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 monthSuch has been the success of Champagne wines that by the early nineteenth century the Champagne name was being misused by producers of sparkling wines from other French regions. In 1844 the Champagne Houses responded by taking joint action in the courts to restrict use of the name to a particular production process specific to the Champagne Region. The Appellation is now officially recognized and protected in 122 countries around the world.
The House of Cuperly started life in 1845 as a leading wine and spirit merchant based in Mourmelon-le-Petit. The Verzy vineyard, home of the House we know today, was a later acquisition, bought and developed by Robert Cuperly who took over from his father in the early 1900s and began making his own wines. Hence the founding of his own Champagne House, exclusively dedicated to that purpose.
The Champagne Houses