Prosecco Earns its Place

Looking at the new DOC and DOCG

Perhaps more than other wines that have successfully established their identities, Prosecco is a wine in transition. While it has been around since ancient Rome, the wine is finally achieving the status its pedigree and history demand. Effective April 1, 2010, the term “Prosecco” refers to a specific place: Veneto and parts of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in the northeastern corner of Italy. These two regions, along with nine other specific provinces, geographically define the current Prosecco DOC. While Prosecco is actually the name of a town near the city of Trieste in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the wine’s major grape, formerly known as Prosecco, will now go by the ancient name of Glera, a name unfamiliar even to the people within the region. However, only the name has changed; Italian Prosecco has always been made with Glera, though lesser known varieties have figured into the wine’s composition in rather negligible amounts over time.

The incorporation of the new DOCG classification (Conegliano-Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore) ensures that wines from the two most prominent zones will face stricter controls and be given the highest guarantee. Comprised of fifteen communes (or townships), the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene zone is a hilly region with very steep slopes that require vineyard operations to be performed by hand, a practice that has been in place for over three centuries. In addition to the general designation, wines that derive from a single hillside will, in conjunction with standard DOCG labeling, include the term rive, which refers to the finest vineyards and those receiving favorable exposure.

According to Decanter, these “new regulations will also regulate yield for both the new DOC and DOCG zones should be reduced. The DOC will show the most drastic decrease – from the current 180hl/ha to 126hl/ha. There will also be a small reduction in yields in the DOCG zone, from 95hl/ha to 90hl/ha.”

What all this tech talk means for wine consumers is that we can expect a rise in the quality of Prosecco—that’s good news for us. Full of refreshing acidity, pleasant aromatics and delicate flavors of peach and green apple, Prosecco is a perfect sparkler for summer. And its reasonable price point and easy-drinking nature doesn’t hurt, either. However, because of these recent changes, Prosecco may become a more serious wine.

While Prosecco hasn’t carried the same prestige or fastidious production as Champagne— where secondary fermentation is carried out in bottle (méthode champenoise) as opposed to stainless steel tanks (the charmat method)—with the spanky new DOC/G areas and the accompanying raising of standards, it has a reason to take itself more seriously—even if it remains a seriously fun wine to drink!

Decoding Champagne

The what, the why and the how of bubblies

Champagne goes down easy—even to those of us who find its labels a bit inscrutable. Champagne has many words and phrases that can feel a little tricky, but everything is there for a reason. Once you grasp a couple of key definitions, you’ll see that it’s easy to be fluent in the language of Champagne. While there’s no need to be a Sommelier to enjoy wine, having peripheral knowledge will allow you to appreciate what you are drinking and will also help you find value, choose your favorite styles and discover food pairings.

Firstly, let’s define Champagne. Champagne is the toponym of one of the most northerly wine producing regions in France. The reason why a sparkling wine is produced here is that it’s too cold to produce substantial still wines; although there is an AOC that encompasses still wine production. The cold weather barely ripens the grapes in most vintages and thereby preserves the grapes’ high acidity. In order for the wine to gain more body and flavor, the still wine is made sparkling. This sparkling character adds complexity, body and deliciousness that would otherwise be reticent in a still wine made from the same grapes. (For a more in-depth look into how Champagne is made check here.)

There are three main styles of Champagne, which can theoretically come from six varieties allowed by law; these styles are Blanc de Blanc, Blanc de Noirs and Rosé. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Munier are the three primary grapes associated with Champagne, although there are three more that rarely appear: Pinot Blanc, Arbanne, and Petit Meslier.

Noir et Blanc

Blanc de Blanc is a term that you will see on a label and is really quite easy to understand. Blanc de Blanc, or “white of whites, “denotes a style of Champagne that is made entirely from Chardonnay grapes. This type of wine will be very creamy, elegant, aromatic and slightly light in body. Opposite of this style is Blanc de Noirs, or “white from blacks.” Though we associate red grapes and red wine, it is possible to make white wine from black grapes because all grape juice is essentially colorless; the color comes from the grape skins. Pinot Noir and Pinot Munier are the two grapes allowed in this style. These wines will tend to be more full bodied, richer and slightly less acidic. Rosé is also made by adding still red wine to the final blend or by the saigneé method, which is when the skins and pulp of the black grapes are left to macerate on the juice, thus tingeing the clear juice pink.

Champagne also comes in varying degrees of sweetness. After disgorgement, or the removal of the lees, a dosage is added to the wine. The dosage consists of a sugary liquid created by a specific recipe.

The varying degrees of sweetness:

What all of this information means to you, the wine drinker, is that you can choose the sweetness or dryness of your champagne within a really clear margin of error. If you know you want a very dry wine, you look for Brut, Extra Brut or Brut Nature. And if you want sweeter Champagne, you go to the other end of the spectrum.

A Perfect Pair

This spectrum of choice brings us to our next dilemma, which is what to pair with Champagne. The great thing about this wine is that it’s incredibly flexible and complements a wide variety of foods. In fact, Champagne’s acidity, aromatics and effervescence allow it to be paired with just about anything.

Sushi and Blanc de Blancs is spectacular combination that melds the freshness and elegance in both items; this pair is one of my favorites. Look to pair a Blanc de Noirs with mushroom crostini—mushrooms and Champagne are classic together. In general, the dry styles of Champagne (Brut Nature and Brut) pair wonderfully with simply prepared lake or ocean fish, shellfish, mollusks and cheese. Look to pair tangy goat cheese with a bright and crisp Champagne, and aged cheeses like Gouda, Cheddar and Parmigianino develop nutty and sweet flavors that parallel the nuances in aged Champagne; it’s especially stunning with Langres, a cow’s milk cheese that’s soft, creamy white and slightly crumbly. Also, it’s worth noting that Champagne is one of the few wines that work well with eggs. There’s a reason why Champagne is served with brunch, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t serve it at night with a soufflé or a quiche.

While Champagne is fabulous with everything from endive soup to macadamia nuts, do be aware of its limitations. For example, don’t pair sweet items with dry styles of Champagne. The sugars of the food will occupy your sweet receptors, thereby killing any of the wine’s sweetness. Indeed, the acid of the Champagne will take the front seat and be quite overwhelming. Also, the only foods that do not bode well for Champagne are red meats and anything too cold. Ice cream floats, for example, are best saved for root beer. Do enjoy Champagne’s sweet styles with basically any sugary substance that you can conjure up—fruit tarts, fresh fruit, and poached apples make angelic pairings.

Consider yourself a proud graduate of Champagne 101.

Now pick your favorite pairing, pop a cork and enjoy the magic!

The Cost of Champagne

A delicious study in pressure

Most Champagne seems pretty expensive, and it can feel hard to shell out 80-100 bucks for a bottle of bubbly when you can buy a handful of bottles of still wines for the same price. I can’t necessarily rationalize the cost of a 500-1000 bottle of Champagne, but I can give you readers a sense of where your money is going—and that requires a fundamental knowledge of how Champagne is made.

The region of Champagne is the most northerly wine producing region in France. This region really pushes the envelope for the cultivation of grapes because it gets almost too cold for the grapes to ripen. It often rains, limiting the amount of sunshine and warmth that reach the vines. Late spring frosts are dangerous—often even a killer. The weather is unforgiving, and the decrease in yields sometimes adds the cost, but also the flavor, of a bottle of Champagne.

In addition to producers growing their grapes under difficult conditions, the method to make Champagne is not for slackers. It’s labor intense, no question. Let’s look at a breakdown of the steps you have to take to make a prime bottle of bubbly.

Step 1: The grapes are harvested like those for any other wine; then they’re pressed and fermented in large stainless steel or glass vats. Some producers, such as Krug, Bollinger and Vilmart, use 225 liter barriques for this fermentation.

Step 2: 5-6 months later the wine is ready for blending. Non-vintage champagne is a blend of about 40-50 wines from as many as ten different years. This step is crucial because this is what gives the champagne its consistent taste year after year. The blending technician is very skilled and knows exactly the percentages of which wines to blend depending on the current years organoleptic qualities. Imagine a chemist in a lab with the nose of a bloodhound and the prognostic skills of a psychic, and you’ll get a picture of what goes into the making of a blending technician.

Step 3: After the wines are blended in a vat, a liquer de tirage is added to the wine. This blend is a carefully mixed quantity of mostly liquid sugar and yeast. The sugar and the yeast are what allow the second fermentation to take place in the bottle. See technician above.

Step 4: After the addition of the liquer de tirage, the wine is bottled and capped. If too much sugar was added in the liquer, the bottle can explode, and if not enough, there will be no carbonation. Remember the equation for fermentation is this: sugar + yeast—->ethanol + CO2. After the bottling they are laid on their sides in chalk caves, so the second fermentation can take place. During this period the yeast die in a process called autolysis. The dead yeast cells sink to the bottom imparting yeasty, bread-like aromas to the wine as well as complexity. The bottles must be left in this position for at least fifteen months for non-vintage and three years for vintage champagne.

Step 5: Now that the yeast is dead, there arrives the long and sometimes laborious process calledremuage. This is when the dead yeast cells are coaxed into the neck of the bottle. Back before the use of machinery, a man called a remuer would turn and angle everybottle of champagne a little downward every day into a vertical position. A top remuer can riddle, or manually turn, around 40,000 bottles per day. Some houses still use a remuer, but they are very costly and time consuming. Most houses now use a girasol. This a piece of machinery holds about 500 bottles and replicates the remuage process.

Step 6: Twelve to twenty weeks later, the bottles are in a vertical position, and it is time to remove all that sediment that has accumulated in the neck. One method called a la volee, uses the pressure inside of bottle to force the sediment out after the enclosure has been removed. The other and more common method is called a la glace. In this method the neck of the bottle is dipped into a freezing brine solution, which freezes the sediment; when the enclosure is removed, the ice and sediment shoot out. This process is called degorgement for obvious reasons.

Step 7: To replace some of the wine that has been lost during the last step, a measured amount of sweetened wine is added to the bottle. This mixture is called the liqueur d’expedition, and it’s what gives the wine some residual sugar and house flavor. Finally, the champagne is topped with the mushroom cork a wire cage and is ready for shipment or storage.

It’s not easy to produce champagne—especially because the caves where the champagne is stored are carved from the chalk soils that run twenty feet into the ground. The chalk provides the perfect storage temperature for the wine. By capturing heat during the day and radiating it during the cold nights, the internal temperature remains constant. From growing the grapes, to mixing the wines, to dealing with yeast, to storing the wine, it’s a whole big thing, but Champagne done right is a wine unlike any other.

As we know from any cursory study of economics, the more labor and that goes into making something, the rarer it is. The smaller the amount and the greater the demand, the more something costs. Champagne is, in many ways, a textbook study of market pressures. But what a delicious, tantalizing and seductive study it is. Expensive, yes, but if you love it, it’s worth every penny.

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