Gif Picture: champagne

champagne

Sparkling wine named for the site of its origin, the Champagne region of NE France. Champagne is made from only three grapes: pinot and meunier (both black) and chardonnay (white). It is initially fermented in stainless-steel vats. A mixture of wine, sugar, and yeast is added, and it is then transferred to pressure tanks for a second fermentation that yields carbon dioxide and effervescence. It is chilled, sweetened, bottled, and left to mature. It generally has a crisp, flinty taste that varies in degree of sweetness, depending on the type.

Historical and cultural region, NE France. The terrain is interrupted by low hills and by the Marne River valley. It was an important medieval French county, held by the houses of Vernandois, Blois, and Navarre. In the 12th and 13th cent., it was the site of six great trade fairs and was a banking center for all Europe. Conflicts between the counts of Champagne and the kings of France ended with the marriage (1284) of Joan of Navarre to the future king Philip IV of France, and it was united to the crown in 1314. As a frontier region it has been frequently invaded; it was the site of fierce battles in World Wars I and II. The region is famous for its wines.

Sparkling wine named for the site of its origin, the Champagne region of NE France. Champagne is made from only three grapes: pinot and meunier (both black) and chardonnay (white). It is initially fermented in stainless-steel vats. A mixture of wine, sugar, and yeast is added, and it is then transferred to pressure tanks for a second fermentation that yields carbon dioxide and effervescence. It is chilled, sweetened, bottled, and left to mature. It generally has a crisp, flinty taste that varies in degree of sweetness, depending on the type.

Historical and cultural region, NE France. The terrain is interrupted by low hills and by the Marne River valley. It was an important medieval French county, held by the houses of Vernandois, Blois, and Navarre. In the 12th and 13th cent., it was the site of six great trade fairs and was a banking center for all Europe. Conflicts between the counts of Champagne and the kings of France ended with the marriage (1284) of Joan of Navarre to the future king Philip IV of France, and it was united to the crown in 1314. As a frontier region it has been frequently invaded; it was the site of fierce battles in World Wars I and II. The region is famous for its wines.