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Champagne is a favorite drink of many. All holidays and important events are associated with this sparkling wine. It is drunk at home dinners and royal receptions. Like everything in our world, champagne has a long history behind it, and that’s where it comes from.
How did champagne come about?
Champagne – one of the few regions that belonged to the royal crown during feudal times.
The region is located in the very north of France, the summers were cold, the winters were harsh – however, this did not interfere with viticulture here.
The case was not as successful as in the warmer regions of the country – during the frosts, the grapes were doused with water so that they would not suffer from frost, and in the cold spring and summer they were heated with the help of special furnaces, grown in warm rooms. H
Despite this, Champagne wines were popular, especially with the imperial court.
Over time, wine drinks produced here began to lose their ability to compete with other wines, and then champagne came to the rescue.
The recipe for the champagne that we can now buy in the store was formed and brought to the ideal not a little – in the XNUMXnd century. Champagne made a huge splash among the aristocracy of France, England and, of course, the Russian Empire.
At the moment, champagne is produced in two stages: first there is the preparation of the wine base, and then the so-called champagne – the process of turning ordinary wine into sparkling.
The wine base for champagne is made in four stages – first, juice is squeezed out of grapes, then it is sent for primary fermentation.
After that, sugar and yeast, the producers of ethyl alcohol, are added to the resulting liquid. Such a base is called a circulation liqueur.
Champagne in each country has its own production technique.
Champagne production in France
The birthplace of champagne uses, to this day, the traditional method – on the labels of French wine, you can easily find the inscription “méthode classique” – the classic method, this method is also called champagne.
The wine obtained after fermentation is bottled, corked and kept for a minimum of 9 months, in Champagne – at least 12.
During aging, sediment appears in the bottles, the bottles are in a horizontal position.
Then they carry out remuage and disgorgement – the gradual turning of the bottles into a vertical position with the cork down and the removal of sediment, respectively.
Wine and sugar are added to the drink cleared of sediment.
The resulting sparkling wine is bottled and sent for aging. Further – sale and export.
The manufacturer is jealous of the name of their drink, and only wines produced in the Champagne region, France can bear the proud name of champagne. Everything else is sparkling wine.
For example, in Italy, champagne is called cava or asti, and in other wine-growing regions of France, cremant.
The Secret of Italian Champagne
In Italy, wine is most often produced using the Charmat method, or the transfer method, which is somewhat simpler in its structure than the classic method of producing champagne.
The wine base is immersed in a tank where secondary fermentation takes place, the tank is closed at this time.
After the appearance of sediment (ripening of champagne), a duct is opened from the bottom side of the tank, through which the sediment is removed.
Dozazh – adding wine and sugar to a purified drink.
Bottling, maturation before sale.
Italian wines have a unique taste and high quality, although the technique of their production is much simpler than the original.
Soviet champagne – Russian sparkling wine
In Russia, champagne is produced by a reservoir, or continuous method. This technique is also simplified compared to the original: the wine is produced in large tanks interconnected, where all stages of production take place – from fermentation to bottling.
For secondary fermentation, the wine base is immersed in a pressurized tank.
From the tank with the wine base, the secondary fermented wine is sent to the first container with sugar and yeast.
Fermented wine, aged by time, is sent to the second and third tanks, where it settles.
The purified wine matures in the fourth and fifth tanks, and then bottled.
The production of Soviet champagne looks like a conveyor belt – fermentation never stops, tanks are constantly filled – so Soviet champagne has its own “special taste” and is significantly different from all other foreign-made sparkling wines.
Finally – a little advice on how to properly open any champagne in order to preserve its unique taste and aroma. The bottle must be held at an angle of 45 degrees, if you open it vertically, a sharp pressure drop can knock out the cork and the wine will foam. When opening the cork, you do not need to twist and swing it – just scroll the bottle while holding the cork.
Relevance: 18.07.2018
Tags: wine and vermouth