Champagne – a wine for all senses 

Champagne’s fizz as it whooshes into the glass highlights its clarity; bubbles release an aerosol of volatile aromas which tease the nose, while bursting bubbles in the mouth release flavours at the first sip

Champagne country
Marne
Reims 
Epernay
40km

FRANCE
Paris 15,800 growers
306.1 million  bottles shipped (2016)
200km

Grape varieties 26%  Chardonnay
74% Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier

Prise de mousse
Second fermentation takes place in sealed bottle 
Six teaspoons

Sugar
24 grams per litre (g/l) is added to wine
to boost alcohol and carbon dioxide (CO2)

24g/l of sugar gives 12.5% of ethanol alcohol by volume plus 11.5g/l of CO2

Montagne de Reims – Pinot Noir
Valée de la Marne – Meunier, Chardonnay 
Côte des Blancs – Chardonnay
Côtes de Sézanne – Chardonnay

As champange is poured, bubbles release aerosol of aromas

Carbon dioxide
11.5g/l of CO2 expands to 5 litres of CO2 at standard atmospheric pressure

1,000,000 bubbles-plus If 100mL of champagne are poured straight down middle of vertically oriented flute, about one million bubbles are likely to form.

If champagne is served down wall of tilted flute, several tens of thousands of additional bubbles are released


Sources: Gérard Liger-Belair, University of Reims; “I Love Champagne,” Davy Zyw
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