Champagne (region) 

The Champagne region is a fantastic place: a small paradise of landscape and oenological pearls. Here, a series of natural and human factors have "magically" combined to give rise to a unique product, "imitated" all over the world. In this area, over the centuries, the sparkling method called " Champenoise " (or Classic) has found its definition, through refermentation in the bottle , which then spread throughout the world; however the class, elegance and personality of the wines produced in Champagne is, to this day, unmatched. The classification of Champagne that we know today dates back to 1927, thanks to the work done by the INAO (Institut National des Appellations d'Origine). In practice, the Champagne vineyards are classified with a 1911 system, called Echelle des Crus (scale of crus), based on the quality of each single cru (area with a high wine vocation) and its distance from the commercial heart of Champagne, i.e. Reims and Epernay . Essentially, the system classifies the different communes of Champagne according to the commercial value of the grapes grown in the commune itself. The three categories are: Grand Cru , Premier Cru and Cru . Champagnes are always elaborated starting from base wines made with the cuvées technique (assembly). In the case of the so-called Sans Année (without vintage), the cuvée is made up of different wines from different vintages, while for the Millésimes or Vintage , we have different wines from the same vintage. The cuvée is generally made up of a variable number of wines which can even reach 60 or more! Champagnes created from a single wine are therefore an exception. Champagnes can be produced with all three grapes allowed by the specification: Chardonnay , Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier . Champagnes produced with 100% Chardonnay are defined as Blanc de Blancs and those produced exclusively with red berried grapes (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) individually or jointly, are defined as Blanc de Noirs . The five production areas of Champagne are:  Montagne de Reims , Côte des Blancs , Vallée de la Marne , Côte de Sézanne and Aube . The most important are the first three which are all located in the vicinity of Reims and in which all 17 Grand Cru municipalities are located. Even the individual vines grown in Champagne each have their own role: Chardonnay for finesse and elegance, Pinot Noir for structure and aromas and Pinot Meunier for the richness and aromatic complexity of fruit, as well as structure.