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Tasting Champagne is like tasting any other wine, except that effervescence has a sound component. Champagne awakens all our senses.
Our senses are first alerted as soon as we open the bottle. The "pop", discreet or ostentatious, is already evocative. Then, as the wine is poured, the bursting of the bubbles in the glass creates intense music at first, then more discreetly as the foam settles on the surface of the glass. If you put your ear close to the glass, you can even hear the sound of bubbles bursting on the surface.
It's the most captivating sensation of an effervescent wine. The incessant ballet of bubbles rising in the glass, twinkling and swirling in a seemingly haphazard fashion.
If you look closely at a glass, you'll see that bubbles are born microscopically, always in the same places, known as "nucleation sites". These sites are actually particles on the glass or in the liquid that trap a gas bubble at the moment of pouring. This bubble grows with the addition of carbon dioxide dissolved in the wine until it reaches a critical size, at which point it breaks away. It leaves behind a new bubble, which in turn expands, generating a succession of bubbles at a rate of 10 to 20 per second.
As the bubbles burst on the surface, fine wine droplets charged with odorant molecules are ejected several centimeters into the air.
The second visual sensation is the color of the wine. A yellow color with green highlights indicates the presence of a majority of Chardonnay grapes, while light red highlights indicate the dominance of black grapes. Over time, wines take on golden yellow, even copper or amber colors.
Rosés are even more varied: pale pink (known as "oeil-deperdrix") or deep pink, with more or less intense hues depending on the composition of the blend. Old rosé wines take on orange, tile-like hues as they age.
The size and number of bubbles in a glass The size of the bubbles depends more on the glass than on the Champagne itself. The initial size of a bubble is a function of the site from which it originates, and then increases as the carbon dioxide continues to diffuse into the bubble as it rises. The longer the journey, the larger the bubble will be when it reaches the surface. The younger the wine, and therefore the higher its carbon dioxide content, the more bubbles are created. Older Champagne wines, containing less carbon dioxide, have finer bubbles.
The number of bubbles is in fact theoretical. If we consider that the average diameter of a bubble is 0.5 millimeters, and that wine contains around 12g of carbon dioxide per liter, the calculation shows that a 10-centiliter glass contains around 11 million bubbles. However, this figure is only theoretical, as almost 80% of carbon dioxide escapes at the surface of the glass without generating bubbles.
These two senses are inextricably linked, as aromatic perceptions arrive via the direct nasal route and then via the retronasal route, i.e. from the oral cavity to the nasal cavity. The elementary tastes: salty, sweet, sour, bitter, are perceived by the tongue.
Tasting is made more complex by bubbles. Bubbles increase the effluvia that reach the nasal mucous membranes, and require you to wait a few seconds for the wine to better reveal its aromas.
To understand the world of Champagne wines, we need to position ourselves in a two-dimensional space: one represents the diversity linked to the vineyard, the other represents the diversity linked to evolution over time.
Vineyard-related diversity is mainly due to grape varieties. Cultivated in different terroirs, they reveal the grape's aromas and flavors, known as primary aromas, in young wines.
Chardonnay (but also arbane, petit meslier, pinot blanc and pinot gris) gives wines with notes of white flowers (hawthorn, honeysuckle, lime blossom, acacia, jasmine, orange blossom), citrus (grapefruit, lemon) and exotic fruit (lychee, pineapple), but also apple, pear and spices (anise, ginger), even menthol. These wines generally have a light, airy structure on the palate, with a certain liveliness. They are the expression of chalky terroirs, described by a term that is difficult to describe: "minerality" (chalk, gunflint).
Pinot noir and meunier reveal notes of white- and yellow-fleshed fruit (peach, apricot, plum, mirabelle plum), as well as red fruit (strawberry, raspberry, cherry) and even black fruit (blackberry, blueberry), citrus (tangerine, orange), exotic fruit (mango, passion fruit), floral accents (rose, peony, violet) and sometimes spices (cinnamon, clove). On the palate, wines made from black grape varieties give Champagne roundness, smoothness and deliciousness in the case of meunier, and body and power in the case of pinot noir.
The blending of all these components creates an infinite range of possibilities, a complex and varied aromatic palette. This diversity, born of the grapes, is then shaped by the so-called secondary aromas added during vinification. The choices made by the winemaker, from pressing to final dosage, shape the style of each cuvée.
The contribution of reserve wines (up to 50% in certain non-vintage cuvées) already brings the wines into the second dimension, that of diversity linked to their evolution over time, enabling them to express so-called tertiary aromas.
In the early stages of maturity (3 to 10 years), the various aromas evolve towards notes of brioche, viennoiserie, ripe fruit, stewed fruit, then candied fruit (fig, date), dried flowers, dried fruit (almond, hazelnut, raisin), light tobacco, wax, honey, butterscotch, with occasional hints of vanilla and licorice (characteristic of wines aged in wooden containers).
Older, "plenitude " wines (10 years or more) evolve over time with notes of fruit paste (quince in particular), gingerbread, to undergrowth aromas and roasted, empyreumatic notes (toast, rusk, mocha, coffee, cocoa).
For Champagne rosé, aromas can be fresh (citrus, wild strawberry), smooth, powerful (ripe yellow fruit, red berries) or complex, combining fruity notes (wild berries) with hints of undergrowth. The palate can be structured, powerful, fleshy or more ethereal. As they age, their aromas express the full richness of dried fruits and spices, even toasty notes for the oldest.
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