Champagne glossary

terroir:

  • Grand Cru, of those towns that have the highest rating of 100%.
    There are only 17 villages classified as Grand Cru. They represent some 3,000 hectares (of the 34,000 total).
    The towns classified as Grand Cru are: Ambonnay, Avize, Ai, Beaumont-sud-Vesle, Bouzy, Chouilly (for Chardonnay only), Cramant, Louvois, Mailly-Champagne, The Mesnil-sud-Oger, Ozyger, Oiry, Puisieulx, Sillery, Tours-sud-Marne (for Pinzenayor only), Ver
  • Premier Cru, towns that will receive between 90 and 99% valuation.
    There are 44 villages that have the qualification of Premier Cru, which add up to about 7,500 hectares.
  • Cru, these municipalities have an assessment of 80 to 89%.
    They are the majority of the municipalities of Champagne with 255 municipalities and represent 70% of the Champagne vineyard.

    The name “Grand Cru” is very little in the labels because it can only be used if all the grapes come from municipalities with this classification something very difficult since most coupages contain grapes from various “Crues”.

    The name “Premier Cru” has the same problem. The coupages are rather classified with a percentage of 80% to 100%, determined by the amount of grapes used for the composition of the mixture.

    Only the major brands of prestige produce wines that have an average of more than 90% on the Crus scale is that they are produced only with grapes of “Grands Crus” and “Premiers Crus”.

    dosage:

    • BRUT NATURE: Champagne is not sweetened, with less than 3 g/l of residual sugar, without dosage or zero dosage.
    • EXTRA BRUT: It can contain up to 6 g/l of sugar.
    • BRUT: May contain up to 12 g/l of sugar.
    • EXTRA DRY: It can contain between 12 and 17 g/l of sugar.
    • SEC: May contain between 17 and 32 g/l of sugar.
    • DEMI-SEC: It can contain between 32 and 50 g/l of sugar.
    • DOUX: It can exceed 50 g/l of sugar.

      grapes:

      • BLANC: Champagne made only with Chardonnay white grapes.
      • BLANC DE NOIRS: White Champagne made with red grapes of pinot noir and/or pinot meunier.
      • ROSÉ D’ASSEMBLAGE: red wine is added to the coupage.
      • ROSÉ DE SAIGNÉE: The red grape is left to macerate with the must from 6 to 18 hours.

        vintages:

        • NON-VINTAGE: With grapes from different vintages with a minimum of 15 months of aging.
        • MILLÉSIMÉ: Champagne of vintage, it is made only when the harvest is exceptional. They can be from different vineyards and different varieties but always from the same year. The minimum aging time is 3 years.