While the label decorates the bottle, it also informs the customer about the origin of the wine. Strict regulations on this subject oblige the professional to mark the identity of the wine’s producer on the label. It must be both an aesthetic covering and a source of information legitimising the Champagne appellation.

Appendix : Over the centuries, aesthetic concerns are winning...

      The first Champagne Houses placed a wax seal on the bottle to cover the wire cage and the cork. This had a number, a letter or an effigy unique to the product. The colour of the wax chosen also characterised the quality of the wine. Around 1820, they started to offer their clients hand-written labels for special orders. With the progress made in printing and lithography, the Champagne label rapidly became an artistic object offering an array of calligraphies and motifs, and then came research on the colours (bronze, gold, black and garnet) and emphasising the play on words ("crème de...", "fleur de...", "cuvée réservée", "cuvée extra-supérieur"...)

      Beyond this aesthetic aspect, the informative role remained central. With the first labels, the Champagne negociants began the custom of including three references, which at the time were not even compulsory:

      * the origin of the wine (growth or commune of the grape production);
      * the name of the producer;
      * the name of the commune where the producer is located.

     In 1834, a new term was spontaneously added to the label: the year of the harvest from which the wine was exclusively developed. This was the birth of the notion of a vintage Champagne.

Since 1979, in order to comply with European Community regulations, the label on a Champagne bottle must include the following nine references:

     * the term "Champagne", without the expression "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée", as by definition all wine from Champagne has a controlled appellation of origin;
     * the brand or original name of each House;
     * the content of residual sugar, indicating the type of wine: extra-brut, brut nature, brut, extra-dry, sec, demi-sec, doux, etc.;
     * the nominal volume written in centilitres, but more frequently in millilitres: 37.5 cl or 350 ml, 75 cl or 750 ml, etc.;
     * the definitive concentration of alcohol is always expressed as a percentage, varying between 10° vol. and 13° vol. maximum;
     * the surname and name of the producer or the corporate name, either fully written or as a code, preceded by the expression "élaboré par..." (produced by…) or "élaborateur..." (producer…);
     * the production commune (the area in which the producer works). This reference must appear either after his name or the corporate name. When the name of the producer is written as a code, the name of the commune is also coded;
     * the country of origin "France";
     * the professional registration number attributed by the "Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne" to each producer, for each brand used. This registration number comprises a chain of tiny numbers preceded by two initials indicating the status of the person producing and marketing the wine. There are seven different types of initials:

- NM : négociant-manipulant (A House which make and sells Champagne)
      Out of a total of at least two hundred "négociants-manipulants", the majority are established in the two leading towns of Champagne: Reims and Épernay, or in their immediate vicinity at the heart of the vineyards. The negociant can be an individual person or a company known as a Champagne House where it carries out this activity to the exclusion of all others. Whether or not it owns vines, it purchases most of the grapes necessary for the production of its wines.

- RM : récoltant-manipulant (a grower who produces and sells his own Champagne)
      There are currently over two thousand, which represents a third of all Champagne producers. These vine-growers only vinify, make and market Champagne from their own grapes. On top of this, they only blend wines from their own vines.

- RC : récoltant-coopérateur (a grower whose wine is produced by a co-operative)
      There are roughly three thousand "récoltant-coopérateurs", representing half of the Champagne producers. The vine-grower, a member of a vinifying co-operative, re-covers his own bottles after production in the co-operative, which is an extension of his domain.

- SR : société de récoltants (a registered firm of growers)
      This is a union of vine-growers, often from the same family, who unite their efforts to vinify and market their production. This association can use the help of a co-operative, which will undertake some of the required services.

- CM : coopérative de manipulation (a vinifying co-operative)
      Out of just over one hundred co-operatives, only half actually market the wine. The co-operative belongs to a group of vine-growers who produce the wine, which can be marketed by it under a variety of labels or re-covered by its vine-growing members.

- MA : "marque auxiliaire" (auxiliary brand), "marque d'acheteur" (buyer's own brand) or "marque autorisée" (authorised brand)
      These cases consist of a brand registered by either a person or a company such as a restaurant owner, a wine-shop owner, a chain of shops, etc., who wish to personalise a product for a particular sector of the market. Such a wine may originate from a "récoltant-manipulant", a "négociant-manipulant" or a "coopérative de manipulation".

- ND : négociant-distributeur. (a negociant selling wine under his own name without making it)
      This consists of an individual person or a legal entity (wine merchant) who buys wines in finished bottles. He adds his own label in his workshop.

 Other optional terms, if they are true, can also appear on the label. Examples include:

      * the indication of the year (or vintage), which is decided by the producer when the quality of the year permits and when the blend contains wine only from this particular year;
      * "blanc de blancs", for a blend exclusively made from the only white grape-variety (Chardonnay);
      * "blanc de noirs", for a blend produced uniquely from the black grape-varieties (Pinot Noir and Meunier);
      * "grand cru", for a blend coming exclusively from vineyards with a 100% rating in the scale of growths ("échelle des crus");
      * "premier cru" for a blend uniquely composed of growths with a rating between 90 and 99% in the scale of growths;
      * the name of the commune if all the wines in the blend originate from the same commune;
      * the origin of some very rare blends comes from independent domains. Only some parcels, exceptional both for their "terroir" and exposure, are likely to produce wines sufficiently rich and complete to justify this specialised vinification.

Before proceeding with the tasting...

     Being strongly regulated, the vinification of Champagne has managed over the years to preserve the rules established through several decades experience, whilst also integrating advances in technology and biotechnology.

     Development has been gradual, which has enabled the complete mastery of the fermentation processes as well as a reduction in manual tasks due to mechanisation. These choices have always been guided by the continual goal of improving quality.

     In this way, during each phase of the production (from receiving the grapes to shipping the bottles), several analyses, tests and controls take place. These are all essential to the vinification, the efficient running of oenological processes and the control of wine quality. Frequent and systematic tasting ensures confirmation of these analyses and guarantees both the consistency and the proper development of the blends.

     From the press to the Champagne flute, the sparkling wines of Champagne are proof of an art that combines respect for traditional skills with the mastery of modern technology. The ultimate aim of this art is to offer the consumer the joy of an unforgettable taste experience. The worldwide fame of a Champagne Brand is recognition of its devotion to respect the traditional rules of production. This guarantees the consistency of its particular characteristics and subtleties, which is so important to its clientele. A Champagne House brand, therefore, supplies both connoisseurs and novices with the certainty of full satisfaction. The conclusion then is obvious:

" I will drink one day, my brother, I will drink one day. But only Champagne. Nothing but Champagne..."
Tchao Pantin, First Part, Benssoussan Story.