Champagne has a distinct amber-like appearance, sometimes composing of white, yellow, orange or pink tones. The colour of each wine is derived from the blend of different grapes used to make it. This is commonly a mix of two grape varieties, pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, and one white variety, chardonnay.
What are the different styles of Champagne?
When choosing Champagne, it’s important to understand that as well as varying sweetness, there are also different styles of wine. Champagne styles can be classified under various categories, including:
- Blanc de Blancs Champagne: Usually a much lighter style, this “white from white” Champagne is a white wine made from white chardonnay grapes.
- Blanc de Noir Champagne: Literally translated as “white from black,” this variety of white wine is made from black pinot noir or Pinot Meunier grapes.
- Rosé Champagne: Rosé is most commonly made by blending red and white wines together. The grape juice is marinated with the red grape skins to give rosé its signature pink colour.
- Organic Champagne: Wines produced only with organic ingredients and without the use of chemical pesticides, fertilisers, or genetically modified organisms.
- Vegan Champagne: Champagne produced using vegan-friendly methods. Read our vegan Champagne guide to learn more about this type of Champagne.
As well as style classifications, Champagne can also be split into different types:
- Vintage Champagne: Vintage Champagnes are made from a single harvest and are generally only produced in the most exceptional years.
- Non-Vintage Champagne: Most Champagne is a blend of different vintage wines, used to create consistency of flavour year on year. Non-vintage wines use a base wine and add a mixture of other vintages.
- Multi Vintage Champagne blending: similar to non-vintage wine, multi-vintage Champagne uses a blend of different vintages but with less base wine.
What is the difference between Champagne and sparkling wine?
Champagne is often used as a catch-all for sparkling wine, but wines produced outside of the Champagne region can’t legally be called Champagne. There are many varieties of sparkling wine in other areas of France and across the world: French Crémant, Italian prosecco, Spanish cava, and sparkling wine from the United States.
American sparkling wines are often made using traditional methods with traditional Champagne grapes (chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot Meunier), but critically aren’t produced in Champagne.
What is the difference between prosecco and Champagne? Prosecco, produced from prosecco or glera grapes, hails from the Veneto region in Northeast Italy. Rather than secondary fermentation occurring in individual bottles – à la Champagne – it occurs in pressurised tanks, making prosecco easier and cheaper to produce.
Cava is made from a blend of macabeo, xarello and parellada grapes, originating in Spain’s Northeast region. Cava is typically made using traditional Champagne methods, and like Champagne, comes in different sweetness levels from dry to sweet.
How is Champagne made?
Making Champagne is a time-consuming, complex, and highly regulated process. Due to the soil composition and specific vineyard conditions, the wine can only be made in the Champagne region.
The specifications for making Champagne are incredibly strict and follow the traditional method, or méthode champenoise, as follows:
Primary fermentation
Only three main grape varieties are used in Champagne production: chardonnay, pinot noir and Pinot Meunier. The expert blend of these Champagne grape varieties gives the drink its unique, traditional taste. During the primary fermentation, the grape juice is placed in a tank and fermented dry.
Assemblage
Assemblage is where the intricate art of blending happens. Wines from different grape varieties, vintages and vineyards are combined and bottled. For Champagne producers, this is the critical step in producing a consistent house style each year.
Liqueur de tirage
The liqueur de triage is a mixture of cane sugar and yeast added to the wine in measured quantities. The wine and sugar-yeast mixture is bottled in thick long-necked glass bottles and placed in a cool cellar for secondary fermentation.
Secondary fermentation
Secondary fermentation occurs gradually over 1-3 weeks, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide within the bottle. As the carbon dioxide dissolves in the wine, it creates Champagne’s signature bubbles and sparkling texture.
The bottles are laid sideways to mature and rotated periodically (known as “riddling”) to loosen leftover sediment and move it towards the bottle cap ready for disgorging. French law dictates this process must last between three weeks and 15 months for non-vintage Champagne and at least 36 months for vintage.
Disgorging
The yeast residue that settles in the bottleneck is removed through a process of flash freezing. Once the residue is frozen solid, the bottle cap is opened, and the carbon dioxide pops the frozen residue out of the bottle. The bottle is then topped-up with a small portion of Champagne and sugar known as the Liqueur d’Expedition.
Special Champagnes that have an extended period of ageing prior to disgorgement are labelled R.D. Champagne and are known for their freshness and vitality.
Sealing and Corking
The Champagne is corked and sealed for protection with a wire cage and rested for an additional few months before it is finally ready to be sold.
The Champagne bottle
Champagne bottles are typically made of round green glass, much thicker than wine bottles. The thicker glass prevents the bottle from shattering during the second fermentation and keeps the all-important Champagne bubbles intact.
Champagne comes in a variety of bottle sizes, some more functional and others more extravagant statement pieces.
- Champagne Quarter Bottle: This 20cl mini bottle of Champagne holds two glasses and is ideal as a small gift.
- Champagne Half Bottle: A 37.5cl half bottle of Champagne serves four and is perfect for sharing a glass or two.
- Champagne Standard Bottle: Standard bottles contain 75cl and provide six to eight glasses of Champagne.
- Champagne Magnum: Often touted by wine experts to be superior to a standard-sized bottle for maturing wine, a magnum holds 1.5L and serves around 12 people.
- Champagne Jeroboam: A Jeroboam, named after two kings of Israel, is popular for weddings and big events. The 3L bottle, equivalent to four standard bottles, serves approximately 24 people.
- Champagne Methuselah: Methuselahs, named after the biblical ancestor of Noah, hold 6L of Champagne and serve around 48 people.
- Champagne Salmanazar: A Salmanazar, taking its name from Assyrian kings, is an impressive 9L bottle, containing enough Champagne for 72 people.
- Champagne Balthazar: In reference to the Balthazar king of Babylon, this bottle holds 12L of Champagne and serves around 96 people.
- Champagne Nebuchadnezzar: at a breath-taking 15L, the Nebuchadnezzar, named after the King of the Chaldeans, is a true statement piece. Equivalent to 20 standard bottles, it serves 120 people and will need two people to pour!
The Champagne cork
The classic Champagne cork is typically made from the bark of Quercus suber, or cork oak trees, which grow predominantly in the Montado forests of Portugal.
A typical cork that is used to seal Champagne bottles has a diameter of 31mm but is compressed to 18mm to fit the bottleneck. As the cork naturally expands, it creates a tight seal around the bottleneck, keeping constant pressure and preventing gas from escaping. Corks are cylindrical when inserted, but due to compression, develop the iconic mushroom shape over time.
The Champagne bottle cap or muselet
The muselet, translated as “muzzle,” is the wire cage that secures the Champagne cork, keeping the bottle securely sealed and making it safer to open. Rumoured to be the creation of French inventor, Adolphe Jacquesson, the small wire muzzle was designed to replace the less reliable wooden plugs sealed with oilcloth and wax.
There are three parts to a muselet: a lower ring made of soft galvanised wire, the cage itself, and the circular cap. Champagne brands often emboss the circular cap with colourful and beautifully designed house plaques. These unique and ornate designs make Champagne muselets somewhat of a collector’s item, and plaque-enthusiasts, known as placomusophiles, enjoy collecting them.