Well stored, well protected!

When you buy a Champagne, it’s already been aged. It’s spent several months (at least 15) in the wine cellars of the Champagne Grower or House that created it. So it’s ready to be enjoyed.

Nonetheless, you can keep it for several more years. But if you do so, take care to follow a few golden rules!

• Bottles can be stored upright or on their sides, in a cool place, at a constant temperature of between 10 and 15°C;
• Humidity must be high and constant, between 60% and 80%;
• The bottle must be protected from light, vibrations and odours;
• The storage place must be well ventilated.

If you’ve ticked all the boxes, your Champagne will keep its attributes for a long time!

Understanding a label

There’s a wide variety of Champagne wines. It isn’t always easy to find your way around! A quick overview of a few notions that will help you better understand the wine that’s in the bottle.

Dosage 

it all depends on how much dosage liqueur (a mixture of sugar and wine) is added to the Champagne at the final stage of its elaboration. Although 90% of Champagne wines are "Brut", there are a number of sweeter ones.

Here's how Champagne wines are classified depending on sugar levels:

• Extra brut: between 0 and 6 grams of sugar per litre;
• Brut: less than 12 grams of sugar per litre;
• Extra dry: between 12 and 17 grams of sugar per litre;
• Sec: between 17 and 32 grams of sugar per litre;
• Demi-sec: between 32 and 50 grams of sugar per litre;
• Doux: more than 50 grams of sugar per litre.

Grape variety

when they are mentioned, the grape varieties in the blend provide indications of the Champagne’s profile. As regards chardonnay, we’d be looking for liveliness, minerality and notes of citrus fruits and white flowers. With pinot noir, it would be body, structure, red fruits and such flowers as violets and roses. As for meunier, it provides fruity notes, roundness, and notes of apples, pears and yellow fruits. 

The designation Blanc de Blancs indicates that the Champagne is only made from white grape varieties, mainly Chardonnay, while a Blanc de Noirs is made from red grape varieties alone, Pinot Noir and/or Meunier.

Vintage

a Champagne can be vintage or otherwise. When a harvest is truly outstanding, the winemaker can decide to create a cuvée from that year’s grapes alone. 

Brand

Some iconic names are references in themselves. Through the choices they make in their vineyard and wine cellar, each producer develops their own recognisable style, their signature, to be found in each bottle. 

Labels

Some labels and notices may indicate how the Champagne was made: High Environmental Value, Organic, etc.

Make sure my bottle is chilled

Champagne should be drunk chilled in order to appreciate its finesse and aromas to the full. Chilled but not ice-cold! The ideal temperature for a bottle of Champagne is between about 8-10°C.  

To get it right, put the bottle in an ice bucket half filled with water and ice, from 20 to 30 minutes before serving. You can also put it in the bottom of the fridge a few hours before you open it.

What sort of glass should I enjoy my Champagne in?

People often believe that the best way to serve Champagne is in a flute or coupe. Actually, these two shapes aren’t best suited to expressing its full character! Choose a tall , bulbous glass with a narrow top, shaped like a tulip. Your Champagne will then be able to deploy all its aromas and fine bubbles.

Of course, if you’d rather serve Champagne in flutes or coupes, what with all the sophistication and imagination that these legendary objects from the Belle Époque and cinema embody, you can do that instead!

Opening and serving a bottle of Champagne

Opening a bottle of Champagne can be an impressive sight. The pressure in the bottle can send the cork flying, especially if the bottle has been shaken up a bit... Take care not to hurt somebody! A gentle touch and a little circumspection are in order. If you follow this advice, don’t worry: everything will be fine!

Once it’s at the ideal temperature, around 8-10°C, take the bottle out of the fridge or ice bucket. Wipe it with a cloth if necessary. 

Start by removing the muselet (wire cage) and its foil cap, with the help of the tear strip provided. Take care to keep a firm grip on the cork and don’t point the bottle at anyone. 

Next, still keeping a firm hold on the cork, grasp the bottle’s body and rotate it gently, removing the cork from the neck without letting it escape. Once you’ve got the cork out, you can amuse yourself by checking that it actually includes the term Champagne and, if applicable, the vintage year. 

At last the time has come to pour the Champagne. You should do this in two stages: first of all, a small quantity. Take a few moments to breathe in its aromas, enough time for the wine to aerate a little. Then fill the glass, pouring the Champagne slowly and regularly until it’s two-thirds full.

The imagination as applied to Champagne

Champagne is a wine that has always stirred mankind’s imagination. If you’re in a playful mood, for example, you can try your hand at the art of sabering Champagne. Watch out, though, it’s a bit risky and can even be dangerous! Originally, sabering was performed by cavalry regiments, the Napoleonic Guard’s’ famous hussars in particular. It was their custom to celebrate victorious returns from battle with Champagne. They used the blunt side of the sabre’s blade to knock the cork out of the bottle in a single spectacular, masterly stroke. 

Sabering Champagne requires practice and compliance with a few rules. For maximum safety, protect the hand holding the bottle with a napkin or glove and make sure that the Champagne is very cold. Look for the "welding line" on the neck of the bottle – i.e. the join between the two parts of the bottle that enabled its creation. Give the rim a quick, sharp blow with a long knife, following the body of the bottle’s welding line near the neck. You need to be really deft and it may not work the first time; but you can be sure it will finally do the trick! 

Once the bottle is open, there are different ways of doing things. For example, presentation of glasses creating a fountain, pyramid or waterfall of Champagne is a common practice at weddings or other major celebrations.

Washing the glasses

The way you wash the glasses is very important when it comes to enjoying a Champagne at its best.

A bit of advice: don’t put them in the dishwasher. Wash them by hand in hot water, without using detergent as this will prevent formation of elegant bubbles during serving, a requisite for full enjoyment. Dry them by hand.

Storing an open bottle

So lunch is over and there is an unfinished bottle left? Seal it using a stopper cap, specially designed for storing sparkling wines. Then put the bottle in a cool place. It can be placed upright or on its side, either way won’t have an impact on the wine. Watch out though, once opened, a bottle won't keep for long!

It’s been said that putting a little spoon in a bottle of Champagne’s neck will ensure that it keeps. Actually, though, that’s not true at all! So use a special cork instead, that’ll ensure you keep the bubbles bubbling.