What's So Special About Champagne?
Most people know that champagne is a sparkling wine served on New Year's Eve, but champagne is much more than that. It's a name that comes from a region in France where it is made. Located in the northern most section of France, Champagne is known for the high acid content of its grapes which produces its distinctive taste.
The Champagne houses were founded in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. At the turn of the twentieth century they were producing 30 million bottles of champion, three quarters of which were exported to England, the United States, Belgium, Germany, and Russia.
The Name of Champagne
Many products throughout the world are associated with the place of their origin. Mercedes Benz is associated with the wonders of German engineering; Rolex is associated with the precision of Swiss watch-making, and Champagne is synonymous with the best in sparkling wine.
The quality of a product can be identified with a particular place and becomes an important part of its branding and marketing strategy. Many regional and local producers throughout the global marketplace can produce a specific type of product. Some of these producers will be known for a high-quality product, while others will be known for a low-quality product. The perception might not always be accurate, but it stays in the publics' mind regardless.
The name of a producer can convey quality, but so can the name of a region. In the case of Champagne, the name can communicate information about the grapes grown, the combination of different grape varietals, and their growing conditions.
Certain names have become so strongly associated with the method and process involved in their creation that place association of the brand has been lost. This is where the European Union, and the process of regulation steps in to help a name like Champagne, of Champagne, France.
The idea behind regulation and protection is that it not only protects against fraud but also the integrity of the product. Fraud can mean "stealing" the good name of an area as a way to make money.
The good name of a wine making area in France is founded on the concept of terroir, which has no exact English translation, but generally means there is a perfect place for making great wine, or more precisely, specific types of wine. Climatology, geology, and history all blend together in the idea of terroir.
Some wine producers like to put champagne on the labels of their sparkling wines; if it is not from Champagne, it may be labeled by various localized names, such as California champagne (note the lower case c). The use of the word champagne in the label is referring to the fact that the process of Méthode Champenoise was used to make the sparkling wine.
Champagne is only champagne then, if it comes from the Champagne region of France. It is the sum total reflection of the place, the history, and the people who produce it.
Sources Cited:
- Ribéreau - Gayon, Pascal, ed. Hatchette Atlas of French Wines & Vineyards. Trans. Anne Atkinson. United Kingdom: Hatchette, 2000.
- Sommers, Brian J. The Geography of Wine. New York: The Penguin Group, 2008.
- Taber, George M. California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting that Revolutionized Wine. New York: Scribner, 2005.
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