Champagne: Wine Region of France

Champagne is a historic region of the northern administrative province of France. It is the best-known wine region around 160 kilometers from Paris, the capital of France. The Champagne administrative region is divided into five districts, namely - Vallée de la Marne, Montagne de Reims, Côte de Sézanne, Aube and Côte des Blancs, with Reims and Épernay being the main commercial segments of the region. All these regions, including around 14,000 grape growers in 300 villages, produce the world's finest, rich and sparkling white wine, which is France's greatest export.

This region has 3% of the total vine planted area. The credit of the smooth, light and fine wine goes to the texture of the soil as well. When the ocean structure changed about 70 million years back, it deposited the chalk subsoil behind it and after 60 million years, disastrous earthquakes rocked the region leaving the belemnite fossils and the marine sediments. All this resulted into the very fertile belemnite chalk terrain. This type of soil absorbs the day heat and releases it during the night. The soil also has a great drainage quality.

The Champagne region is near Paris, the capital of France. It has always been used as a crossroad for both, military as well as trade route. The ongoing military conflicts made huge impact on this region. At the time of the Hundred Years' War, the region was completely devastated. The village of Hautvillers was completely destroyed during the war of religion, that took place between the Catholics and Huguenots. Again the Thirty Years War and the Fronde Civil War caused huge loss to the vineyards because the whole region was stampeded by the military troops. This cycle of wars and devastation was on until the reign of Louise XIV, which finally brought peace to France and eventually the vineyards too.

Champagne's reputation prospered in the late middle ages, when several poets and writers made the wine of this region popular. At one point of time, many popes and royal authorities like, Pope Leo X, Charles V of Spain, Mary Queen of Scots, Francis I of France and Henry VIII of England also couldn't resist buying a tract of their own. After a few years, wine was being exported. The first recorded wine export happened in the year 1518, when Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, the chancellor of Henry VIII exported it from Champagne to England. The wines of this region, sold in Paris under two categories - vins de la montagne (wine of the wooden mountain) and vins de la rivière (wine of the Marne river), were very high in price. There was a trade rivalry between the Champagne and the Burgundy wines. This competition, in the 15th century, made the vineyard owners to cultivate the Pinot Noir, but it couldn't outdo the richness and quality of the Burgundy wine. After giving it much thought, they decided to concentrate on white wine only.

The foundation of a Champagne house was laid in the late 16th century, when a vineyard owner Gosset produced and exported still wine by his own name in the year 1584. This concept was new to the other farmers and soon after, producers like Ruinart, Moët et Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, etc. came in the market and became successful wine producers. The total wine production was around 300,000 bottles a year in 1800 but as the technology advanced, a revolution happened. By the 19th century, the total production had reached upto 20 million bottles a year.

In the early 19th century, the administration of Champagne decided its viticultural boundaries and the five districts were formed. With a total area of around 76,000 acres of about 300 villages, there are more than 15000 vineyard owners who sell grapes for wine and 5000 owners who produce wine. There are plans to expand this region to 360 villages. All the districts produce grapes of different types and quality. This enhances the quality of the various Champagne houses and help them to maintain their own taste and style. There are three main types of grapes cultivated in the Champagne region, namely - Pinot Noir (found in Aube, Montagne and Reims region), Chardonnay (Cote des Blancs region) and Pinot Meunier (Vallee de la Marne region).

In 1942, the CIVC (Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne) was formed. Its main objective was to protect the equality and the reputation of the Champagne. It worked as a market force and later decided the rules and regulations for the vineyard owners. Only Champagne region has the permission to avoid AOC, term of origin (Appellation d’origine contrôlée) from the label of the wine bottle.

From ancient times Champagne was popular among the rich people around the world, as a celebration drink. Now it is seen in various sports championships and other celebratory occasions like royal weddings; average people also use it on very special occasions like weddings and birthdays. So the demand of champagne is increasing day by day. Though sparkling wine is totally manipulating the trade market of the Champagne region, the other types like - non-sparkling still wines (Bouzy and Coteaux Champenois), rosé (in the region Rosé des Riceys), 'vin de liqueur' called as Ratafia de Champagne are produced here. The Pomace, which is a bi-product of the Champagne, is also produced here but it technically can't compete with the standards of champagne.

Since white wine is in huge demand as it makes more profit, the vineyard owners seem to concentrate more on it. So, on your next visit to France, don't forget to reserve some days for this beautiful birthplace of your favorite champagne!