Champagne holds its breath until the Saints de Glace (Ice Saints) are safely past (11, 12, 13 May), dreading a spring freeze that might destroy the future harvest’s fruitful buds.
Desuckering removes the non-fruitful buds (suckers or gourmands). Any unwanted growth is removed to optimise sugar concentration and encourage good sap flow.
The Champagne month by monthChampagne bottles come in many different sizes, ranging from the classic Champagne bottle (75cl) and the magnum (1.5l) to very large bottles with biblical-sounding names. These include the Jeroboam (3l), the Nebuchadnezzar (15l) and the 30-litre Melchizedec or Midas – the mightiest of them all, standing 1.10m tall and holding the equivalent of 40 standard bottles.
The Cattier family have worked in the vineyards on the slopes of Chigny-les-Roses since 1625. At work there today is the thirteenth generation, which is also the fourth generation to produce Champagne.
The Champagne Houses