Champagne glossary: from assemblage to Voltis
Our Champagne glossary explains, in one place, almost 40 terms you will come across on labels and in descriptions of Champagne, from assemblage to Voltis. Each entry has a short definition based on the Champagne appellation rules and Comité Champagne materials, and for the more important terms we link to separate Guide articles.
A
Assemblage (blend)
Combining base wines from different villages, grape varieties and years into a single wine before it is bottled. Wines from the current year bring freshness, wines from earlier years (see vins de réserve (pronounced van de ray-zairv)) bring complexity and the house's consistent style.
Autoliza
The breakdown of dead yeast cells that lie in the bottle as sediment after the second fermentation. It gives the wine aromas reminiscent of bread, pastry and almonds.
B
Non-vintage (sans année, NV)
Champagne blended from wines of several years, with no year on the label. It may go on sale no earlier than 15 months after bottling. We explain how it differs from vintage Champagne in the article vintage Champagne: what it means.
Blanc de Blancs
“White from whites”: Champagne made only from white grapes, most often Chardonnay. More in the article Blanc de Blancs: what it means (pronounced blahn duh BLAHN).
Blanc de Noirs
“White from blacks”: white Champagne made from dark grapes, Pinot Noir or Meunier. See blanc de noirs (pronounced blahn duh NWAR).
Brut
The most popular sugar level: below 12 g per litre. We describe the full scale in the article Brut: what it means.
Brut nature (pas dosé, dosage zéro)
Champagne with no added sugar, with residual sugar below 3 g/l. See Extra Brut and Brut Nature (pronounced broot na-TEWR).
C
Cru
In Champagne, a wine-growing village. The highest-classified villages are grand cru (pronounced grahn KREW) and premier cru villages (pronounced pruh-MYAY KREW) (see below).
Cuvée
Two meanings. In the press house: the first and most valuable juice; 4,000 kg of grapes yield 2,050 l of cuvée (pronounced koo-VAY) and 500 l of the next fraction, called the taille. On a label: the name of a particular wine, for example Grande Cuvée (pronounced grahn koo-VAY) at Krug.
D
Disgorgement (dégorgement)
Removing the yeast sediment from the neck of the bottle: the neck is frozen, the crown cap is taken off and the pressure forces out the frozen plug of sediment. It may be done no earlier than 12 months after bottling. Details in the article disgorgement and dosage.
Demi-Sec
Medium-sweet Champagne: 32-50 g of sugar per litre. See medium-sweet and Demi-Sec Champagne (pronounced duh-MEE SEK).
Dosage
A measure of wine with sugar (liqueur d'expédition (pronounced lee-kur dex-pay-dee-syon)) added after disgorgement. It determines whether the Champagne will be Brut, Extra Brut or Demi-Sec.
Doux
The sweetest level: above 50 g of sugar per litre.
E
Échelle des crus
A percentage scale used from 1911 to set the price paid for grapes from individual villages: 100% for the best, less for the rest. It was abandoned in 2010; the names grand cru and premier cru are what remains of it. See grand cru and premier cru.
Etykieta
It must include the word “Champagne”, the sugar level, volume, alcohol content, the producer with its professional code, allergens, a warning for pregnant women, “Produit de France” and the lot number. We show how to read it in the guide a Champagne label, step by step.
Extra Brut
Drier than Brut: 0-6 g of sugar per litre.
Extra dry (extra sec)
Despite the name, sweeter than Brut: 12-17 g of sugar per litre.
G
Grand cru
The highest classification of villages in Champagne; there are 17 of them, including Aÿ (pronounced ah-EE), Bouzy (pronounced boo-ZEE), Cramant (pronounced kra-MAHN) and Le Mesnil-sur-Oger (pronounced luh may-neel syoor oh-zhay). “Grand Cru” on the label means that all the grapes come from these villages.
L
Liqueur de tirage
A mixture of sugar, yeast and a riddling aid, added to the wine before bottling. It starts the second fermentation in the bottle.
Liqueur d'expédition
Wine with sugar added after disgorgement, in other words the dosage.
M
Magnum
A 1.5 l bottle, equal to two standard bottles. The appellation rules require Champagne to be sold in the same bottle in which it underwent its second fermentation; it may be transferred only into bottles smaller than 0.375 l or larger than 1.5 l. Half-bottles, bottles and magnums therefore always age in their own glass.
Millésime (vintage)
Champagne made from grapes of a single year, stated on the label and on the cork. It ages for at least 36 months from bottling, and a producer may use no more than 80% of a given harvest for vintage wine.
Muselet
The wire cage that holds the cork in place; under it sits a small metal cap, often printed.
N
NM, RM, CM, RC, SR, ND, MA
Professional codes of the producer, with a number assigned by the Comité Champagne. NM is a house that buys grapes, RM a grower using its own vineyards, CM a cooperative, RC a cooperative member selling wine under its own name, SR a company of growers (usually from one family) making Champagne from its members' grapes, ND a merchant buying finished bottles, MA the buyer's own brand. See NM, RM, CM on the label.
P
Premier cru
The second classification of villages: 42 villages, including Cuis (pronounced KWEE), Vertus (pronounced vair-tu), Cumières (pronounced kyoo-myair) and Mareuil-sur-Aÿ (pronounced ma-RUH-ee sewr ah-EE). “Premier Cru” may also appear on a wine made from a blend of premier cru and grand cru grapes.
Prise de mousse
The second fermentation in a sealed bottle, which creates the bubbles and about 1.5% more alcohol. The pressure in the bottle reaches about 6 bar at 20 °C.
Pupitre
A wooden rack with slanted holes in which bottles are turned by hand during remuage (pronounced reh-moo-ahzh). Today this work is also done by machines.
R
Remuage
Gradually turning and tilting the bottles neck down until the sediment collects by the cap. Done by hand or mechanically.
Rosé
Rosé Champagne. The Comité Champagne describes two methods: blending white base wine with red wine from Champagne before bottling, or macerating the juice with the skins of dark grapes for a few hours (saignée).
S
Sec
Champagne with a noticeable touch of sweetness: 17-32 g of sugar per litre.
Spécial Club
A vintage Champagne made by members of the Club Trésors de Champagne, a growers' association founded in 1971. Each vintage is tasted blind twice by oenologists. See Spécial Club (pronounced spay-syal kloob).
Grape varieties
The appellation rules allow eight varieties: three main ones, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier, and five rare ones: Arbane, Petit Meslier, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Chardonnay Rose (plus Voltis, see below). Since the turn of the 20th century Champagne has relied on the three main varieties, chosen for their balance of sugar and acidity and their suitability for the second fermentation. See Champagne grape varieties.
T
Taille
The second fraction of juice from pressing, 500 l from 4,000 kg of grapes, after the first 2,050 l of cuvée.
Tirage
Bottling the wine with liqueur de tirage (pronounced lee-kur de tee-rahzh) into the bottles in which the second fermentation will take place. It may begin from 1 January of the year after the harvest.
V
Vieilles vignes
“Old vines”. A marketing term: the appellation rules do not say how old the vines must be for a producer to use it.
Vin clair
Still base wine after the first fermentation, from which the blend is made.
Vins de réserve (reserve wines)
Wines from earlier years kept for blending non-vintage Champagnes. Some houses keep a perpetual reserve, topped up with new wine every year; Louis Roederer (pronounced lwee ROH-duh-rer) has been building one since the 2012 vintage.
Voltis
A white variety permitted by the rules as a “variety for adaptation purposes”: it may cover no more than 5% of an estate's vineyards and make up no more than 10% of the blend. It is resistant to downy and powdery mildew, so it needs far less spraying.
Where to put the glossary into practice
The sugar terms are easiest to check by comparing bottles from the rankings of Extra Brut i sweeter Champagnes; the style terms in the ranking Blanc de Blancs; and the producer codes in the ranking Champagnes from growers.
