There is perhaps not a wine style in all the world that conjures up images of luxury and success like the bottle of bubbles known as Champagne. Champagne is synonymous with celebration, whether it’s spraying all over the driver’s podium, a birthday bash or even Valentine’s Day (hint, hint!). We can’t call the sparkling stuff made here in Australia “Champagne” but we do make some brilliant bottles of bubbles in this country and indeed right here in the Yass Valley region.
The very first sparkling wines were apparently made in the early 1500’s by Benedictine monks in the ancient Abbeys of France. They discovered, perhaps accidentally, that by bottling the wine before it had finished fermentation, it produced an explosion of bubbles when the bottle was opened. Over a hundred years later, in the mid 1600’s, an English scientist first documented that with the addition of sugar to the bottle before sealing, the wine undertook a secondary fermentation, causing the carbon dioxide to dissolve within the wine. When the bottle was opened, the sudden release of pressure caused the dissolved carbon dioxide to form a sparkling stream of bubbles. This process became known as “méthode traditionnelle”, a process that is still followed today in the production of Champagne and sparkling wines all over the world.
Back in these early days, the bottles produced rarely stood up to the pressure of the wine from within and often exploded. Then came improved bottle designs including the fortifying bump on the base of the bottle known as the “punt”, and the invention of the little wire cage in the mid 1800’s known as the “muselet” which helped keep the cork from exploding from the bottle. The wheels were now in motion for Champagne and the rest, as they say, is history.
True Champagne can only be labelled as such with sparkling wines made with the méthode traditionnelle and from the French region of Champagne. Champagne is mostly made with any combination of three grape varieties – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Champagne made only from Chardonnay grapes is known as “Blanc de Blancs” or white from white. Champagne made from only Pinot Noir grapes is known as “Blanc de Noir” or white from black. A great deal of Champagne though is made from both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir together.
While there are other ways of making sparklers these days, most made in Australia use the méthode traditionnelle and with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. So the next time you’re visiting one of our fantastic local cellar doors and there’s a bubbly on offer, ask them how theirs is made, raise the glass and drop a nod to its amazing heritage.
Cheers!
