Lovers of the finer things in life are some of the most dedicated consumers of fine foods and wines including artisan made meals and desserts, and fine vintage wines. Though there are hundreds of different kinds of wine that would fall into the ‘fine wine’ category, there is only one kind that is universally loved and respected, with a reputation for being the ultimate luxury: Champagne.
Nothing screams luxurious celebration like this complex, sparkling wine and while it is enjoyed by millions of people all over the world, many are ignorant of its origins and don’t understand exactly what makes this type of wine so special. There is no one thing about champers that makes it stand out, rather there are many things that go together to create this unique drinking experience.
The first thing you need to know about this specific type of bubbly is that, in order to be labelled as such, it needs to have been made in the Champagne region of France. This type of certification is called Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC), which protects the highly skilled French wine makers and helps to prevent cheap fakes from entering the market.
This basically means that the only place that is allowed to make a sparkling wine and to call it a champagne, it absolutely must be produced from vine to bottle in the Champagne region. Less than 100 miles east of Paris, this region has warm summers and cold winters, and grapes are harvested in the autumn. It is a tourist destination as well as a wine producing area, and is known for its wildflower displays that bloom all summer long.
The difference between real champers and sparkling wines
There is a key difference between real champers and other kinds of sparkling wine aside from the place they are produced in. if you have ever sampled a bottle of the real stuff, you’ll know it has a completely unique mouthfeel. The texture of champer as it hits your tongue is bright and sparkling, more so than other sparkling wines, and this is because it contains a higher level of dissolved carbon dioxide which causes a taste and texture sensation upon drinking.
Unlike still wines, it is fermented for a second time within the bottle in a process called Méthod Champenoise, or simply the ‘traditional method’ when referring to wines that are not champagne but still undergo this second fermentation process. This process has largely been unchanged for centuries, though modern methods are used to make the process more precise.
A note on the expense
One thing that most people will notice that sets champagnes apart from other sparkling wines is the cost. A good vintage can set you back over 100 HKD whereas lesser sparkling wines tend to be much more affordably priced. There is one very good reason for this: the scarcity and subsequent cost of the grapes. Thanks to the wine region’s northern location, vineyards can be exposed to frosty conditions that damage the grapes. As such, many of them are lost each season which contributes to their relative scarcity.
A second reason for the higher price tags of this type of sparkling wine is the fact that the process of using an initial ferment and a second ferment in the bottle takes hundreds of hours to carry out and years for the wine to reach proper maturity in the bottle. Making beautiful champagnes is a labour of love and it is only fair that the makers of these fine vintages and blends are properly compensated for all the intensive, hard work they do.
Correctly opening your bottle
Unlike at the end of the F1 Grand Prix and other sporting events, not a drop of champagne should be spilled upon opening the bottle. The cork needs to be loosened because it is very firmly in the neck to keep all those lovely bubbles in until it’s ready to be opened. You must do this carefully and avoid losing control of the cork. It can be tempting to let the cork fly with panache, but this can actually be quite dangerous because they can come free from the bottle at close to 30 mph.