The different Cuvées in champagne - The AOC

The non vintage wines

The vintages

The pink champagnes

The Coteaux Champenois

The Champagne is the only area in France to produce this percentage of non-vintage wines. This is due to the fact that Champagne is the most northern area of France. The growing of grapes in then very difficult and the producers cannot present very good vintage wines every year. The inhabitants of Champagne then decided to keep their best wines of the best years to create reserve wines they can then mix a year later to produce consistent quality wines.

The traditional mix are as follows:

The non vintage champagne have (by law) to stay in the cellars at least 15 months after being bottled (about 8 months after the harvesting). In reality, the non vintage champagnes are stored about 3 years before being sold. The non vintage champagne said "mono-grape" include 100% of white grape (Chardonnay) and called Blancs de Blancs or duo-grape and include 100% of black grapes (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) and be called Blancs de Noirs. It can be associated to a specific Cru (Premier or Grand Cru).

• Brut non vintage

The brut non vintage is the most common wine in Champagne (85% of the production). It has inherited from the vin nature imagined by Pommery ( whose statue is located in Chigny les Roses) to satisfy English customers tastes. The dosage of this champagne is very weak (less than 15g of sugar per liter of wine). It is generally a mix of the three traditional wine grapes that you can find in Champagne (Chardonnay , Pinot Noir , Pinot Meunier) and of different harvests (vintages).

• Demi-Sec

The Demi-sec is in general same composition than the Brut non vintage. The only difference lies in the quantity of liquor added for the dosage. It is less than 15g (of sugar) per litre for the Brut and between 33 and 55g for the Demi-Sec. The sweetness that it produces makes the Demi-Sec an ideal wine for desserts and it is also very common to taste it with foie gras. Very successful product in the foreign markets.
• 
  The vintages:

  The vintage are made with only one year of harvest.
  There are only grown in the best years to satisfy the customers and respect the image of quality given to Champagne versus the world of sparkling wines.
  They have to age at least 3 years in the cellars after being bottled. In reality they mature around 5 years in the cellars before being sold to demanding customers.
  The year must always be on the label and the cork.
  In general the dosage is the dame than the one for brut non vintage (less than 15 g per litre of wine). That is why they are sometimes called "Brut Millésimé or Brut Vintage"
  Their name can be associated with a Cru (Premier or Grand Cru).

• The pink champagnes:

  The production of this type of champagne can be between 2 and 5% of total sales. These wines can be produced two different ways: the maceration or the mix.

  The "maceration" is the normal wine process to make a pink. It is practiced in all the French wine growing areas. The pink wines produced with "maceration" are called "blood wines".

  However in Champagne the most spread method if mixing. The Champagne area is the only wine producing area in France allowed to mix a sparkling wine (non vintage or vintage) with red wine from Champagne to give it its colour.

The pink champagne can be vintaged or non vintaged. It receives the same quantity of dosage than the Bruts
It is a champagne that founds its origin about 15 years ago as a fashion. It now counts for a stable part of the champagne sales and has many adepts.
Their name can be associated with a Cru (Premier or Grand Cru).

• The Coteaux Champenois:

The "Coteaux Champenois" is the ancestor of Champagne before the "Methode Champenoise" process (create sparkling wines from still wines)was known.
It is a mix of red wines from several well known villages(Bouzy, Cumières, Ambonnay, Ay, Chigny-Les-Roses ...). There is also a well-known pink wine: The Rosé des Riceys produced in the department of Aube. The Coteaux Champenois can also be white.
Their name can be associated with a Cru (Premier or Grand Cru).