Champagne Classification

That word 'champagne'. It doesn't just mean a style of wine. It doesn't simply mean something fizzy and fun. It can only legitimately apply to the wine coming from a very distinct, carefully delimited, part of France. The fact that this local wine has been such a whopping international success has meant that 'Champagne' is a term often used to describe any sparkling wine. This is neither accurate nor honest. Champagne can only come from the chalky, chilly hills and valleys centred on the river Marne. But the Champagne method can be used wherever you want to make a still wine sparkle.

Champagne is produced in several styles: Non-vintage the Ordinary, most basic blend. The best Champagne houses and growers pride themselves on providing a continuous house style through the judicious blending of various vintages. In an ideal world a house would not 'declare' a vintage in a good year if they needed the wine to keep up the standard of their non-vintage, but that seldom happens these days. Most non-vintage Champagnes are based on wine from a single year, with added reserve wines from previous vintages. Minimum aging before release is 15 months, but all the good houses are now giving their wines considerably longer, which does wonders for their flavour.

Vintage Wine of a single, usually good quality year is typically fuller, deeper, and a definite move-up of the quality scale from non-vintage Champagne, but not necessarily more enjoyable for that. Certainly these are less effective as 'spontaneous celebration' wines, so save your money at parties. To get the best out of a vintage Champagne it's worth taking your time to enjoy it.

17 Grand Cru villages:
Ambonnay, Avize, Ay, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Bouzy, Chouilly, Cramant, Louvois, Mailly-Champagne, Le Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry, Puisieulx, Sillery, Tours-sur-Marne, Verzenay, Verzy

44 Premier Cru villages:
Avenay, Bergères-les-Vertus, Bezannes, Billy le Grand, Bisseuil, Chamery, Champillon, Chigny les Roses, Chouilly (PN), Coligny (CH), Cormontreuil, Coulommes la Montagne, Cuis, Cumières, Dizy, Ecueil, Etrechy (CH), Grauves, Hautvillers, Jouy les Reims, Les Mesneus, Ludes, Mareuil sur Ay, Montbré, Mutigny, Pargny les Reims, Pierry, Rilly la Montagne, Sacy, Sermiers, Taissy, Tauxières, Tours-sur-Marne (CH), Trépail, Trois Puits, Vaudemanges, Vertus, Villedommange, Villeneuve Renneville, Villers Allerand, Villers aux Noeuds, Villers Marmery, Voipreux, Vrigny

Note. PN = Pinot Noir - CH = Chardonnay