The art of Champagne
Champagne wines and their vinification
The harvest: the birth of the Champagne wines
The art of pressing in Champagne consists in a gentle handling of the
grapes, a slow and progressive pressing process and a division of the
must (grape juices) into Cuvée (first quality) and Taille (second
quality). The pressing takes place immediately after picking.
From the pressing, our cellar workers use their know-how and experience
to produce exceptional "cuvées".
Thanks to our two quality-approved presses, we divide the grape juices in
order to produce separate cuvées. These cuvées will be used
to compose our prestigious Champagnes.
Once the grapes are pressed, the must is allowed to rest for 12 hours at a temperature of 10°C. This operation called "débourbage" (settling) consists in separating the clear juice from particles (skins, pips…) remaining in the juice.
Once the "débourbage" is over, the alcoholic fermentation can take place without any problem. During this step, the must turns into wine with the help of selected yeast ferments. The wines which are then obtained are called still wines or clear wines.
Wine blending in Champagne
In the spring of the following year, the various "crus" (villages), the various grape varieties and reserve wines are blended together in order to obtain a consistent wine quality from one year to the next. Baron Albert Champagnes blend:
- Grapes coming from 7 "crus" (=villages) in the Marne Valley,
- The three Champagne grape varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Noir,
- From one to four years of wine production.
There is not a single blend but many, and each blend is unique. Our special talent in the family is to give our style and personality to our champagnes. Just like musicians and painters, we create and compose a whole range of champagnes.
Bottling
Bottling takes place just after blending. At bottling time, the bottles are filled:
- our blend,
- ferments,
- liquor.
Why do we add ferments and liquor at this point? In order to trigger
the second fermentation. The ferments, by feeding on the sugars, will
produce carbon dioxide gas, alcohol and other products which take part
in the composition of flavours.
The sparkling wine is born because the carbon dioxide cannot escape
from the tightly sealed bottle.
Bottling line : the different steps
Aging: maturation of Champagnes
Albert Baron, the founder of Baron Albert Champagnes, dug, with the help
of his sons, a cellar out of the chalk. 30 years were needed to finish it.
This aging cellar can contain up to 1.3 million bottles. Our bottles
are laid in the restful darkness of our cellar, unique in Charly sur Marne
and its surroundings.
This vital phase enables our Champagnes to open out and the flavours to reach their fullness.
At Baron Albert Champagne, the Vintage Champagnes are aged for at least 5 years, and 3 years for the non-vintages.
Riddling and disgorging
To discard the sediment produced by the yeast cells during the second
fermentation, the bottles are riddled. This process consists in progressively
turning and tilting the bottle upside down in order to bring the sediment
to the neck of the bottle.
The riddling operation is carried out in gyropalettes, steel wire crates
containing 500 bottles.
The disgorging consists in opening the bottle and expelling the sediment
after having frozen the neck in very cold liquid brine.
The dosage of your Champagne is performed immediately after disgorging.
A blend of dosage liquor (made from reserve wines and cane sugar syrup)
is added to the Champagne.
As soon as the liquor is added, the bottle is sealed with an oak cork
tightly held in position with a muzzle.
Labelling
Your favourite Champagne bottles are exquisitely labelled approximately
one month after disgorging.
At this point, our Champagne is ideal to welcome
your guests.
