Champagne DELAVENNE Brut Tradition

TASTING

Notes of apple fritter, fresh apple and lemon drop. Enjoy it with sautéed scallops, rich fish, pork, mild and soft cheese.

Champagne DELAVENNE Brut Tradition

The freshly picked grapes are taken to the pressing centre as quickly as possible. Pressing is done separately by grape variety and by growth to maintain this traceability. The whole clusters are pressed as carefully and gently as possible so as not to colour the juice through excessive contact time with the skins – unless, of course, the aim is to make a rosé wine using the maceration or saignée (bleeding off the juices) method.

Pressing is carried out in two stages: the “cuvée” corresponds to the first pressing juice, and the “taille” the second. Each has its own distinct characteristics and will therefore be used to make different types of wine. Champagne presses have capacities ranging from 2,000kg to 12,000kg of whole grapes. Between each 4,000kg “marc” (traditional unit of measurement for a press-load of grapes), these cages must be emptied and rinsed with water.

Mindful about minimising its impact on the environment, Champagne requires the pressing residues to be sent for distillation. The water used to clean the cages, picking boxes and wine-making tanks is recovered and treated fully.

The rules governing pressing are strictly defined to ensure that exceptional wines are obtained right across the AOC area. Pressing centres are approved and inspected at regular intervals to ensure that these rules are complied with. Up until the late 1980s, Champagne presses were entirely manual. These still account for 18% of the presses in use today, but the majority are now mechanical, constantly harnessing the latest technical developments for ever greater precision in the monitoring and implementation of the pressing process.

Preparing the juice for fermentation

Champagne DELAVENNE Brut Tradition

The clusters of grapes have just been pressed. The juice extracted flows into an open tank called a “belon”. At this point, a small amount of sulphur dioxide (SO2) is added: this is known as sulphuring. Sulphites have antiseptic and antioxidant properties. They can also inhibit the growth of certain unwanted bacteria and moulds. That way they safeguard the sensory qualities of wines.

Next comes the clarification stage, referred to as “débourbage”. This refers to the settling of the freshly pressed grape juice, during which any fragments of skin, pips and other sediment settles at the bottom of the vat. The purpose is to send clear juice to the fermentation stage in order to obtain wines with the purest expression of fruit.

After 12 to 24 hours, the clear juice is then drawn off. After clarification, the clarified musts are transferred to the “cuverie” (the room containing the fermenting vats) to commence the first stages of fermentation.

60% Pinot noir and 40% Chardonnay. Spontaneous fermentation in Stainless Steel tanks. No malolactic fermentation, no fining, no cold stabilization in order to preserve all the best attributes of the terroir.