The terroir of the Champagne region is truly distinct and one of the major reasons why this
fascinating region produces the best sparkling wines in the world.
The combination of the region's soil, climate and viticultural practices are unable to be replicated anywhere else
Geographically, Champagne is actually the most northerly wine region in France resulting in a low average annual temperature of just 10 degrees Celsius
This cool temperature means that great writing can be extremely unpredictable
One of the key reasons why producers blend different vintages to produce non vintage champagnes
This cool climate is optimal for producing wines of high acidity one of the key attributes of good sparkling wines
Most notably however are the distinctive chalk soils of the region.
In this region we have what we call in French, the terroir.
It's a combination of geological factors and climatical factors
We are here sitting on the top of between 200-300 sometimes 400 meters of chalk
combined with a semi-continental climate
which is very, very cold in the winter and the association of these two combinations geological chalk and
semi-continental climate makes Champagne really totally unique
These chalky soils can be found throughout champagne and are home to hundreds of kilometres of tunnels that were originally dug by the Romans
Dating back almost two thousand years and originally dug as quarries,
these tunnels have become the storage and aging facilities for hundreds of millions of bottles of champagne
Buried up to 30 meters underground they provide the ideal conditions for ageing and maturing champagne
As well as providing perfect storage conditions the chalk soils fulfill a vital role in sustaining the region's grapevines
That's chalk. Chalk that's exactly the same one you can use
to write write on the board.
Okay, look at my hands. It's easy in Champaign the soil and subsoil is made of chalk and
Thanks to that the vines are going to be capable to
Retrieve their nutrition and the water as the main nutrition because it's the chalk is a sponge
During the winter
We have a lot of rainfalls and during that time the chalk is just starting to store and to stock the water and when necessary
The vines is going to just retrieve the water that is needed to grow the plants and to nurture the fruits
so when we are just harvesting we can have a long period of dry seasons that exactly what we add this year and
You can observe behind you
All the leaves are green because they didn't suffer from water stress
Because they had enough reserve of water and you go in meaning of a region than champagne when there is lack of water
You will see some leaves that are going to be suffering from lack of water
Everywhere but in champagne. That's something quite unique
Then when you're going to harvest, of course
We know that this chalkiness is going to be part of the style of champagne and whatever
It's pinot noir, chardonnay or meunier
the chalkiness is going to be captured into the juice of all the vitals so our job is to
Make sure that the chalkiness will be reflected in our wines because it's part of the identity of champagne in some place in champagne
You have chalk plus clay, plus sand and etc but the main and leading elements of the soil will be the chalk
It is not only the climate and soil that defines champagne terroir
The cultivation of the grape vines known as viticulture is also very particular to the region
everything here is
Hand-picked rights? Correct. Everything has been hand picked? Which is unique to to champagne and as you know
We are making white wine from black grapes
Yeah, so which means we have to avoid any contact between the skin that contains the color compound and the juice
Otherwise when pressing we are going to have a red juice and it would not be possible to make white wines any longer
To work every time you you start cutting the grapes, you have to rush to make sure you press it
The shorter the better to keep all the components of the grapes.
Many of champagnes unique viticultural practices such as hand harvesting are enforced and regulated by the region's
agricultural governing body the CIVC
Established in 1941, this regulatory group was created to protect and manage the quality of champagnes production
under CIVC regulation
The whole of champagne is defined as a single appellation and for producers to label their wines of champagne
They must abide by a number of strict laws.
It is these protected viticultural practices as well as the unique soil and climate that makes
Champagne the perfect and most recognized region in the world for sparkling wine production
Ultimately, every producer in champagne will use whatever is at their disposal be at the climate and soil or viticultural decisions
To make the best wines possible year after year.