Champagne is often associated with celebration and luxury. The Tsars drank Champagne, Napoleon celebrated with it when he won, and comforted himself with it when he lost. There is a lot of history to tell about Champagne, the production, the grape varieties, the winemakers and the different flavours in the wine. A great champagne demands some time to be appreciated, a glass and an open-minded sense, with the discovery of the Champagne makers blend in your glass it will always feel like luxury to drink it.

To really discover a glass of champagne, we need to imagine the hundreds of years it took champagne to form its character and texture, the years it took the vines to gain the age, the weather changes of the growing season, the long time the lees need to be in contact with the champagne and all those years in dark cellars before we have the opportunity to drink the sparkling wine.

Many people have heard stories about Dom Perignon, who was a monk and cellar master at the Benedictine abbey Hautvilliers (1668-1715). It says that he was the one that discovered the way to produce Champagne, but in reality he was the one who discovered the way of mixing wines from different grapes, and discovery of the way of pressing black grapes to a completely clear, white grape juice.

Dom Perignon was also involved in the use of cork to keep air away from the wine so that the wine stayed fresh and sparkling longer.

It’s only sparkling wines from the region Champagne in France that may be called champagne and the sparkling wine must be produced according to the classic champagne method.

The region Champagne is one of the most northern wine producing areas in the world. Because of the cold climate the grapes find it difficult to fully mature each year, which gives the wine a high acidity, an advantage in the production of fizzy wines. The region is divided into three main areas: Montagne de Reims, Vallée de la Marne and Cote des Blancs. The soil in the region is dominated by limestone and clay.

The three primary grapes that are used to produce Champagne are Chardonnay (green grape), Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier (blue grapes). Except from the three dominated grapes the wine maker is allowed to use other grape varieties from the region. The grapes appear individually or in blends with each other.

Champagne that is made from only Chardonnay is called Blanc de Blancs and the corresponding term for the Champagne that is made from only blue grapes is Blanc de Noirs. The Pink Champagne, also known as rosé Champagne are produced either by leaving the clear juice of blue grapes to macerate on its skins for a brief time or by adding a small amount of still Pinot Noir red wine to the sparkling wine blend.

With the different flavours from the wine makers blends, it’s easy to match different food with Champagne. Each wine maker in the region makes their own cuvée (blend) which gives us a lot of different flavors to discover in the Champagnes. Together with the different aromas that we find in the food culture around the world Champagne is a perfect wine to pair with a set menu.

The pleasure in Champagne is to enjoy a wine maker’s own blend in the bottle, discover the different vintages and looking forward to what the new season will bring and what nature has created.

Christina Larsson is Champagne Angel (Sommelier) at The Balcon in Sofitel London St James

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