My favourite drink comes with interesting facts that I wish to dazzle you with…

• Champagne has 319 crus or villages
• Champagne is categorized in 3 tiers:  top – Grand Cru, 2nd level – Premier Cru and the lowest – Cru/Village
• Only 17 of Champagne’s 319 villages enjoy Grand Cru status

• The older the champagne the finer the bubbles!

  

• The vineyards of Champagne total 34000ha planted with Pinot noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay
• Pinot noir adds aromas of red fruit, body and power
• Pinot Meunier is supple and fruity with an intense bouquet. It matures faster and gives roundness to the wines.
• • Moët & Chandon has 1200ha under vines – the biggest vineyards of the Champagne houses.  Veuve-Clicquot has 400ha under vine – the 2nd biggest Champagne House.
  • Chardonnay is the grape of delicacy and finesse providing floral & fruity aromas when young. It assist with the ageing.
    • 25% of the vineyards in Champagne is planted with Chardonnay
    • 75% of the vineyards are planted with the red grapes – Pinot noir & Pinot Meunier
• Moët & Chandon always use all 3 champagne grape varietals in their blend
• The 2013 harvest was late, starting on 30 September for Moët & Chandon
• There are approximately 49 million bubbles in a standard sized bottle of Champagne
• The bubbles settling on top of the wine in the champagne flute is known as the Champagne Disc
• Extra Brut has less than 6 grams of sugar to a bottle
• Champagne is a blend of wines of different Crus, varietals and years to keep the quality and taste JUST the way I want it and remember it!
• Maturation of champagne varies:
  • 12 – 40 years for Vintage
  • average 8 years for non-vintage
• Non-Vintage champagne is blended from wines of several years to achieve a constant “style de maison” House style.
• Dom Perignon only makes vintage champagne
• The pressure in a bottle of champagne is almost 3x as much as in a car’s tyre
• Your favourite bubbles need to taste the same year after year and needs to right blend of different cru, varietals and years