Champagne

With a wide array of Non Vintage and Vintage champagnes, Drinksupermarket.com is the one stop shop for all occasions and celebrations. Browse well known names such a Bollinger, Moët & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot, to help you choose the right drink for you.

Champagne, derived from the French region of Champagne, is the sparkling wine of choice for complexity, aromatic flavours, precise taste and sophistication. The produce is made up of three grape varieties (Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay) that are combined to produce a still wine. The wine is carefully bottled with sugar and yeast. After which the bottled is capped, laid to its side and kept cool in the cellars of the region for a minimum of 12 months. This is the beginning of the fermentation process. During this process, the alcohol is produced and carbon dioxide is encapsulated in the bottle that leads to the creation of bubbles. Further processing is required that gives the champagne its unique characteristics.

Many countries, regulations and laws protect the use of the word 'champagne' and although there are several sparkling wine producing nations, champagne is generally reserved for sparkling wine produced in the French region.

Champagne comes in varying forms, including Brut,Rosé, Premier Cru/Grand Cru, Prestige Cuvee, Blanc de Noirs,Blanc de Blancs, Brut  Nature, Extra Brut, Extra Dry/ Extra Sec, Demi Sec. Sec and Doux. Each form is unqiue to the next and features characterisitics that help you tell them apart.

Although champagnes may contain more or less sugar, manufacturers are allowed to label their champagnes with a different classification if the champagne contains plus or minus 3 grams of sugar per litre. For example a Extra-Brut champagne can be labelled as Brut so long as it's sugar content is only 3 more grams than the Brut classification.

Fact: In the French region of Champagne there are over 19,000 vineyard owners, only 5,000 of which are owned by Champagne producers.

To learn more about the different types of Champagnes and to understand the history of Champagne, we recommend you visit champagemagic.com