Champagne wine

(Re)discover Champagne in its natural version!

The famous Champagne vineyard lies mainly in the Marne department, and partly in the Aube, Haute-Marne, Aisne and Seine-et-Marne. We can clearly identify 4 sub-regions where the terroir, and therefore the grape varieties, differ: the Côte des Blancs, the Côte des Bar, the Montagne de Reims and the Vallée de la Marne. The main grape varieties are Chardonnay (Côte des Blancs), Pinot Noir (Côte des Bar, Montagne de Reims) and Pinot Meunier (Vallée de la Marne). Mainly on clay-limestone soils, the Champagne vineyard produces white or rosé sparkling wines using the traditional method, and still wines called Coteaux Champenois. The Champagne method, known as the traditional method, consists, once the base wine has been made, of a second fermentation in the bottle using yeast, sugars and old wines, called the liqueur de tirage or prise de mousse. This is followed by ageing on lees in stacked bottles for at least 15 months for non-vintage wines and 3 years for vintage wines. Finally, the wine is disgorged to expel the deposit from the bottle. A liqueur d'expédition, or dosage, of more or less sweet wine is then added, which determines the final dosage (brut nature below 3 grams of sugar, extra brut, brut, extra dry, sec, demi-sec, doux above 50 grams).