Champagne wine is an alcoholic beverage, without which no solemn feast can be enjoyed, starting from the celebration of the wedding and ending with the celebration of the New Year. Its divine taste and incomparable aroma dizzy beautiful ladies of all countries. However, men also like to sip champagne, rightly associating it with luxury and wealth and, most importantly - a holiday.
What kind of drink is champagne, the price of which can reach up to $ 17.625 per bottle? Let's find out everything about this world famous alcohol - from the history of origin to the list of varieties.
Craftsmen from the province
The history of this unique drink began about 350 years ago in the province of Champagne, which is located in the north-east of France. Grapes were grown on the fertile land of this area, which was sent not only for export, but also in oak barrels, in order to later turn into aromatic wine. Initially, Champagne winemakers produced exclusively red wines, completely ignoring pink and white.
Wine with character
The peculiarity of red wine from the Champagne wineries was that for some unknown reason they turned out to be a little carbonated. Bubbles gave the drink a unique taste, lightness and delicate aroma. However, it was because of them that the wine entered the stage of secondary fermentation, as a result of which the barrels in which it was stored literally tore into pieces. Pouring into glass containers also did not save the situation - their walls did not withstand such high pressure. For its "explosiveness" champagne wine was nicknamed "diabolical."
Prankish weather
Winemakers were at a loss about the reason for such strange processes that took place with their products, and they came to only one conclusion: the climate is to blame! The fact is that the weather in Champagne was changeable and unpredictable - warm days were suddenly replaced by cold, with thunderstorms and heavy winds. A sharp cooling stopped the fermentation process, while the wine still did not completely ferment sugar. Fierce cold abruptly replaced the heat, and the wine again began to ferment, and with a vengeance. As a result, the concentration of carbon dioxide in wine reached a prohibitive maximum, which led to the explosion of containers and splashing of the precious drink.
Monk Winemaker
And if the monk House Pierre Perignon, who not only loved this drink, but was also a talented winemaker and an excellent taster, didn’t connect to the study of the winemaking process, we would not know what champagne is - winemakers would simply get tired of the endless struggle with "Explosive nature" of this alcoholic nectar and stopped making it.
It was House Perignon who made a huge contribution to the fine science of champagne wine production by studying the processes of blending and fermentation. In addition, he became the first winemaker to create white wine from blue and red grapes, and also came up with the idea of bottling his products in glass bottles, corking and tying them with oiled rope. This method did not allow the bottles to explode, and they were safely stored for several years.
Secrets of Perignon
By the way, the enterprising Perignon kept the recipe of his champagne wine in the strictest confidence, but now every champagne wine factory knows it. How did this happen? Has the great winemaker blabbed out? Not at all!
The fact is that all of France was literally crazy about champagne - it was the favorite drink of all the inhabitants who could afford it. However, not a single winemaker could make sparkling wine perfect - the way House Perignon made it. Man, alas, can not live forever, and the famous winemaker could not go to a better world, leaving his people without his fault. Therefore, he asked his friend, Abbot Jean Godino, to write down all the nuances of secret technology. After the death of Monsieur Perignon, Abbot Godino published a book in which the entire process of making champagne was described in detail, starting with the selection of grape varieties and ending with the type of glass from which bottles for storage and transportation should be made. So the last will of a talented winemaker was fulfilled.
Valuable Export
After a while, the production of champagne wine in France was put on a grand scale, and royal inspectors followed the observance of the bequeathed technologies and the quality of the drink, based on a specially drawn up state standard - in other words, GOST of that time.
The champagne delivered from France to different countries pretty soon fell in love with the whole of Europe. The magic drink fell into the Russian Empire in 1780 thanks to Philip Clicquot, a French winemaker who ventured to send Catherine the Second a modest gift in the form of a batch of her own champagne. The great empress and her entourage greatly liked the taste of this drink, and soon direct deliveries of champagne from France to Russia were established. However, this process was interrupted - in France, the revolution began, and after it - the endless Napoleonic wars, which also affected the Russian Empire.
Champagne woman
It was only in 1814 that it was possible to establish constant deliveries of sparkling wine to Russia, and this was done by none other than the young widow of the famous Philippe Clicquot - Barb-Nicole Clicquot-Ponsandren, who became the head of Clicquot after the death of her husband, renaming the factory that produces more than 100 thousand bottles of delicious champagne a year, in Widow Clicquot.
The enterprising Madame lived a long life, devoting her to the work of her husband. She turned the Clicquot champagne into the most popular, truly iconic drink that was loved all over the world. Trade with Russia brought Madame Nicole enormous profits - in 1825 alone, the Russians drank 252,452 bottles of sparkling wine! Not a single ball, not one important event or a big celebration could do without champagne, which literally poured in.
After Madame Clicquot, the reins of control and full ownership of the Clicquot House passed into the strong hands of Eduard Burnet. A young and talented winemaker worthily continued the work of Madame and Monsieur, who founded a world-famous factory - Clicquot champagne became the standard of quality, luxury, elegance and good taste, not only in France, but also far beyond its borders.
France in Russia
The “Soviet” champagne, famous to this day, began to be produced in the vastness of Russia in the 20th century, or rather, in the 30s. The then government attracted the royal champagne Anton Frolov-Bagreev to this, instructing him to establish the production of champagne wine as soon as possible for wide distribution to the masses.
“Soviet” champagne was produced using accelerated technology and went on sale 26 days after the start of production. To taste this champagne was no worse than foreign, and its price was affordable to everyone.
Sacrament of production
How is champagne made in our time?
The first stage is the purchase of grapes, which must be slightly unripe and, unlike ripe, with greater acidity. Juice is squeezed out of each grape and poured into large tanks for fermentation and obtaining a wine base.
After that, wine blanks from different grape varieties are mixed together, finding the perfect combination. This process is called blending - it is necessary to improve the taste of champagne.
Then sugar and yeast are added to the resulting mixture in the required proportions, bottled and placed strictly in a horizontal position. The second fermentation process starts, which lasts about a year. During this time, the bottle of future champagne is gradually, step by step, lowered neck down. This action is called the beautiful word "remuage" and is necessary so that all the sediment accumulates at the very neck of the bottle.
When this happened, it is necessary to carefully remove the sediment - this process is called "degorzhazh". This "sacred action" is only for true professionals!
After the precipitate has been carefully removed, a mixture of wine and sugar is added to the bottle, after which it is tightly corked and left for several months until fully cooked.
Thus, they produce expensive types of everyone's favorite "festive" drink, including red, white and pink champagne. It is this drink that is so often found on our tables. Cheaper champagne, the price of which starts at 200 rubles per bottle, is produced in accelerated ways.
The taste and color ...
By the way, the color of champagne directly depends on the grape variety. Surprisingly, white champagne is often made from red grapes, squeezing berries so that the juice does not come into contact with the coloring skin, otherwise red champagne will turn out. But pink champagne is obtained in two ways - either they allow the juice to interact with the skin for a short time, or they add a little red to the white wine.
Many consider champagne sparkling wine, rightly believing that it is one and the same. In fact, this is true, except that only wine that is produced in Champagne under the strictest control of AOS can only be called champagne. The rest of ersatz-champagne is a tasty, but still ordinary sparkling wine, the price of which starts at 200 rubles per bottle.
Variety of varieties
Varieties of champagne wine delight variety and are divided into:
- sweet champagne contains from 8.5 to 12 grams of sugar per 100 ml;
- semisweet champagne can store in itself 6-9 grams of sugar in 100 ml;
- semi-dry champagne may include from 4 to 8 grams of sugar per 100 ml, depending on the preferences of the manufacturer;
- dry champagne holds 2-5 grams of sugar per 100 ml;
- extra dry champagne contains only 0.8 grams of sugar per 100 ml ;;
- Brut - characterized by the lowest percentage of the ratio of grams of sugar per 100 ml - only 0.4;
- extra brut - does not contain sugar at all.