagne that has been fermented in standard bottles or magnums.

Related Topics:
ML - L

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List of bottle sizes:

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• quarter bottle (aka. split or piccolo bottle) (187.5 or 200 ml)

:mainly used by airlines and nightclubs.

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• half-bottle (aka. Demi) (375 ml)

:used in restaurants

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• bottle (aka. Imperial) (750 ml)
• Magnum (1.5 L) (equivalent to 2 bottles)
• Jeroboam (3 L) (4 bottles)
• Rehoboam (4.5 L) (6 bottles)
• Methuselah (6 L) (8 bottles)
• Salmanazar (9 L) (12 bottles)
• Balthazar (12 L) (16 bottles)
• Nebuchadnezzar (15 L) (20 bottles)
• Melchior (18 L) (24 bottles)
• Solomon (25 L)
• Primat (27 L) (36 bottles)

Sizes larger than Jeroboam are rare. The same names are used for bottles containing wine and port; however, up to Methuselah they refer to different bottle volumes.

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On occasion unique sizes have been made for special occasions and people. The most notable example perhaps being the 20 fluid ounce/ 60cl. bottle (Imperial pint) made specially for Sir Winston Churchill by Pol Roger. This was served to Mr Churchill by his butler at 11am as he was getting up.

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Opening Champagne bottles

The deliberate spraying of Champagne has become an integral part of sports trophy presentations and locker room celebrations, though Champagne enthusiasts sometimes cringe at the waste. To reduce the risk of spilling Champagne and/or turning the cork into a projectile, open a Champagne bottle as follows:

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• Remove the foil;
• Place your hand over the cork;
• Loosen but don't remove the wire cage;
• Grasp the cork and the cage firmly with your hand, then rotate the bottle (rather than the cork) by holding it at the base; this should allow the cork to come out on its own accord.

The desired effect is to ease the cork out with a satisfying pop rather than to shoot the cork across the room or produce a fountain of foamy wine. Most wine connoisseurs insist that the ideal way to open a bottle of Champagne is to do it so carefully and gently that very little sound is emitted at all, just a sigh or a whisper.

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Sabrage

A sabre can be used to open a Champagne bottle with great ceremony. This technique is called sabrage. The sabre is slid along the body of the bottle toward the neck. The force of the blade hitting the lip separates the lip from the neck of the bottle. The cork and lip remain together after separating from the neck. Sabrage does not involve a slicing motion. To properly execute, one should:

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• Select a heavy sabre, with a rather short blade and broad back;
• Hold in one hand the sabre. Use the back and not the cut of the blade;
• Hold in the other hand the Champagne bottle on its lowest part, the wire cage loosened or removed;
• Touch and slide the blade alongside the bottle until it hits the swelling on the bottleneck. The jolt will break the bottle and its tip will fly away in a trajectory;
• Have part of the spray spill out in order to wash away potential glass splinters;

Using the sabre method is not particularly difficult, but some precautions are necessary:

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• The sabre is a weapon and might be dangerous;
• The tip of the bottle will fly away with force. Keep the forseen trajectory free of obstacles;
• Check fluid for glass splinters before drinking;

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Serving Champagne

Champagne is usually served in a champagne flute, whose characteristics include a long stem with a tall, narrow bowl and opening. The wider flat glass (cup) commonly associated with Champagne is no longer preferred by connoisseurs because it does not preserve the bubbles and aroma of the wine as well.

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But Champagne is better for tasting with a big red wine glass (i.e. a glass for bordeaux), as the aroma spreads better in the large area of the glass, but contrary to the cup, the aroma stays in the glass.

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Don't try to fill the glass: flutes shall be filled only 2/3 of the glass, and big red wine glasses not more than 1/3 of the glass.

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Champagne is always served cold, and is best at the temperature 7C° (43 to 48°F). Often the bottle is chilled in a bucket of ice and water before and after opening. Champagne buckets are made specifically for this purpose.

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