How Reserve Wines Contribute To The Art Of Champagne Making

Reserve wines stored in barrels at Louis Roederer in Reims, France.

The true art of champagne making lies in its blending; largely because of the difficulty associated with producing a good and balanced wine from a single location and grape variety. Climate irregularities (producing poor vintages), house style and volume needed to meet sales demand requires wine to be blended from different locations, grape varieties and vintages.

Reserve wines are a necessary and integral part of blending non-vintage champagne every year. They are produced by becoming base wines – undergoing the first fermentation – and then stored (in a tank, bottle or barrel) and used to blend the champagne at a later stage. The act of blending reduces vintage variations (ensuring consistency) and adds complexity in the production of non-vintage champagne. 

Importantly, this ensures that champagne producers are able to achieve their house style year after year as well as making young champagne drinkable; imparting depth, roundness, toastiness, oak characters (if stored in barrels) and complexity as well as restraining the very high levels of acidity naturally present in the wine.

Having a large collection of reserve wines is imperative for the Chef de Cave (chief winemaker) to successfully blend a wine to overcome vintage variations and achieve house style. Therefore, wine must be developed from many different locations right across the Champagne region. Champagne Houses use their large buying capacity and network of growers to gain the very best access to grapes in order to produce a large library of wines that can be stored as reserve wines. By way of example, Bollinger’s Special Cuvee uses 120 different parcels of land across 30 crus from the Vallee de la Marne; around 80 per cent of which are of Grand Cru and Premier Cru quality. It is generally considered that the more wine that is blended together from different and geographically diverse parcels of land, the more complex and better quality the resulting champagne will be.

The amount of reserve wine used in each blend is at the discretion of the Chef de Cave and varies (typically between 10 and 50 per cent) according to vintage conditions and the requirements of house style. Some Champagne Houses, like Louis Roederer for example, are known for using generous amounts of reserve wines (up to 12 per cent) to create their signature toasty, rich and complex non-vintage champagne. At their premises in Reims, they have 150 oak barrels used exclusively for reserve wines. Kept in their year of vintage, there is enough wine for 1.3 million bottles – the largest collection of reserve wine in Champagne. Of course, this large collection of reserve wine could not be possible without excellent access to the precious grapes that afford such a bountiful supply. Louis Roederer is the largest owner of vineyards in Champagne; guaranteeing them 75 per cent of their required production levels each year. Having access to the best grapes in significant quantities year after year has enabled Roederer to develop excellent reserve wines that have consistently produced very high quality non-vintage champagne year after year (irrespective of vintage conditions), and a strong and identifiable character. The greater the percentage of reserve wine added to the final blend of champagne, the better quality and complex it will be.

Lastly, the more the reserve wines used in a blend, the less dosage is required to smooth out vintage variations. By way of example, the very hot 2003 vintage produced many inconsistencies in grape quality across Champagne. Champagne Houses that used a high proportion of reserve wines were able to successfully smooth out these inconsistencies and produce drinkable, quality champagne that is quite dry on the palate.

So it would seem that using increasingly higher amounts of reserve wine not only improves the overall quality of champagne, it is also a key point of difference that separates champagne from other sparkling wines around the world.

Journey to Champagne 2012 - Part 1

Champagne is unlike any other wine region in the world. It's how I imagine it would be to travel to the land of OZ. Minus Dorothy's red shoes and a few funny looking friends, it's like another world; one that people aspire to and is filled with all that represents living a beautiful life - regional gastronomy, provincial living, and - of course - champagne.

To this end, the region of Champagne should be another tourist mecca like Burgundy or Bordeaux - but it's not. Thank goodness for that. The yellow brick road that leads to the Champagne hubs of Reims or Epernay from Paris is less than an hour north-east by train. Whether you head there for a few hours or a few days, it's a wonderful respite from the calamity of Paris during high season.

Our entire four week European sojourn had been mapped around visiting Champagne in early October, taking care to observe likely harvesting times, which historically occur in September. In light of some pretty horrific downpours, devastating hail storms, and cooler weather, I kept a vigilant eye on any emerging news from Champagne that may have provided a hiccup in our schedule.

Not dissimilar to the difficulty Dorothy had getting in to see the Wizard of OZ, securing a tour or tasting at a champagne house or grower can be just as tricky - even in the best of times. So obtaining access during harvest is almost impossible as the houses and growers go into lock down. That is, if you're a relative nobody like me. Needless to say, as each day passed with no news from the CIVC (Comité Interprofessional du Vin de Champagne) on harvesting times, our itinerary was beginning to look a little bleak.

But then, true to Champagne style, the bad weather went away just as it was thought all hope had been lost. The clouds parted, the sun came out, and the ripening began. Harvest commenced on 10 September in the Marne and Aube regions and concluded almost two weeks later. With every appointment confirmed (apart from one), we were set.

A Rosé Of Great Style And Finesse - Louis Roederer Vintage Brut Rosé 2004

Since last week when I blogged my tasting notes on Louis Roederer's Vintage Blanc de Blancs 2004, there has been a significant development with this champagne house.

Decanter magazine announced that Louis Roederer had increased its vineyard ownership from 214 hectares to 230 hectares all whilst becoming Champagne's largest biodynamic producer, following the purchase of Champagne Leclerc Briant.

The purchase comes after the passing of Pascal Leclerc Briant in 2010, leaving his three daughters to gradually sell off the 30 hectare estate which mostly takes in highly coveted Premier Cru territory.

Louis Roederer purchased two hectares in October 2011 and its owners, the Rouzaud family, has paid an estimated €40M to buy the remaining estate which includes the Leclerc Briant brand itself. These remaining parcels of land are located in the Premier Cru areas of Hautvilliers, Cumières and Damery.

Capturing The Terroir Perfectly - Louis Roederer Vintage Blanc de Blancs 2004

Almost every champagne house claims to be the 'first' for having done something or the only one that does something a certain way. So when I drink champagne, I like to think about what makes it different to any other.

When it comes to Louis Roederer it does have a defining flavour and texture that to some degree sets it apart from many others. It's not defining in an obvious way like a Bollinger, for example. But there is a consistent, almost 'gritty' texture that comes through in all of its cuvees as well as having loads of character and flavour. It's simply delicious!

So, going back to my initial question, what does Louis Roederer do to produce these experiential qualities? And what other elements contribute to making their vintage blanc de blancs different to others?

One Of My Top Three Non-Vintages - Louis Roederer Premier Brut

A non-vintage brut champagne is a classic style of champagne that most of us drink when we think of picking up a bottle on Friday night or when we’re going over to someone’s house for dinner. The biggest appeal is that it’s easy to drink and gives us that classic champagne taste of the blended three grape varieties: pinot noir, pinor meunier and chardonnay.

Where some non-vintage champagnes let me down is in the fact they’re still very young and so have sharp, citric (lemon/lime) or strong green apple flavours; to me they need a little more time to develop that classic champagne taste (non-vintages only have to be aged for 15 months, according to the Appellation d’OrigineContrôlée (AOC) – the regulatory authority for champagne, although some champagne houses age them longer). These young, fun and lively champagnes should be taken (and enjoyed) as they are; mostly as an aperitif on a lazy Sunday afternoon with cheese, over a barbeque with friends or on a Friday night sitting on the couch watching TV.