Champagne is produced in a wonderful variety of styles. It's part of what makes it such a fun category to learn about. And drink.
At its core, good Champagne possesses a filigree acidity, a delicate but expressive fruit character and an overall cool climate sense of balance, precision and purity. But understanding what distinguishes one style from another is important to identifying your personal preferences.
There are myriad potential stylistic choices available to a producer, including pre-tirage élévage, time on lees and dosage.* The diversity present across the category can make it difficult to generalise, but there are three major considerations that will influence the way champagne tastes include grape variety, region and the cuvée (more on those last two in a future article).
Below is a brief overview of the three key varieties, where they are found and how they typically appear in champagne.
Champagne Varieties
There three major varieties in Champagne: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Meunier. In addition to these three grapes, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Petit Meslier and Arbane are also permitted for use in Champagne wines. There is increasing
The majority of champagnes comprise a blend of the three key grapes, each variety brings its own character, structure and potential style to the wine. Understanding how these features are expressed is most obvious in varietal expressions, such as Blanc de Blanc and Blanc de Noir, but can be evident across all cuvée styles.
Chardonnay
Chardonnay supplies a laser-like, linear acid structure, a lithe body and an overall finesse. It is less broad shouldered than Pinot Noir and may appear nervier and more delicate. In a blend it the perfect complement to Pinot Noir’s richness and Meunier’s fruitiness; as a varietal wine, it yields elegant, sophisticated wines with great ageing potential.
Chardonnay is traditionally grown on the east-facing slopes of the Côte des Blancs but has also proved successful in many other subregions, especially the Côte de Sézanne.
Pinot Noir
If the Pinot Meunier is a swan, the Pinot Noir is hardly a duck. Pinot Noir offers structure, power and body, with mid palate concentration, refreshing acidity and focused fruit.
Unlike Meunier, it has great ageing potential with long-lasting fruit character that can also develop as the wine matures. As in Burgundy, Pinot Noir lends itself well to site-specific or terroir driven expressions. In addition to its capacity to produce complex autolytic characters, Pinot Noir flavours tend to be red fruited with some darkness of colour in Blanc de Noir examples.
Pinot Noir is planted throughout Champagne, but the big guns are in the north
Meunier
During a visit to Champagne in 2019, one producer referred to Meunier as “le vilain petit canard” – the ugly duckling. While Pinot Noir has the elegance, Pinot Meunier is an awkward cousin – a little rough around the edges, all acidity and upfront fruit. However, as with cygnet in Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale, in the right context our perceptions of the variety are transformed, and its underlying elegance shines through.
Meunier (no longer called Pinot Meunier in Champagne) is an important component in blends, providing youthful exuberance to champagnes with soft, mid palate fruitiness, moderate acidity but without considerable structure. Given its fruity generosity, Meunier-dominated wines tend to drink well when young.
It is planted throughout the various sub-regions of Champagne and is a popular choice for growers in cooler north-facing vineyards, in the damp, frost-prone Vallée de la Marne, and in the cold valleys of the Aisne.
Varietal Meunier champagnes are rare, but a handful of winemakers are working hard to give the grape the attention it deserves.
*The influence of different viticultural and winemaking approaches should not be underestimated. In fact, the impact of choices made in the vineyard and the cellar is so immense, they deserve articles of their owns.
