Winecast: Champagne, Part II

There’s a lot that has to happen to get all those bubbles in there.

Note on reserve requirements: My main source (Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, 4th ed., p. 176) says "Not more than 80% of any years harvest may be sold as vintage, so at least 20% of the best years' harvests are conserved for the future blending of non-vintage wines." And champagne.fr (http://www.champagne.fr/en/from-vine-to-wine/vine-husbandry/grape-harvests) says: "In good years, every Champagne producer is required to set aside a percentage of their wines as a precaution against disappointing future crops..." I interpret this to mean that while a house presumably could save reserves during any year if they wanted to, the only legal requirement to do so is during a "good" year (i.e., a year when the house declared a vintage). I'm supplying this information because I have heard wine professionals claim that the legal requirement is to reserve wine from every year. If anyone thinks I'm misreading these sources or can provide further information, please let me know!

Also, I misspoke when I said that a vintage Champagne is made exclusively from grapes grown that year. Under E.U. law, a vintage can be assigned for a wine, still or sparkling including Champagne, as long as 85% of the wine in the bottle is from the named vintage. My impression is that in practice the number in the actual bottle for a vintage Champagne is quite a bit higher, but the law is 85%.

Oh, and finally (I hope), my memory of high school French failed me yet again, and my pronunciation of "Doux" should really have been more like "Do" or "Dew."

Видео Winecast: Champagne, Part II канала The Unknown Winecaster