CHAMPAGNE

Its seductive effervescence, its meticulous and exquisite preparation and its long history make Champagne one of the most internationally renowned wines. With incomparable flavor and aroma, Champagne is currently a sign of distinction and exclusivity. WIKWINES offers its customers a wide range of Champagne references: Dom Perignon, Armand de Brignac, Roederer, Krug, Pol Roger, Bollinger, Veuve Clicquot, Moët & Chandon, Gh Mumm, Pommery, Lanson, and many more. at an exceptional price.

CHAMPAGNE, THE ART OF BUBBLES

The Qualified Designation of Origin (AOC) Champagne is located in the north-eastern part of France and covers approximately 34,000 hectares. Located 150 kilometers east of Paris, the vineyard is divided into 4 major regions: the Montagne de Reims, the Vallée de la Marne, the Côte des Blancs and the Côte des Bar.

A remarkable feature of this denomination is the specificity of its "terroir", mostly calcareous, of great relief, implanted on slopes and with oceanic and continental climate. This originality, together with its forms of production, provide Champagne wines its typicity. Another characteristic of the area is the parcelling of the land, more than 250,000, each with its own qualities.

The AOC Champagne has several centuries of history, the result of its characteristic terroir and the know-how of the producers, especially with regard to the control of effervescence. Finally, in 1927, the delimitation of the wine Champagne area was established by law with a complete census of the municipalities likely to produce the wine of the denomination. In 1936, Champagne became AOC. The Champagne Denomination can only be applied to sparkling wines that are made from grapes from the vineyards located in the 319 villages or "cru" that make up this wine region.

The wines are produced by natural fermentation in the bottle as established by the AOC. Three types of grapes are used: Pinotnoir (black grape), muenier (black grape and chardonnay (white grape).

As regards production, Champagne distinguishes 2 types.

On the one hand, there are the "vignerons", around 20.000, grape growers and winemakers who control the production processes and work their land to sell the grapes to the big "maisons" of Champagne or to sell themselves, as happens with the collective brand «Les Champagnes de Vignerons» , created in 2001.

On the other hand, we have the "Maisons de Champagne", 320 companies that produce and distribute a great Champagne brand and that are responsible for the visibility and prestige of Champagne wines around the world.

The law of 1927 classified the quality of the vineyard applying to each of them a scale that ranges from 80% to 100%. This way we find:

Grands Crus: those towns that have the highest rating. Specifically,17 villages that represent less than 9% of the total vineyard of Champagne. The towns classified as Grands Crus are: Ambonnay, Avize, Ay, Beaumont-sur-Vesle, Bouzy, Chouilly, Cramant, Louvois, Mailly-Champagne, Les Mesnil-sur-Oger, Oger, Oiry, Puisieulx, Sillery, Tours-sur -Marne, Verzenay and Verzy.
Premiers Crus: towns that receive a rating between 90% and 99%. There are 44 villages that have the qualification of Premier Cru, which add up to 7,500 hectares.
Cru: villages or vineyards that receive a rating between 80% and 89%.

Thus, the vineyards located in locations with higher rating receive 100% of the price of the grape. This system guarantees that both the Grand Houses that buy the majority of the grapes from small growers and the wine growers themselves will be protected by a reasonable price for the grapes depending on the quality of the raw material they offer.