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It is not always easy to choose a brand of Champagne. The important thing to consider is not so much the opinions of experts, but rather to find the aromas and flavours that match your own desires and taste. It is your palate and your experience that should be your only guide in this quest for pleasure. Having said that, there are several factors concerning the production of a great Brand of Champagne that could help you in your choice.
If we can talk about different "Champagnes", it is because each wine is made from different grapes. The growths comprising the geographical location of the Champagne appellation each have specific characteristics:
- La côte des Blancs is the place where white grapes, known as ‘Chardonnay’ are cultivated. Often qualified as the grape-variety of finesse, Chardonnay brings to Champagne a floral perfume, sometimes even a mineral feel, liveliness and freshness. It provides a good acidity in the mouth and then expresses all of its fullness.
- La montagne de Reims et la côte des Bar provide black grape-varieties with white juice, called ‘Pinot Noir’. This grape-variety gives the wine red fruit aromas adding body and strength. It ensures a certain length in the mouth.
- La vallée de la Marne essentially grows black grape-varieties with white juice, known as ‘Meunier’. This grape is characterised by its suppleness and offers the wine both roundness and bouquet.
Following secular tradition, each House at harvest chooses the growth and grape-varieties to be blended. Each grape-variety is vinified separately in accordance with strict rules.
The Champagne wine-lover will base his choice of brand on the specific characteristics of the grapes selected. Once you have taken the time to choose your brand and taste, you can have confidence in the consistency of your favoured taste as branded Champagne is the result of a subtle and constant blending undertaken each and every year.
Each House can be distinguished not only by the quality of its grape supplies but also by the team of associates who, in cellars, offices and indeed throughout the world, work together to promote its fame and maintain its traditions.
The blending of Champagne or how to remain faithful to your taste…
During spring, the wines from each origin are analysed and tasted in order to determine their respective characteristics. An orchestra's conductor balances the high and low pitches, the pauses and the re-entries to create a coherent and harmonious choir. In the same way, the cellar master and his oenologists blend different wines from different growths, grape-varieties and years in order to retain, year after year, the taste that helped give their House its reputation. The cellar master can be seen as the guardian of the consistency of a brand's taste.
In this way, the cuvée of each Champagne House possesses and maintains a specific taste over the years. So when you have found the brand that meets your expectations and desires, do not hesitate to stay faithful to it, because each bottle of the same brand will guarantee you a revival of that same pleasure. A definite and trustworthy sensation experienced too rarely to deprive oneself!
The fame (frequently world wide) of a Champagne brand can equally support you in your choice. Indeed, this fame is the result of the meticulous application of the traditional rules by each House in the production of Champagne.
If it is famous, it is usually because the consistency in its taste has been recognised and appreciated throughout time and space. A great brand, with a world wide commercial network is effectively the guarantee of faultless distribution and storage throughout the whole world.
Some like Mozart, others prefer Beethoven, some opt for Matisse, others for Kandinsky…Each to his own tastes, desires, wishes…Each to his own Champagne... In this quest for pleasure, only listen to yourself, and you will be surprised at how quickly you can play the expert, choosing your Champagnes according to your mood, the circumstances and finding a taste that provides complete satisfaction.
Happy tasting, enjoy choosing and, as the abuse of alcohol is dangerous for your health, select quality over quantity.
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