Sekt, it’s a German word and literally means sparkling wine. Just sparkling wine, nothing more nothing less. It can made from base wines sourced from any EU country, which is done on a very large scale in Germany. Germans love bubbles and are the biggest consumer of sparkling wines in the world. Germans drink 310 […]

Generally speaking, three grapes are used in the production of champagne. The secret behind the complexity and balance of champagne is the practice of blending those different grapes. It is important to note that Champagne producers are not looking for intense varietal aromas. Instead, they are looking for structural characteristics, quite neutral flavours in fact. […]

The art of blending is about creating something that is greater than the sum of its part. In champagne, the blending usually takes place from January to March following the harvest. Blending in champagne Champagne is really the king of blending. All kinds of base wines may be blended in a non vintage champagne. The […]

Montagne de Reims is one of the major regions of Champagne and mostly known for its pinot noir. Location & climate Montagne de Reims is a a high, forested plateau between the two major cities of Champagne: Reims and Épernay. It is around 280 meters above sea level at its peak. Topography & soils Montagne […]

The best sites for premium sparkling wine are cool and deliver ripe grapes with high acidity and low levels of sugar. People often think that grapes for sparkling wine are picked unripe. Not true. It’s all about balance, the grapes should be physiologically ripe with low levels of sugar. That’s why the best sparkling wines […]

Method ancestrale – also known as méthode rurale – is the oldest method to make sparkling wine. What is it and how is it different from other methods? The most obvious difference is that the method ancestrale does not involve a second fermentation. The first fermentation is stopped before all sugar has been converted into […]

Tank method – also known as cuve close or the charmat process – is a very common method to make sparkling wine. It is developed by Eugene Charmat, hence the name, in 1909. What is it and how is it different from other methods? After harvesting, the grapes are pressed directly. The first fermentation takes […]