"God only made water, but man made wine" Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

Champagne Quality

The quality of all Champagne is controlled by the "Echelle des Crus". This indicator shows the quality and purity of the grapes. By law champagne must have a minimum rating of 80. Most, if not all, of our suppliers achieve ratings of 95 and over.

Grand Cru and Premier Cru

There are 319 villages in the Champagne Region. Only 17 are classed Grand Cru and 43 as being Premier Cru.

We have a total of 5 suppliers of whom three are Grand Cru, one is Premier Cru and one is AOC.

The Grand Cru villages are all located in the Montagne de Reims, Cote des Blancs and Vallee de la Marne districts. The 17 villages are: Ambonnay, Avize, Ay, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Bouzy, Chouilly, Cramant, Louvois, Mailly-Champagne, Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry, Puisieutx, Sillery, Tours-sur-Marne, Verzenay and Verzy.

A Grand Cru has a 100% rating, while a Premier Cru has a rating from 90% to 99%. All other Crus are rated from 80% to 89% which is known as the AOC level.

Vintage, Non-Vintage and Rose

Non-Vintage (NV) - Is a blend of wines from many years. The vast majority of champagne is produced in this style. NV champagne is designed to taste the same year in year out.

Vintage - Made with the grapes from only one year and only in suitable years. Vintage champagne differs from year to year. Currently most of the big Houses produce vintages about 6 or 7 years out of 10. The French term for vintage champagne is "millesime".

Rose - The pink colour is produced either by adding red wine or by letting the grapes have longer than usual contact with the juice (the saignee method).

Other Terminology:

• Blanc de Blancs - Made from 100% Chardonnay (white) grapes.
• Blanc de Noirs - Made with only black grapes - Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier or a blend of the two.
• Prestige Cuvees - Special edition champagnes. Higher quality champagnes by way of the production process or the quality of grapes.

How is a vintage year determined?

Most vintages are not released until 5 years of age or later although legally the earliest they can be available is the fourth year after harvest. The decision to declare a vintage rests with each individual producer depending upon his own particular grapes.

Sweetness

The sweetness of champagne depends on the amount of sugar added at the end of the production process. Most champagne sold in the UK is Brut. There are six recognised degrees of sweetness:

• Extra Brut - no added sugar, bone dry
• Brut - very dry to dry
• Extra Dry - dry to medium dry
• Sec - slightly sweet
• Demi-sec - medium sweet to sweet
• Doux - very sweet, a dessert style champagne

How to serve

Always serve champagne in very good glassware, especially crystal glass. The winemaker's creation and its presentation is complimented in this way. All glassware without exception should be hand washed in lukewarm water. Be sure to remove ALL detergent residue as this will damage the wine and destroy the "bubbles" if not rinsed very thoroughly.