What is Vintage / Non-Vintage Champagne?
Non-vintage Champagne (NV)
In order to create well-balanced Champagne, producers will use specific grape varieties and blend wines from varying years and harvests. This ensures that the flavour and quality of the Champagne is maintained from previous harvests. Non-Vintage (NV) Champagne is more affordable than its vintage counterpart, but is still remarkable, accounting for nearly as much as 90% of all Champagnes produced. Producers reserve a portion of their harvest each year to use in future blends.
Once a non-vintage Champagne has been blended, legally it must mature in the bottle for a minimum period of 15 months before it can be sold to the public. As Champagne’s age they develop more intense notes which are pleasing to the palate.
Vintage Champagne
Vintage Champagnes, also known as millesime, are created from grapes harvested during a specific year. Not all years are deemed “Vintage”, only certain years with exceptional harvests can be declared as vintage and this status is determined by the individual Champagne Houses. The year of the vintage is always displayed on the front label of the Champagne bottle.
Once vintage Champagne has been blended, legally it must mature for 3 years before it can be sold to the public. Champagne Houses will commonly age their bottles for longer periods.
Classification of Champagne Vineyards
Premier cru refers to a village that would have been rated between 90-99% on the old échelle des crus ("ladder of growth" - the old pricing system for Champagne). That is to say that the grapes would have received 90-99% of the fixed price for grapes.
In Champagne, grand cru is a classification that used to determine the pricing of grapes. There are 17 grand cru villages, and these continue to enjoy a high-level of prestige.
Grape Varieties Champagne is usually made using three grapes – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. They all contribute to the complexity of the Champagne is different ways:
It is up to the cellar-master to choose the percentages of each grape in the Champagne to create the very best from his grapes.
There are various types of Champagne which can differ widely in terms of both taste and price. |  |
Styles of Champagne Brut Rosé Rosé Champagne or as it is commonly called “Pink” Champagne can be created by one of two methods: the addition of a small quantity of Pinot Noir to the Champagne or by allowing the grape skins to colour the wine – this is known as the saigneé method. Demi-Sec Sweeter champagne, usually containing 3.3% and 5% residual sugar Cuvée Cuvees are blended from the most subtle and distinctive wines in order to create a well-balanced Champagne. Prestige Cuvée Prestige cuvées are the finest Champagnes that a producer makes, the grapes used come from the best harvests in a specific year and the best vineyards. Recently Disgorged This Champagne is disgorged just before being sold, maintaining its freshness. The Champagne is also able to mature for longer in the bottle. | |
| Blanc de Blancs Champagnes made using only Chardonnay grapes - a choice white grape variety from the Champagne region. Blanc de Blancs champagne is usually lighter in colour. Classic Blanc de Blancs is elegant when young, as it ages it develops a richness resembling brioche with an intense expression of fruitiness. Blanc de Blancs usually has a longer ageing potential than a typical Blanc de Blancs | |
| Blanc de Noirs Champagne Blanc de Noirs Champagnes are made from two grapes, the Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier varieties. Bollinger's prestige cuvée Vieilles Vignes Françaises from ungrafted, old Pinot Noir vines has set the yardstick in the style that is now produced by a number of other Champagne houses. A typical Blanc de Noirs cuvée has deep golden colour, and can be more intensely flavoured than the classic non-vintage multi-grape blend. |  |
------------------------------------------------------------------
Champagne Bottle Sizes
There are nine different sizes of Champagne bottles
| Name | Volume | Quantity |
Mini / Piccolo | 200 ml | 1/4 bottle |
| Half | 375 ml | 1/2 bottle |
| Standard | 750 ml | 1 bottle |
| Magnum | 1,500 ml | 2 bottles |
| Jeroboam | 3,000 ml | 4 bottles |
| Methuselah | 6,000 ml | 8 bottles |
| Shalmanazar | 9,000 ml | 12 bottles |
| Balthazar | 12,000 ml | 15 bottles |
| Nebuchadnezzar | 15,000 ml | 18 bottles |