When you want to know what's inside your bottle of bubbles, you may often be faced with an array of abbreviations
Although confusing, they can tell you a lot about what's inside your bottle of champagne and where it comes from before you've even tasted it
Let's start with the type of producer that made the champagne. Every bottle will have a two letter abbreviation
Usually a very small print that signifies what type of producer it came from although there are a few of these abbreviations
There are just three key ones to remember
RM, means Recoltant Manipulant in French, Recoltant Manipulant is a
Winemaker who owns his own vineyard and makes only his wine from this vineyards
Otherwise known as grower champagnes Recoltant Manipulant wines are made by smaller producers and display a lot of character
these growers are very much the backbone of the champagne industry with the major houses buying the majority of their grapes from these growers to
sustain their own production
NM, is a bit different because
NM producers are the possibility to buy grapes. NM producers can own land
Vines you can walk and make his wine from its but you can also buy grapes from other producers of champagne
These are the major Champagne houses. Though there are only a few hundred of these houses compared to the
15,000 growers in champagne, they make up around 70% of total production and almost 90% of export
Within this group of champagne houses, but the 24 Grand Marques the big names that most people associate with champagne
And the last one is cm its Cooperative Manipulant,
This is the same type of producer as Recoltant
So it means they own the land they gather together to be able to have a press, a cellar, like this
it's easier for them to
to manage because
usually
CM
Producers are a much more smaller
in terms of size
Then there is the dosage of the wine or how much sugar has been added to give the champagne its sweetness
Those out of the wine is a very last step in the making of champagne
It's a addition of wine and sugar that you put at the end before to put the definitive cork. It's what will help to
Have a good balance and good harmony in the wine
The most common dosage terms are Brut, with no more than 12 grams of sugar
Extra Brut with no more than 6 grams of sugar
Brut nature of Brut zero where no sugar is added and then there's demi-sec with over 32 grams of sugar
Next up is the year or vintage of the wine
This will be stated on the front of the bottle and will indicate what year the wine was produced in
However, the majority of champagnes are a blend of vintages referred to as non vintage instead
Although non vintage champagnes will not state a year on the front label. You may find here on the back this
Number represents the base vintage and indicates in which year the majority of grapes in the wine were picked
Champagne labels may even tell you exactly how long the wine was aged for
This is known as the date of Degorgement and tells you exactly when the wine was
Degorged before the bottle was finally corked, and eventually released for sale
On the back label,
This is very important information and actually at Charles Heidsieck,
we always always, always put the date of Mis En Cave, and the date of
disgorgement, it gives you the
crucial information about time in the cellars, the aging
And the more the champagne ages in the cellar the more developed it will be in terms of aromas
complexity
generosity
The vast majority of champagne is white, made from a blend of red and white grapes
However, you may see in the term Blanc de Blanc,
Blanc de Noir,
Or even rose on the label. All three denote a very particular style or blend of champagne. Blanc de Blanc means
Made with Chardonnay, which are the white grapes. So Blanc de Blanc means white champagne, made from exclusively, white grapes.
Blanc de Noir is the opposite and is made exclusively from black grapes
All grape juice is white though and it's merely the skin of the grape that gives wine its color
To make a Blanc de Noir winemakers will press red grapes very quickly and remove the juice from the skin ensuring the liquid stays white
This means that Blanc de Noir are not as easy to spot in the glass as one might think as for rosy
There are actually two ways to make it in champagne
First there's blending which is adding red wine to an existing white wine base
And then there's Saignee, or bleeding
Which is leaving the grape juice in contact with the Red skins to extract the desired amount of colour
However, rarely will the method be stated on the label
Finally, there is a growing importance in the style of agricultural production in the wine and champagne industry
Organic and biodynamic farming practices are becoming ever more popular with many winemakers aiming to use non synthetic and more environmentally friendly
substances
Vegan wines are also gaining a lot of popularity
Many wines use animal products like gelatin or egg whites as fining agents
These substances are able to soften and reduce bitterness in wine as well as remove proteins that can cause a wine to be cloudy
However, vegan wines use alternatives such as activated charcoal removing the necessity for animal products
lookout for the EU symbol for organic or for the words
Biodynamic or vegan on the label to know if your wine follows these production methods but even if wines abide by these rules
They won't always be labeled as such. So the best way to find out is to get to know individual producers
Champagne labels won't always give you every piece of information, but it's much easier to buy a bottle with confidence. Once you understand these basic
elements