CHAMPAGNE: A Decade of Sparkling Wine Trends

作者: Becky Sue Epstein        来源: 《酒典》www.winemagcn.com|原创作品 谢绝转载

Champagne is an effervescent pleasure, an invitation to celebrate.  This sparkling wine enjoys an elevated status in the wine world every where it lands. We raise our glasses together with champagne toasts at weddings and other joyful events, creating connections between people, feelings of warmth and inclusion.

Champagne is pretty in the glass and fun on the palate. With its elegant bubbles tickling the nose, champagne is a sipping wine: it will take longer to finish a glass of sparkling wine than a glass of still wine. And champagne is slightly lower in alcohol, so it may allow people to linger over their celebrations. 

WHAT IS CHAMPAGNE?

What exactly is champagne?  For those seeking clarity, here is a quick, basic definition: champagne is a sparkling wine made in the French region of Champagne (according to certain specifications).  The major grapes in champagne are the white chardonnay, and the red pinot noir and pinot meunier.

Sparkling wine can be made anywhere in the world, from any grapes. Champagne can only come from Champagne, France.  Admittedly, there is some confusion about this, but sparkling wine from everywhere else in the world is not actually champagne. Some of the other sparkling wine-making regions have their own proprietary names (and their own production specifications). Among the most well known are cava from Spain and prosecco from Italy.  In other regions, sparkling wine is simply called sparkling wine. To reiterate, champagne is the most famous sparkling wine, and it must come from Champagne, France.

CHAMPAGNE PRODUCTION TEN YEARS AGO

In the West, sparkling wine has been a beverage of celebration for centuries.  In Asia and China, champagne is a later addition, arriving on most people’s radar about five or ten years ago. To help put this in perspective, here’s what’s been happening in the world of champagne and sparkling wine for the past decade.  

A little over ten years ago, champagne was on everyone’s shopping list in the West.  Even people who normally never drank it, planned to get a bottle to celebrate the new millennium: the year 2000.   The producers in Champagne knew this, in fact they counted on it, and had increased their production for that year.  Some producers had also released special versions of their champagnes for this occasion because they knew that many consumers would pay extra for special millennial champagnes.

Then the rumors began: there would be a shortage of champagne in the shops, so buy now! That was the message received by the public in the autumn of 1999.  Some people purchased champagne early.  Others were scared off by the rumors, and altered their preparations.  So they made plans not to have champagne if it was going to be difficult to find, and perhaps very expensive; they would use other sparkling wines for their celebrations.

What actually happened? In early 2000, there was a surplus of champagne. Yes, some consumers had purchased special champagnes to celebrate this special New Year’s Eve.  But enough consumers had looked to alternatives like domestic sparkling wines in the US, Spain’s competitively-priced cava, and Italian sparkling wines.  So the producers had to sell more champagne, without admitting there was a surplus. Fortunately, a certain amount of champagne is always in demand, and gradually the champagne market evened out over the ensuing few years.  

CHAMPAGNE GROWS

By five or six years ago, the world’s appetite for champagne was on the increase again.  After all, champagne was still the wine of choice for celebrations in the Western world, as it had been for a few hundred years. In China and Asia, champagne was a more recent import – but no less important.

Three years ago, an expansion of the vineyard territory of champagne production was announced. This was a very controversial issue in the region, as anyone can imagine.  In actuality, the boundaries of Champagne’s territory had been changed several times over the past hundred or so years, for political as well as economic reasons -- and these “new” vineyards had been a part of the Champagne region in the past.  No matter the current motives, more champagne grapes will be grown in these new vineyards by 2015, but the champagne itself won’t be for sale for another five to seven years.

TRENDS IN CHAMPAGNE STYLES

In terms of champagne styles, several new trends have been developing over the past decade. One is rose champagne.  When poured into champagne flutes, rose champagnes are lovely to look at, ranging from a shade of pale salmon through hues of oranges and pinks to a deep rose color. The swiftly escalating allure of rose champagnes and sparkling wines has caused production to increase just as quickly.  Because many rose champagnes are made with a larger percentage of pinot noir grapes (and/or pinot meunier), some have more fruit on the palate, and they pair well with many foods, even main courses of meat and fish.  

Another trend is non-dosage champagne -- also known by several other terms including brut nature and zero dosage.  This is a style of champagne in which the traditional bit of dosage (sweetened wine or liquor) is not added to the champagne during the final corking process. A sparkling wine like this can only be produced in certain years, when the grapes are very ripe, and have a full flavor that balances the acidity necessary in a top champagne.  Because of its flavor profile, it is often served first, as an aperitif or first course accompaniment in a meal.  Like rose, this style can be somewhat more expensive than other non-vintage champagnes.

While vineyard and wine-making techniques have improved greatly in recent decades, it is also possible that the successful increase in production of both the rose and the non-dosage champagnes is partly due to climate change (global warming) because the grapes of Champagne may be getting riper with longer or warmer growing seasons.  

TRENDS IN SALES OF CHAMPAGNE AND OTHER SPARKLING WINES

In terms of sales, champagne has been increasing in importance in many non-European countries in the past few years, China among them. According to the Champagne Bureau (CIVC), champagne in China has been gaining in popularity only since 2005, but last year over a million bottles were exported to China. When I visited the Champagne region in 2007 and 2008, among those of Western nations, I noticed the prevalence of journalists from China – as well as Russia and India – though China has now taken the lead in increasing its imports.  

Since that time (especially in the West) a combination of the recent economic downturn and well-priced exports of Italian wines has skyrocketed both the awareness and consumption of two of Italy’s major sparkling wines: prosecco and moscato d’Asti.  Both are produced in northern Italy, and both regions have made great efforts to improve the quality of their wines.  Unlike champagne, which must age for a few years before it’s ready to drink, both prosecco and moscato d’Asti are made to be consumed while they are young – within about a year after harvest.

While exported prosecco is dry or off-dry, moscato d’Asti is a sweet sparkler, with a low alcohol content.  Moscato d’Asti is particularly in demand for casual occasions and often served during the daytime, especially at brunch.  Prosecco, also appropriate for more casual occasions, is now being exported to China; this was handled by only one company a few years ago but the latest figures show half a dozen prosecco producers exporting to China now.

CELEBRATING WITH CHAMPAGNE – AND OTHER SPARKLING WINES

Celebrating with a glass of champagne – or sparkling wine, in these post-modern times – dates from French ceremonies of hundreds of years ago.  For many centuries, French kings were crowned in the cathedral at Reims, the largest city in the Champagne region.  Champagne became popular at the French court in the 17th and 18th centuries, and its fame soon spread both east and west, as far as the United States and Russia.

In the 19th century, champagne became an aspirational drink for the merchant class and then developing middle class.  They ordered it for all their happy occasions and celebrations, when it was also important to show how worldly and fashionable they had become.  Soon, champagne was a requirement at festivities in many countries.

In the 20th century, technical developments allowed wine producers in many other regions to produce their own sparkling wines, where they became local favorites, in part because they cost much less than champagne. Now that sparkling wine is increasing in popularity throughout the world, many more of the producers of asti, moscato d’Asti and prosecco are jumping on the bandwagon – as well as those of other Italian regions such as Emilia Romagna and Lombardy, more recently.  They have begun to improve the quality of their vineyards, their grapes and their wines, and soon we’ll see plenty more of their sparkling wines on the world market to meet the increased demand.

In the past year, though the economy has barely begun to recover in many parts of the world, champagne exports to China have nearly doubled.  Every modern wine producing country is making more sparkling wines.  Some sparkling wines from Sonoma, California, for example, are now rivaling the quality of champagne.  But champagne is still the leader, the prestige product served at weddings and other very special occasions – and it is likely to remain this way for the foreseeable future.  

 Champagne as a region, not champagne the sparkling wine.

 

作者简介:贝琪·苏·爱泼斯旦 是在葡萄酒、烈酒、 美食以及旅游行业里的获奖记者、资深编辑、 广播员和顾问。

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