Regarding champagne, many people imagine it is very sweet and romantic, but when they finally drink champagne, they often frown, so how to choose a bottle of champagne that suits you?
1. Why is champagne so expensive?
Champagne is a kind of sparkling wine. According to the protection system of French Champagne origin, only the sparkling wine brewed from designated grape varieties in the Champagne producing area of France according to the designated production methods and processes can be called Champagne.
The Champagne region is located northeast of Paris and is the northernmost vineyard in France. The land here is very barren, coupled with the severe cold and frost climate, it is difficult to grow common grape varieties, basically only seven kinds of grapes including Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier can grow. Survive here.
Therefore, champagne is expensive, the first reason is the production limit.
So why grow grapes in such a place?
Because of the unique soil in the Champagne region, the grapes that can survive here can maintain stronger acidity and more delicate fragrance.
In addition, most Champagne wineries generally only use Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier in a certain proportion to make wine, plus extremely cumbersome traditional steps.
Therefore, champagne is expensive, but also from its harsh brewing conditions and craftsmanship.
2. Is champagne sweet?
The sweetness of Champagne is different from that of still wine, because the winemaker will “rehydrate” Champagne during the second fermentation. Refers to the addition of sweet liquor (a mixture of syrup and wine) to Champagne to balance and neutralize the extremely high acidity of Champagne.
Taking the sugar content as the standard, Champagne will mark the sweetness on the bottle, and the residual sugar content is divided into seven grades, arranged from dry to sweet:
Brut Nature: natural dry type, relatively rare, basically without any sweetness
Extra Brut: extra dry, sour taste
Brut: dry type, most common, moderate taste
Extra Sec: Slightly sweet type, more common
Sec: Medium-sweet type, can already taste the obvious sweetness
Demi-Sec: sweet type, suitable for dating
Doux: very sweet, can replace dessert
3. Teach you to read the wine label
The basic information of each bottle of wine, including the sweetness mentioned just now, as well as the main grape varieties, year, production area, etc., can all be found on the wine label:
When you see “NV” on a bottle, or no number at all, it’s a blend of several different vintages of Champagne.
This is the usual practice of champagne wine merchants, in order to ensure the stability of their own taste, otherwise they will smash the signboard.
In fact, doing so is somewhat helpless. The climate of Champagne is variable, some years will be bleak, some years will be very good – so when you see a clear label such as “2004″ on the label of Champagne, congratulations, you have met a bottle that is not much vintage champagne.
So, is old champagne necessarily better than young champagne?
The answer varies from person to person. Generally speaking, the yeasty smell of old champagne will be heavier, it probably feels like a taste of bread, and then the taste of champagne; non-vintage champagne, especially young champagne, will have richer fruity and floral aromas, simple It means “lighter”.
To put it simply, you can use old champagne to deal with boys, and young champagne to deal with girls.
4. Champagne Flavor
Champagne is usually a blend of three grapes, and their proportions determine the style of the champagne. There are three common ones:
1. Blanc de Blancs
This style of Champagne is made with 100% Chardonnay white grapes, although there are also a few Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio and Albany.
Blanc de Blancs has typical lemon and apple-like fruit flavors, which develop richer buttery notes as it ages in the bottle.
This style of champagne is also available in both vintage and non-vintage Blanc de Blancs.
2. Black in White (Blanc de Noirs)
This style of Champagne is made from 100% red grapes, namely Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
Noir Noir Blanc usually has flavors of strawberry and white raspberry, with a more pronounced structure. Likewise, it has both vintage and non-vintage Noir Blanc.
3. Rose
It is the rosé champagne full of girlish hearts. It must be a blend of three kinds of grapes. According to the proportion, you can get different tastes. It can be a bit bitter, or it can be too sweet to be greasy. After drinking it, you can imagine yourself being kissed by Oppa.
Post time: May-26-2023