Champagne (wine). Champagne and sparkling wines

Champagne wine is an alcoholic beverage, without which there is not a single solemn feast, from the celebration of the wedding to the New Year. His divine taste and incomparable fragrance turn heads to the beautiful ladies of all countries. However, men also like to sip champagne wine, rightly associating it with luxury and wealth and, most importantly - a holiday.

What kind of drink is champagne, the price of which can reach $ 17,625 per bottle? Let's learn about this world-famous alcohol everything - from the history of origin and ending with the list of varieties.

Umeltsy 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. On the fertile land of this area, grapes were grown, which was sent not only for export, but also for oak barrels, to later become a fragrant wine. At first the Champagne winemakers produced exclusively red wines, completely ignoring the pink and white wines.

Wine with character

The peculiarity of red wine from Champagne's wineries was that for some unknown reason they turned out to be slightly aerated. Bubbles gave the drink a unique taste, lightness and a 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 to pieces. Transfusion into glass containers also did not save the situation - their walls could not withstand such a high pressure. For their "explosive" champagne, the wine was nicknamed "devilish".

Naughty weather

Winemakers were lost in conjecture about the reason for such strange processes that occurred with their products, and they came to only one conclusion: the climate is to blame for everything! The fact is that the weather in Champagne was changeable and unpredictable - the warm days were suddenly replaced by cold, with thunder and heavy winds. A sharp cooling stopped the fermentation process, while in the wine there was still not completely fermented sugar. The fierce cold suddenly replaced the heat, and the wine again began to wander, and with redoubled force. As a result, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the wine reached a prohibitive maximum, which led to the explosion of the packaging and raspleskivaniyu precious drink.

Monk the winemaker

And if the monk Dom Pierre Perignon, who not only loved this drink, but was also a talented winemaker and a fine taster, did not join the process of winemaking, we would never have known what champagne wine is - winemakers would simply tire of the endless struggle with "Explosive character" of this alcoholic nectar and stopped producing it.

It was the House of Perignon that made a great contribution to the fine science of producing champagne, examining the processes of blending and fermentation. In addition, he became the first winemaker who created white wine from blue and red grapes, and also invented to pour his products on glass bottles, plugging and tying them with an 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 for his champagne wine in the strictest secrecy, but now every champagne plant knows it. How did this happen? Did the great winemaker say? By no means!

The fact is that the whole of France was literally obsessed with champagne - it was the favorite drink of all residents who could afford it. However, no winemaker could make a sparkling wine perfect, such as the House Perignon did. Man, alas, can not live forever, and the famous winemaker could not go into a better world, leaving his people without their own wine. Therefore, he asked his friend, the abbot Jean Godinot, to write down all the nuances of secret technology. After the death of Monsieur Perignon, the abbot Godinot produced a book detailing the whole process of making champagne, starting with the selection of the grape variety and ending with the kind of glass from which the bottles for storage and transportation must be made. This was the last will of a talented winemaker.

Valuable export

After a while, the production of champagne wine in France was put on a broad foot, and the observance of bequest technology and the quality of the drink was monitored by royal inspectors, based on a specially compiled state standard - simply put, GOST of that time.

In champagne, supplied from France to different countries, pretty soon the whole Europe fell in love. In the Russian Empire, a magical drink came in 1780 thanks to Philip Clicquot - a French winemaker who ventured to send Catherine II a modest gift in the form of a batch of champagne of his own making. The great empress and her entourage liked the taste of this drink, and soon direct supplies of champagne from France to Russia were established. However, this process was interrupted - a revolution began in France, followed by endless Napoleonic wars, which also affected the Russian Empire.

Woman champagne

It was not until 1814 that regular supplies of sparkling wine came to Russia, and none other than the young widow of the famous Philip Clicquot-Barb-Nicole Clicquot-Ponsandren, who headed the Clicquot after the death of her husband, renamed the plant producing More than 100 thousand bottles of delicious champagne a year, in the "Widow Clicquot."

Enterprising Madame lived a long life, dedicating it to the cause of her husband. She turned champagne "Clicquot" into the most popular, truly cult drink, which was loved all over the world. Trade with Russia brought enormous profits to Madame Nicole - in 1825 alone the Russians drank 252,452 bottles of sparkling wine! No ball, any important event or a big holiday could not do without champagne, which literally poured down the river.

After Madame Clicquot, the reigns and full ownership of the House "Clicquot" passed into the strong hands of Edward Burns. A young and talented winemaker continued the business of Madame and Monsieur who founded the world-famous plant - Chlapro "Clicquot" became the standard of quality, luxury, elegance and good taste not only in France, but also far beyond its borders.

France in Russia

Famous to this day, "Soviet" champagne began to produce in the vastness of in the 20th century, or rather - in the 30's. The then government attracted to this the royal champagne Anton Frolov-Bagreev, punishing him in the shortest time to establish the production of champagne wine for wide distribution to the masses.

"Soviet" champagne was produced by accelerated technology and went on sale within 26 days after the start of production. To taste this champagne was no worse than foreign, and its price was available to everyone.

Sacrament of production

How do champagne in our time?

The first stage is the purchase of grapes, which must necessarily be slightly immature and, unlike the ripe, having a higher acidity. From each grapes squeeze out the juice and pour it over large tanks for fermentation and obtaining a wine base.

After that, wine blanks from different varieties of grapes mix 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 right proportions, bottled and placed strictly in a horizontal position. The second fermentation process is started, which lasts about a year. During this time, the bottle with the future champagne is gradually, step by step, lowered with a neck down. This action is called a beautiful word "remuage" and is necessary in order for the whole sediment to accumulate near the neck of the bottle.

When this happens, it is necessary to carefully remove the sediment - this process is called "disgorging". This "sacred action" is only possible for true professionals!

After the sediment has been carefully removed, a mixture of wine and sugar is added to the bottle, then tightly sealed and left for a few months until completely ready.

Thus, they produce expensive kinds of everyone's favorite "festive" drink, including red, white and pink champagne. This drink is so often found on our tables. More cheap champagne, the price of which starts from 200 rubles per bottle, is produced in accelerated ways.

The taste and color ...

By the way, the color of champagne directly depends on the type of grapes. Surprisingly, white champagne is often made from red grapes, pressing berries so that the juice does not come into contact with the dyeing skin, otherwise it will turn out red champagne. But pink champagne is obtained in two ways - either allow the juice to interact briefly with the peel for a short time, or add a little red to the white wine.

Many people consider champagne to be sparkling wine, rightly believing that it is one and the same. In fact, this is indeed the case, except that champagne can only rightfully name only the wine that is produced in Champagne under the strict control of the AOC. The rest of the ersatz champagne is a tasty, but still ordinary sparkling wine, the price of which starts from 200 rubles per bottle.

Varieties of varieties

Varieties of champagne wine pleasing diversity and are divided into:

• Champagne sweet contains 8.5 to 12 grams of sugar per 100 ml;
• Champagne semisweet can store 6-9 grams of sugar in 100 ml;
• Champagne semi-dry can include from 4 to 8 grams of sugar per 100 ml, depending on the preferences of the manufacturer;
• Champagne dry holds 2-5 grams of sugar per 100 ml;
• Champagne extra dry contains only 0, 8 grams of sugar in 100 ml ;;
• Brute - is characterized by the lowest percentage of the ratio of sugar grams per 100 ml - only 0.4;
• Extra brut - does not contain sugar at all.