Divinely brut

 

Champagne is a paradox in the French wine world where everything is heritage and tradition. Actually, here’s a wine whose creator’s, Dom Pérignon, date of birth doesn’t go way back to ancient times but to the invention of the first suitable glass bottle container by Sir Kenelm Digby. And above all, beyond the idea of “taste of place,” reflects the role of human intervention in the winemaking process. Indeed, a winemaker visualises the Champagne before making it; a concept carried through according to who’s going to drink it. Régis Camus, head winemaker at Charles Heidsieck and Piper Heidsieck and awarded Sparkling Winemaker Of The Year at the International Wine Challenge four years in a row, thus admits that the style of the two brands under his responsibility fits the drinking occasion: more connoisseur and foodie for Charles Heidsieck, more celebratory for Piper Heidsieck. This isn’t just marketing or heresy since it’s in Champagne’s genes to adapt to its avid fans. Hence why, before Dom Pérignon, bubbles were a fault but, as fortunately people liked it, it became sought after then the norm.

 

The first consumers were the English then French aristocracy, and it was during the Regency up to the bitter end of Louis XIV’s reign that Champagne became a celebratory wine; and occasionally for the kind of debauchery rightly criticised by the Duke of Richelieu: “Orgies never started until everybody was in a state of euphoria from Champagne wine.” The Champagne kept on flowing during Louis XV’s reign, whose consumption was immortalised in a picture, Oysters for Lunch by Jean-François de Troy, which the designer Maarten Baas took his inspiration from to recreate a “French-style serving” for the fiftieth anniversary of Dom Ruinart. If Champagne was first portrayed as part of fine dining with this painting, its association with celebration and polite society didn’t go away, as you can see from the society column in London’s Connoisseur dated 6th June 1754: “A few rich beautiful young things were in the company of a famous lady of leisure; one of them took her shoe off and, gallantly over the top, filled it with champagne which he drank to her health. The others then raised their glasses to her in the same delicious way.” This ritual really took off in the Belle Époque, instigated by Russian aristocrats converted to fizz since Catherine the Great served it to her brave followers to reinvigorate them, as well the Prince of Wales who used to frequent the Folies Bergères in Paris. This tradition has been given a contemporary make-over by Piper Heidsieck, in association with shoemaker for stars Christian Louboutin, with their gift-shoebox containing a bottle of Champagne and slim crystal shoe that you can only wear on your lips. For those fetishists who’d like to try with real shoes, it’s worth remembering that the Champagne drank in the 19th Century was much sweeter than it is now. Bottles exported to Russia then had 250 to 330 grams of sugar per litre in them!

 

That dose of sugar is another facet of how adaptable Champagne is in the seduction process. It was opulent when the time was right or when it was drunk as a dessert wine. The more classic style emerged because of its British clientele who, already drinking Sauternes, Sherry and Port, didn’t need a new pudding wine. The first “Brut” Champagne was created by Pommery in 1874, quickly followed by all Champagne houses exporting to Great Britain. Even if brut with a maximum of 12 grams of sugar per litre is nowadays by far in the majority around the world, there are still sweeter qualities: extra-dry (between 12 and 17 g/l) which is still very popular with Americans who Moët & Chandon market their Imperial Nectar cuvée to, dry (17 to 32 g/l), medium-dry (32 to 50 g/l) for after the family meal at grandma’s and sweet (over 50 g/l) which you hardly see anymore. This adding of sugar is done at the final stage in the form of liqueur, hence where its name liqueur d’expédition (“sending off”) comes from. In the 19th Century, the liqueur d’expédition could contain some Port, Cognac spirit, Cognac, Kirsch, raspberry or elderberry schnapps as well as solutions saturated in alum, tartaric acid and tannin. Nowadays only concentrated champagne wine must and cognac spirit between 80 and 85° alcohol are allowed. Cognac spirit, which also helped increase Champagne’s alcohol content by 0.5°, is slowly disappearing since Vranken abandoned using it in 1979 although its sister-company, Charles Lafitte & Co, was a Cognac brand before becoming a Champagne brand. The best houses now prefer cane sugar. As for Drappier, they age their liqueurs d’expédition in oak casks then demijohns for at least ten years, to let them gain concentration and finesse. This “dosage” has become the norm and allows them to correct any anomalies found when tasting and blending, following the adage: “The younger the wine is, the higher the dose of sugar should be to balance out its youthful acidity.” But we’ve seen certain Champagnes based on fruit purity reappear over the last few years, extra-brut dosed with less than 6 g/l and “brut nature,” also called non-dosed, no dosage or zero dosage.

 

In 1981, Laurent-Perrier was the first to give a contemporary make-over to a no-dosage baptised Ultra Brut. A rightful return to form for a house that launched a “Sugar-free Grand Vin” in 1889, had its biggest success in England before seeing itself progressively dropped after the First World War. Bernard de Nonancourt explained why the comeback. “The long time it took for sugar-free Champagne to be eclipsed reflects changes in our society and manners surprisingly closely… From a drink for nobility to the middle classes, Champagne effortlessly brought pure pleasure to a meal then the dessert too. Another time, different way of thinking; with lighter meals and vital needs, spurned on by our comfortable lives and trying to simplify our routine favoured by our uneven timetable; it’s all heading towards making champagne fashionable again as an aperitif… like in the past. Flexibility suits it less well on this occasion. Expectation and enjoyment are once again focusing on Brut styles. The time’s now come for a renaissance of sugar-free Champagne, the most like real wine.” This opinion proved prophetic as, since then, Champagne has continued to migrate from dessert time to aperitif time, leading to several zero dosage cuvées emerging and recently even a “brut nature” rosé from Ayala. Changes in eating habits also play a role in its development. “These are hugely refreshing Champagnes with lots of mineral bite, which are marvellous with oysters and, more generally, shellfish and raw fish, for example sushi,” Cédric Mer from Veuve Devaux explained. Zero dosage wines are still “only for real connoisseurs as that lively character can be a bit much for an unsuspecting public,” and let’s not forget Champagne’s other qualities.

Party wine, foodie wine and sometimes pudding wine; it can also transform itself into dinner party wine and nightcap, an attitude that Pommery’s POP is trying hard to develop with its little bottle, where the fizz has been reduced so you can drink it with a straw. Adaptability, you’ve got us hooked!